Page 44 of Tease

“You needed sex?”

She shook her head and giggled.

“Sort of… I just n-n-needed you. I-I-I don’t think I could do all of this without you. The s-s-stuff with mypapáI mean.”

I stroked her back.

“I think you could, but I’m glad I can be here for you to help you through it.”

Rina nuzzled my skin before she got off me. I got out of bed to deal with the condom and change. When I got back into bed, Rina turned out the light and we cuddled up together. It wasn’t super late, but I was content to lie there with her, holding her soft body against mine. I never knew how special it was to just be with someone, even if you didn’t talk. How much I needed it until Rina.

I hated admitting to myself that Zayn was right when he told me being with the right woman was worth sacrificing everything for. Because the truth was, I’d sacrifice the world for the woman in my arms if it came down to it. She would be worth it all.

Sixteen

Rina

I sat staring at the computer screen and wondered what avenue to try next. We should be tracking down the aunt and kid from the car bombing. I had a feeling it would prove fruitful, but something was holding me back. My family had caused theirs pain, and I had no idea why.

Arlo was on his laptop in my reading nook. Merry and Pippin were curled up together next to him. He was absentmindedly stroking their fur, something that made me smile. I was thankful my cats had taken to him. They had astute judgement when it came to people. Probably why they avoided Verona like the plague. I might love my sister, but she really could be the absolute worst when she was in a mood.

My eyes darted back to the screen when an email popped up from the same address as last time. It contained a single link and nothing else. I clicked on it, finding it had brought up a chat. When I realised this person had been spying on me, I’d run a search and found where he’d hacked into my system before booting him the fuck out of it and locking it back down.

Anon: You know what happened now.

Anon: I imagine you have more questions.

Anon: Perhaps I’d be willing to answer them, Rina. After all, you passed my test.

I stared at the words with a pit of dread forming in my stomach. Despite the precautions I’d taken, they still knew we’d gone to see Vince. Perhaps they were watching me in other ways now I’d made sure it was impossible for them to get back into my system.

Rina: Who are you?

Anon: I think you already know the answer to that. Choose your questions wisely.

Rina: I don’t.

Anon: Fine. I’ll play along. My name is Emmett.

The boy who had survived had his name kept out of the article, so I wasn’t sure if it was him or not.

Rina: Emmett Green?

I watched as his username changed.

Emmett: Yes.

I knew I should call Arlo over. He wouldn’t be happy about this at all. I decided to run a search on the site and see if I could track him down. Then I turned to my boyfriend, knowing I couldn’t leave it any longer.

“Arlo.”

He looked up.

“Mmm?”

“I-I-I need you to see this.”

He set his laptop down and got up, coming straight over to me. When his eyes darted to the screen, he curled his hands around the back of my desk chair and squeezed.

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