Desperate Valentine (St. Valentines)

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I grab the sheet from the corner and pull it around all four corners, looking to Jude once I’m finished.

“What now?” I ask with my hands planted on my hips.

“We load him into the back of the truck and I take him for a little drive out of town.”

“Should I start cleaning while you’re gone?”

“I’d suggest a deep clean for the bathroom. It doesn’t look too bad out here. I’ll help with whatever is left once I get back.”

“How do I get rid of the smell?” I ask.

“Lets just get him out of here. We’ll worry about the rest after, chatterbox.”

“You’re so rude.” I laugh as he opens the door and peers out before grabbing the mattress and sliding it out.

“Lift at the end. We don’t want him falling out right here.”

With one heave upwards, the mattress is on the back of the truck.

“I’ll be back in an hour, tops.”

“Should I be thanking you?” I tease.

“You can thank me later. We’re running out of time.”

Does this guy seriously think that I’m going to suck his dick in return for making this problem disappear for me?

I could have figured it out eventually.

Maybe .

***

A whole hour later, I finally scrub the last of the blood spatter in the bathroom and breathe a sigh of relief when the water finally runs clear under the faucet.

I head into my bedroom and grab what I need to take a quick shower. Unlike most of my showers, I keep it short and sweet.

As I step out, my phone starts to ring.

It’s Jude.

Shit. Should I even answer? I really have no reason to. The job is done. Blaise is gone. Mission accomplished.

Confusion sets back in as I reach for the towel while my phone continues to ring.

I at least owe him a ‘thank you’.

So I answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I’m at the front door,” he says. There’s a tone to his voice that makes me shiver in anticipation. Morally, I shouldn’t be so willing to let him back in, but I sure as hell want to.

“I just got out of the shower. Give me a few minutes.”

“Fine.”

I wrap the towel around me, opting not to get dressed. I can’t stand putting clothes over my still damp skin. The feeling just freaks me out.

Walking over to the door, I unlock it and tighten the towel around my chest as I open it.

“Holy shit. You did a good job cleaning up,” he says, handing me a coffee and a lemon poppyseed muffin.

My absolute favorite muffin. Of all muffins, he picked this one?

“I have a feeling I forgot something.” I sigh, the unease settling in as I take another glance around the room. “Like there’s a huge chunk of his skin hiding somewhere or something.”

“His skin was fully intact,” he reassures. “It’s not like you butchered him.”

“I dunno. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s not supposed to feel right, Veronica,” he whispers, taking a seat in a chair I have tucked into the corner of my bedroom.

“How many times have you—” I lick my lips nervously, realizing that I’m still standing in the middle of my room with just a towel on.

“Killed someone? More times than I can count.” He chuckles, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

“Seriously? Why that many?” I ask, suddenly regretting my decision to let him back in.

“I’m kidding. The answer is twelve, if you really want to know.”

“Twelve?!”

Who the fuck is this guy?

“That’s what I said—twelve.” He sits up, resting his elbows on his legs as his eyes explore my body from head to toe.

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. My throat suddenly becomes excruciatingly dry and I’m once again seemingly frozen in place.

“Cat got your tongue?” he smirks.

Before he can say another word, I turn and head toward the bathroom. I can hear him chuckle and mumble something under his breath as I shut the door.

How the hell did I end up trailing along with a fucking serial killer?

That’s what this is, right?

What does this mean for me?

Go figure. I get caught up with a gorgeous murderer.

Wait— I’m a murderer too.

Shit.

I quickly get dressed and find myself standing at the door with my hand on the door handle, mentally preparing myself for what’s next.

As soon as I open the door, he’s right there.

“What the fuck?!” I shriek.

“Calm down, I was about to knock on the door. You’re taking forever. We have places to be.”

“We?”

“I told you already. I’m not leaving you here tonight.”

My heart starts to race. “Why would I stay at your house? I can go—”

“I wasn’t really giving you a choice. Grab whatever you need. We have to make a pit-stop before we head out of town.”

Nice.

Now I’m an accomplice .

“I didn’t sign up for this. You offered to help me, and I let you. Can we just part ways now?” I’m not even sure if I mean that.

He’s intriguing, to say the least, but just as terrifying.

“You talk too much. Has anyone ever told you that?” He walks over to the door, smiling at me before heading outside.

I shake my head and gather what I need, stuffing it all into a small backpack. It’s not like I’ll be there for long. I can’t see his personality getting any better as the night goes on.

What a prick.

After a quick sweep of the room, I head out the door and get into Jude’s truck. “Where are we going?” I ask, twisting my ring around my finger anxiously.

“Top secret. You’ll find out once we get there,” he says.

“Oh, come on. I just wanna know if we’re going to kill someone else tonight.” There’s a teasing hint of sarcasm in my tone, trying to lighten the mood a little. For my sake, anyway.

He laughs, throwing his head back dramatically. “Aren’t you forgetting? You killed that guy. Not me.”

“You helped me get rid of a body though—same thing.” I smirk at him, because it’s true. He’s just as involved as I am.

Suddenly, he aggressively hits the brakes and pulls over onto the side of the road. “It’s getting mighty hard not to put that mouth to better use…”

“I offered to stay put in my dorm. You’re the one that insisted that I tag along. I’d much rather be curled up in my chair eating popcorn right about now.” Red flags is all I can see right now, but somehow my body wants this man to go through with his threats.

Go ahead… put my mouth to better use, Daddy.

“Were you spoiled as a child?” he asks, staring straight at me with dark, narrowed eyes.

“Quite the opposite, actually.”

Lie. Nobody says no to me.

“Hmm. I find that hard to believe.”

“Whether you believe it or not, it makes no difference to me.” I dodge his gaze and stare directly forward.

Finally after a moment of pure awkward silence, he groans and pulls back onto the road, driving like nothing even happened.

A few minutes later, we pull down an alley between two businesses and park at an angle. Nobody is around and it’s pitch black outside apart from the headlights from the truck.

“Are we robbing somebody?” I laugh.

“Stay in the fucking truck.” There’s a warning tone to his voice, a pitch I can’t quite place. I don’t dare betray that right now. I get the feeling he’s a dangerous man. So why are these nervous butterflies starting to feel like lust?

He steps out and leaves his door partway ajar. I watch him in the mirror as he heads to the back and grabs a chemical sprayer and steps closer to the dumpster.

I can’t see a thing, but I’m assuming he’s cleaning something up and I can only imagine what it might be. I remain seated the whole time with my eyes fixed on Jude.

Well, specifically—the outline of his cock beneath his sweatpants as he slowly walks into the headlights.

Surely I know better than to fall for the cocky serial killer…right?

Wrong.

He puts everything back into the truck and climbs back into the cab, seemingly avoiding eye contact with me entirely.

“So what now?” I ask, noting the scowl on his face.

“Now we drive back to my house and I get some fucking sleep.”

“Sounds like fun,” I chant back, unable to help the sarcasm.

“It is for me. It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah, I was there for the whole thing,” I chuckle, folding my arms over my chest as we turn onto the highway.

“Oh—that wasn’t the hard part of the day. I’m going bankrupt, little lady. My day went to shit long before you came around.”

No wonder this guy is on edge. It all makes sense now.

“Shit—I’m sorry,” I say.

“Shit happens. It’s been a long time coming. I just hoped business would pick up, ya’ know?”

“I get it,” I sigh. “How much do you owe?”

“Roughly… twenty grand, give or take.”

“I could help you, you know.”

Excellent idea, Veronica. Let the man know that you have money tucked away.

Why don’t you just tell him where your parents live so he can rob them too.

“Fuck no. I can’t do loans. It is what it is. I’ll just move onto the next big thing,” he says in a defeated tone.

“It wouldn’t be a loan. You could just consider it payment for what you did for me,” I reassure him.

He shakes his head. “No, Veronica. I’m not taking your trust fund money.”

“It’s not trust fund money, asshole. It’s half of my emergency savings. This stubborn brat has been saving money since she was twelve.”

“Just forget it, please.” I can hear the desperation in his tone.

“Fine. I am going to bring it up again though, because I have to repay you somehow,” I stubbornly add.

He makes a sudden turn into a driveway, parking the truck beside a large cabin.

“I don’t want your money , princess,” he says, smirking as he steps out of the truck.

As the words leave his mouth, the tone of his voice alone sends shivers down my spine.

I’m pretty sure I know what he meant by that, and I’m not opposed to the idea of giving him exactly what he wants.

A good, hard fuck might do us both some good right about now.