Page 102 of Pink Ink
“Which makes you aterriblestalker. Investigative work is not your forte, Miss Sinaga. There’s another bag of Cheetos in the cupboard and iced tea in the fridge, in case you missed it.”
He’s unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable. This isn’t how any normal person should be reacting—admittedly, he isn’t exactly normal. Neither am I.
Which begs the question, what would a normal person do in this situation? Beg? Run? Scream? Go straight to the cops? All of which I’m not doing, and as many times as I tell myself that I should, deep down I know I won’t. And that’s what makes this worse. There’s something off-kilter about me. He knows it. I know it. I’m just looking for excuses to fight it.
“Were you waiting for me to show up?”
“No, I’ve been following you around.” He gives me a blank look like it’s obvious.
I gawk at him. “How is that better?”
“I told you that you’re not visiting crime scenes alone anymore.” At least he has the grace not to remind me of the evidence proving how dangerous my extracurricular activity is.
“You’ve been leaving me hints. Why would you do that?”
“To lead you to me,” he says simply. “I also knew you wouldn’t be able to resist seeing this one. You thought of it, after all.”
That opens the floodgates.
“No.No.” I wave the stun gun at the chair and corpse. “You don’t get to put this on me. I didn’t tell you to murder someone, let alone likethis!”
“Love, it was such a bright idea. How could I not?”
A pun now?“I’m done.” I shake my head, voice rising in volume. Fatigue rushes through me from my movements. “I’mdone. This is pointless.” I push past him to get my things.
Ofcoursethe unhinged critters in my stomach flutter their wings. This is a sickly romantic gesture. I… I don’t entirely hate it.
A hand lands on my shoulder, and I turn around without really meaning to. I regret it immediately because everything spins. The creases around his eyes disarm me and hold me hostage. He’s always been the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. With red droplets decorating his skin, he’s downright striking.
“No.” Maddox looks like power—the deranged, dark kind I’ve been trying to encapsulate on camera. Eyes flashing with energy he has yet to expel. “Don’t.”
My throat bobs. I won’t be told what to do. I’ve fallen for those green eyes before; I’d be a fool for it to happen again when only one of our cards is on the table. “I won’t stand around and talk to you if you won’t take me seriously.”
“We’ll talk somewhere else, then.” He shifts closer. “Do you trust me?”
Yes. I suck in a sharp breath. “You’re a serial killer.”One who should kill me to protect his identity but hasn’t.
“Let me rephrase. Do you trust me not to harm you?”
His gaze meets mine, forehead wrinkled with worry forme—not the knowledge that I hold.
My lungs feel like they might collapse under the weighted silence as I recall every interaction we’ve ever had and the events of the past few minutes. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, until the day I inevitably die, he’ll never lay a hand on me.
“I do.”
I trust him, and it might be the biggest mistake I’ll ever make.
REYNA
The spot on my thigh Maddox was rubbing the entire drive feels hollow and cold now that we’ve arrived.
Everything is so cold.
The chill has seeped into my bones and rendered me frozen. I don’t want to move. I’m not sure I could if I tried. My head hurts too much.
Maddox had the heater on full blast, but nothing he said during the drive made it beyond my ears. I’m too numb to feel the pain throughout my body. I doubt I’d notice if the world stopped turning. Everything is a blur. My brain is spinning with thoughts I can’t make sense of, and I can’t escape the pressure in my head.
Maddox opens my door. I stay limp as he unbuckles me from my seat and cradles my body against his chest, up the garage stairs and into the building. I have half a mind to fight him and insist I walk, but I don’t have the energy. The truth is that the warmth of his arms is the only thing tethering my sanity together.
