Page 50 of Wicked Scorn
Iris’ eyes go wide at my words, but Lincoln just scowls, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist and pulling her against his side. “What did you do this time, angel?”
She scoffs and shoves him off, but I can see the fear flickering behind her eyes. “I didn’t do shit, asshole.”
“Both of you, shut up if you aren’t going to fuck and give me a show,” Penn cuts in, his deep voice slicing through their bickering. He turns to me, eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
I take a breath, reining in my anger enough to explain. “Some sick fuck has been sending Oakley pictures and notes at work. Stalker shit.”
Graham’s head whips around, his expression thunderous. “What? Who? When?”
“Today at the library,” Oakley pipes up, her voice small. “Just…pictures of me and some other things. And a note that said?—”
“Don’t repeat that shit,” I growl, pulling her closer against my side. I can feel her trembling slightly and it ratchets my rage up another notch. “It doesn’t fucking matter what it said. All that matters is finding out who the hell is doing this.”
“You think it’s the same person messing with the incest twins over there?” Penn’s gaze is sharp, assessing.
I shrug one shoulder, my grip on Oakley tightening. “Maybe. Could just be some sick coincidence, but you know how I feel about those.”
Lincoln snorts, rolling his eyes. “Because our lives are just filled with those, right? It’s gotta be connected somehow.”
“Well, we’re gonna find out. I’ll play Lt. Benson,” Penn holds up the envelope, the pictures still inside. “I’m taking these to Ramsey, see if he can pull any prints or trace where they came from while I bang Stabler.”
“Good idea,” I grunt, not even bothering to comment on his weird SVU kink. I turn to Oakley, my voice softening despite the fire still raging in my veins. “You okay heading upstairs for a bit, baby? I’ll be up in a few.”
She bites her lip, her blue eyes shimmering with a mixture of fear and gratitude. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.”
I lean down and press a hard kiss to her forehead, letting my lips linger against her soft skin. “I’ve got you, bunny. You’re safe with me.”
She nods, the ghost of a smile tugging at her lips before she turns and heads for the stairs. I watch her go, my chest constricting with a confusing swirl of emotions. Protectiveness, for sure—the need to keep her safe is practically burning me alive from the inside out. But there’s something else, too. Something deeper, more primal, that makes mewant to pull her back and never let her out of my sight again.
I slam the photos down on the coffee table, a mosaic of obsession sprawling out under the lamplight. My brothers lean in, their faces etched with concern as darkness plays over their features.
“Look at this shit,” I say, my voice a low growl.
Graham’s fist clenches, the knuckles bone-white. Lincoln looks like he’s ready to tear something apart, and hell, so am I. But it’s Penn who moves first, snatching the pictures and rifling through them with eyes sharp as razors.
“This one,” he mutters, his finger jabbing at a shot of Oakley in the library, oblivious and alone. “Taken from outside, through the window. That’s brazen.”
“Too close for comfort,” I spit out, watching his analytical gaze devour each image.
“Angles are consistent,” Penn continues, flipping to the next. “Our guy likes to keep his distance but not lose sight. He’s methodical.”
“Methodical and fucked up,” I add, feeling the coiled spring of tension winding tighter in my chest. I glance at Oakley in one of the photos. Her face pale, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“Got a preference for close-ups,” Penn notes, a picture of Oakley laughing caught mid-motion, a moment of joy turned sinister. “Likes her expressions, the details. Intimate.”
I shake my head, forcing the thought away, and turn back to my brothers. “Okay, we need a plan to handle this shit.”
“Well, no shit,” Lincoln scoffs. “I’m ready to take this into our own hands. Fucking tired of sitting around playing grab ass while someone fucks with Iris. Only person fucking with her is gonna be me.”
His words are laced with the same bitterness he’s been harboring for days now.
“We’re not doing shit until we know what we’re dealing with,” Penn says, ever the voice of reason. “Once Ramsey takes a look at those pictures and does his geek squad mass spectrometer type shit, we’ll have a better idea of who might be behind this.”
I nod, forcing myself to breathe through the rage still simmering inside me. “He’s right. For now, we play it cool. But if this is the same fucker who’s been messing with Iris…”
My hands curl into fists at my sides and I have to stop myself from putting one through the nearest wall. The thought of some sick pervert going after my girl, my Oakley, makes me see red.
Lincoln must sense my shift because suddenly he’s in my face, his expression hard. “Easy there. If it is, then I’ll be handling it since he fucked with my property first. “
