15. Julia
CHAPTER 15
Julia
I wake in total darkness and turn to find Max’s side of the bed empty. Bleary-eyed and sore, I stretch out, feeling completely sated. I don’t think I’ve ever orgasmed so much in my life.
Max’s muffled voice carries up into the lofted ceiling, and I smile, remembering all the ways he fucked me. I grab his tossed shirt from the floor and shrug it onto my body. It hits me right in the middle of my ass, doing very little to cover me up. I smirk thinking of what Max will do seeing me like this.
My hair is a total disaster. Tangled and giving the ‘I’ve just been fucked’ look. I’ll have to dig out my brush from my bag downstairs.
As I reach the stairs, Max’s voice becomes clearer. He’s on the phone and rummaging around in the kitchen. I sneak down, planning to wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his strong back, when I hear something that stops me dead in my tracks.
“Nobody will know it was me unless you snitch on me, which I know you won’t. So, trust me when I say I’ll take care of it.” He says into the phone with such force it has me scrambling back up the steps.
My heart hammers loudly all the way up as my thoughts swirl in my head. What the hell did he mean by no one will know it was me? What won’t they know?
Suddenly, being alone in the woods with a guy I barely know is feeling like a fucking stupid decision. I find my phone on the bedroom floor, halfway thrown under the bed.
5%
Fuck. I hurriedly check to see if my location is still being shared, but it’s clear there’s no signal.
What if he’s planning to murder me, and this is his murder cabin in the woods? He tells girls a sad, sappy story, making them think he’s a good guy, and then, BAM!
I hope they don’t use my most recent photo I posted of myself for the missing person’s photo.
My screen flickers as I type out a message to Tasha.
No, no, no! Goddammit. It’s dead.
The door swings wide open, and I nearly jump out of my skin. Clutching my hand to my erratically beating chest, I tell myself to act fucking normal. I don’t need him to know that I overheard him.
Max chuckles darkly, and I see his large silhouette filling up the space in the door frame. “Sorry, Bella , I didn’t mean to scare you.” He comes closer, handing me a steaming cup of coffee.
“I didn’t know how you like it, so I added some creamer and sugar.”
“Thanks,” My voice squeaks out, sniffing the almond-scented beverage. What was that one murder documentary that Tasha and I watched awhile back where it said that people use almonds to mask the smell or taste of arsenic? Oh God, what if he’s poisoning me? Death by caffeine. What an ironic way to go for a barista.
“Are you alright? You seem…far away in your thoughts.”
I wave my hand and set the untouched coffee on the nightstand. “Totally. I’m just tired.” I let out a nervous-sounding laugh.
He sits next to me, sipping on his drink.
“It’s alright, you can tell me. I know that this has all been fast. We should probably talk about what this all means.”
I nod my head, eyes wide, looking for a way to escape the room if I need to. “Okay.”
“My life is a bit complicated, and I don’t know how far this can go with everything being so up in the air for me.”
My thoughts of escape come to a screeching halt. Oh . This is just a quick fuck for him—a seduce-and-dump kind of situation.
“Uhuh,” I murmur. His dark eyes lock onto mine, and all the air goes out in the room.
“But I can’t ignore that the thought of leaving you scares the ever-living shit out of me.”
I swallow hard.
“So, what are you saying?”
He gets up and starts pacing in front of me, gripping the back of his neck with his free hand. His nervous energy is palpable from where I’m sitting.
“God. I told him I wouldn’t say anything.”
“Told who?” My hackles are back up, ready to bolt.
“My cousin. He’s been giving me shit about you. Over how much I like you.” He comes back over, sets his cup down, and grabs both my hands in his. “He wants me to end it with you.”
“And you don’t want to.”
He shakes his head back and forth. “I want you, but I don’t…I can’t…”
“Why can’t you?” My heart is squeezing with anxiety, trying to understand. This short time that I’ve gotten to know him has been some of the best of my whole life. With Max, I finally felt like I had found a home—a person to claim as mine. None of what he’s saying makes any sense, but he’s right. The thought of not being with him fills me with panic. Now that my sleep-addled brain has had a moment to calm down and I don’t think he’s going to murder me, I reach up and cup his face, staring up at him. “You can tell me.”
His eyes screw shut with anguish. “If I tell you, you have to promise to hear me out. Start to finish.”
“O-okay.”
“This is serious, Bella. Go to jail or get the electric chair kind of serious.”
Oh God, maybe he’s in the mafia. All that talk of taking a break from the family business. I lick my lips, staring at the man before me who’s sunk his teeth into my heart. I see the man he is with me. The one that makes me feel things that I’ve never felt before.
Decision made, I reiterate, “You can tell me, Max.”
His shoulders slump, in relief or with despair, I can’t tell, but nothing prepares me for the words that come out of his mouth. “The CEO, who’s been on the news. I’m the one who kidnapped him. And then I killed him.”