Page 135 of Retribution

I pull it out of my pocket and unfold it, handing it to them. They both wince at the card of choice but when they open it, they remain still.

“Checkmate.” Harrison says slowly.

“As in, they win. Whoever is sending you these notes, think that they’ve won something.”

“It can’t just be a coincidence that this has been sent around the time Willow has been practically kidnapped and taken to Dubai.” Harry hisses.

“This seems too specific, too direct.” Reed says.

“That would explain the perfume, if it was someone closer, someone who knew Allie on a personal level,” Harry responds.

“What perfume?” I ask, losing the conversation now.

Reed lets out a groan and his hands rub down his face, he flinches with the movement of one of his arms.

“The gift bag, it contained another envelope and a gift. The card said ‘You play her so well’ and then there was a bottle of perfume in the bag. At first there was no relevance, I thought it was a random gift, like the roses. But then I opened it and I recognized it as Allie’s perfume.” Reed explains and I nod slowly, not realizing that I’d forgotten all about the bag in the midst of everything.

“Everything is strategic, everything is on a timeline, related to events,” Harry mutters, mostly to himself as if he’s trying to work through everything and fit them together to form the bigger picture.

“We’re missing something here, something huge.” Reed says, turning to face frontwards again.

“Should we go to the police about Willow?” I ask, trying to conjure up a way to get her back.

“It’s no use, they have no jurisdiction halfway across the world,” Harry answers, my mind once again forgetting he specializes in family law.

“Let’s just go home and we’ll come up with something, okay?” Reed begs, and I begin to feel guilty about the fact he got into an accident, on his way to me.

I need to begin to rationalize my thinking.

If I have learned anything from the past two months, it’s that we need to be two steps ahead, instead of two steps behind.

We swing by the grocery store to collect my car from the parking lot, seeing as though we’re going to need it now Reed’s car is totaled.

We called a private doctor to stop by and give him a real check-up to rule out any other injuries, but everything was fine. Perfect, even.

Reed is sprawled across the couch, I made sure to give him some of my pain medication, knowing it’s stronger than anything you can buy over the counter. His face is etched in worry lines as he stares blankly into the fire.

“Hey.” I say and sit down on the floor in front of the couch, his eyes unmoving.

I rest my chin on his arm and peer up into his eyes, the sheen of his glowing in the iridescence of the flames.

I admire the way the shadows dance around his eyes, lighting up the different angles, the blue color still enticing me as if we’d just met.

“Can you believe that two months ago, we didn’t even know either of us existed?” I sigh, wanting to draw his mind away from the negativity.

He lips pull into a lazy smile, but his eyes don’t coordinate with them. I pout my lips and frown my brows, to which he finally looks down at me.

“You are so goddamn beautiful. Do you know that?” He says to me, heat rising to my cheeks.

“You try to tell me everyday.” I beam at him from the first bit of happiness I’ve felt in a while.

He reaches up to my face with his grazed knuckles, brushing my hair aside as he gently touches my skin. My eyes flutter closed with the bliss of the sensation, the opposite of how I’ve been feeling. His hands continue to the back of my head and he pulls me nearer to him, the gap between us closing as our lips graze one another.

I let out a shallow whimper as he darts his tongue out, skimming the outline of my lips with the tip of it. I give in to my temptations and press my lips flush against his, his mouth tasting of peaches. The smell of his usual sandalwood spice begins to ignite the side of me that has been dormant for too long.

“Reed,” I groan, his breath is harsh and his nostrils flare as he pulls me onto him.

I straddle him in my night dress and his hands move down my spine before settling on my hips. We fight for dominance within our mouths, the desperation from me struggling to put up a good enough battle.

---