Page 28 of Heat Lightning

I never officially quit my job at The Copper Kettle. It took a week for the heat stimulants to fully purge from my system, and by then, I was so exhausted it took another week in the clinic to recover.

My manager had called a few times when I missed the first shift and then gave up.

No one else reached out. No one cared enough to.

Gwen had, though. She’d helped me pack the few things from my apartment I wanted to keep and then got me out of my lease. She’d also set up my interview with Mr. Marino and arranged for the apartment to be furnished once I was hired.

She’d offered me safety, and instead of dwelling on the so-called “friend” who’d done the exact opposite, I’d decided thoughts of him just didn’t belong in my reality anymore. After escaping that night at the club, I figured he’d skipped town.

Besides, telling the police about what he’d done would’ve opened the whole can of worms, which I obviously wasn’t going to do—especially with the way my life had miraculously turned around.

Beyond that, what was there for me to do? Confront him? Ask why he’d done it?

In the end, it didn’t matter. He was a piece of shit who took advantage of a naive, vulnerable kid. There was nothing to gain from opening those wounds, not when I had so much to lose.

Tasting blood, I realized I’d clenched my teeth so hard I bit my cheek.

“Fuck,” the Masked Man said, voice rough. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I want you to leave,” I said, voice wooden. I wouldn’t meet his eye, afraid he’d see the tears I held back.

He reached for me, almost as if to soothe, but I stepped back. “Don’t touch me.”

“Sweetheart—”

And there was that fucking tone.

Throwing caution to the wind, I bent down, picked up the knife, and pointed it at him again. “Don’t condescend to me. You know nothing about who I was back then, or who I am now. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing with this bond bullshit, but I won’t be tricked again. Get. Out.”

Regret shone in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. People like⁠—”

I preemptively flinched in anticipation of that name again, and the Masked Man changed course.

“—like him hide in plain sight. The most dangerous monsters are the ones who can fool the people around them. What happened was never your fault.”

I searched his face. “But you do resent that you had to let him go to take care of me because of it.”

Something complicated happened with his eyebrows. “I do what I do to protect people like you.”

“That’s not a no.”

He blew out a heavy breath. “That night changed the course of my life,” he said roughly. “And yours, even if you don’t feel it. I’m trying to fix it. Help me break the bond, and I’ll leave. You won’t ever see me again.”

There was no more resentment in his eyes, only sadness. Sifting through the shock and disbelief, I realized how confining an unwanted bond would be. Did he have someone he cared for? Someone our artificial connection kept him from fully being with?

My omega bared its teeth, the possessive little devil.

I let my hand holding the knife fall to my side again. “I didn’t know…” I swallowed. “I didn’t know he was a… a… I didn’t know he’d done that before,” I finally got out with a whisper.

The Masked Man only nodded.

“You were following him the whole time?” I asked, almost hopefully, as if I could rewrite the past into something more easily digestible.

The mask shifted in an expression I couldn’t place. “Something like that.”

I paused. “And what about the third man? The one in the hallway you killed first. Why him?”

His eyes hardened. “Finding him was a happy accident. Trust me, he deserved it just as much as the rest.”