Page 59 of Only for Him
The motion-sensor LEDs flicker on in waves as I walk the aisle. I stop in front of the high-profile shelf with the box labelled FB14-00301.
I slide it out and open the lid.
Inside are the contents of MacDougal’s apartment. Each one neatly bagged and catalogued. I pick through them, and immediately zero in on the photo of me. Still standing at the bottom of my building’s stoop, head mid-turn to look across the block.
Eyes begging for something to happen.
I can’t help the scoff of a laugh falling from my lips when I see it.
If only I’d known then that somethingwouldhappen.
Would I have let Russo take me off the case?
Not a fucking chance.
I keep rifling, pretend to hunt for clues while I listen for Arata’s footsteps outside.
Arata is like a lost puppy. Harmless, quick to smile, and eager to please. But his attention is suffocating. And just like that guy Ida tried to set me up with—what was his name? Nick?—he’s harmless.
And that’s the thing.
I don’t want harmless.
I want a monster who’s not afraid to break boundaries.
A monster who’s not afraid to breakme.
I sigh, pushing down the smoldering desire that threatens to boil over whenever I recall just how much Ilikewhat he’s doing to me.
Then, the air shifts.
A displacement, like the moment a train roars into a station and the pressure in your skull changes.
And a dark familiar presence hovering just outside the edges of my perception.
Shit!
How the fuck is he even here?
Maybe he can walk through walls. Maybe he’s a figment of my imagination.
But my body knows better.
I turn, knowing full well that I’m turning towardshim.
There!
At the far end of the aisle, a shape peels off the shadows. It moves with that slow, familiar confidence that I’m already beginning to recognize.
Steady and inevitable.
I return the box to the shelf, and lick my lips slowly. Now’s my chance, right? Here, in the beating heart of the NYPD. I’m inmyelement. He’s the intruder here. By all means, I should hold allthe advantage. A single shout, and this place will be swarming with cops in a heartbeat.
Then why am I standing still?
To see if you’ll lie for me, little viper.His voice taunts me in my head.And you will.
He stops, still enshroud in shadows, and my feet begin to move as if they have a will of their own.
