Page 48 of Vicious Hearts

“I talked to him when I was collecting intel, way back when I got the gig to do the case profile. He was a creep then, too.”

Roxy digs into her dessert with a spoon. “He was okay with me at first. Swept me off my feet a bit, I suppose, and I enjoyed the attention, especially since you…”

Her voice trails away to silence. I know what she was gonna say, so I don’t embarrass her by making her finish her thought.

“What does Graham actually do?” I ask. “I know it’s something in logistics.”

“Hedoesn’t do much but draw a salary, but his father’s business is specifically movement and storage of pharmaceuticals. Laboratory stock, medicines, that sort of thing.”

I’m wary of letting my hatred of the man cloud my judgment, but this information is undeniably intriguing.

“Does he have access to the stock?”

She shrugs. “I can’t see why he wouldn’t. His daddy isn’t inclined to deny him anything, so he can probably do whatever he wants.” She glances at me as she catches on to my train of thought. “No, you’re not thinking about that right,” she says. “The drugs that were given to Farraday were illegal.”

I lean against the hood of the car. “Think again. Really think it through.”

Roxy speaks hesitantly as the pieces fall into place. “The Rx meds would be delivered to the hospital, batched up and labeled. It would be easy enough to swap out Farraday’s medication if he had someone under the thumb inside the hospital, but eveneasierat the source. Someone who works for Fisher Pharma.”

I nod. “Don’t forget the chloroform. He’d be able to get that easily too.”

Roxy tosses her empty dessert box into a nearby trash can. “Graham’s son was the third kid to die. A big fuss was made about it, and a reward was posted for any information leading to an arrest. You think Graham’sfathermight be protecting him?”

“Maybe. But Hillard alibi’d Graham for his son’s murder. It all checked out. Graham’s wife said he was with her when the kid was abducted, and they called it in straight away.”

Roxy drops her head onto my shoulder. “And then she left him,” she says. “Maybe she was covering for him all along.”

I think of Roxy with Graham and feel suddenly nauseous. “I’m not sorry I hit that piece of shit,” I say, sliding my arm around her waist. “If I find out he’s the killer, I’ll be fucking delighted, because I’ll be obliged to murder him with my bare hands.”

“Well, exactly,” Roxy replies, “which begs the question—why is he getting in your face? He must have known what he was doing this morning when he goaded you, and then he went and did it again this evening.”

“Graham failed to control you when you were dating. The Dollmaker failed to kill you. Narcissistic sociopaths don’t cope well with failure—I sure don’t. Neither do common-or-garden misogynistic losers, so whichever Graham is, he could just be losing his shit and acting out.”

Roxy shudders in my arms. “Let’s get in the car and warm up,” she says. “I’m sick of thinking about all this stuff.”

* * *

I’m barely in the driver’s seat before Roxy is upon me, clambering onto my lap.

“I know it’s wrong,” she murmurs, reaching for my shirt buttons, “but seeing you punch Graham like that? Itdidsomething to me. I think you were right—Iama little bit deviant.”

I shuck her dress up over her thighs, her round ass smooth in my hands. “And I’m a complete fuck-up,charodeyka. You wanna get railed by a monster? I’m not complaining.”

Her panties are satin, silky under my fingertips as I press against her sex. The heat from her draws a growl from my throat.

“Are you wet already?”

“I’ve been wet since before we left the restaurant.” She licks the shell of my ear, biting the lobe, and my cock lurches.

Naughty little minx. Taking the initiative already.

She’s got my shirt open, her hands on my chest. She grazes her nail over my nipple, and I bite my lip. I ease my hand into her panties and touch her smooth mound, slipping a finger between her hot pussy lips.

“Can I do whatIwant?” Roxy asks. She grinds on me, rubbing my hard cock against her ass.

I kiss her, holding her cheek in my palm. “And what might that be?”

She rests her forehead on mine and looks into my eyes. “I wanna be in control,” she whispers. “You have so much power over me. I want to take some of it back.”

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