Chapter 15 #2
My body was a bowstring, ready to be plucked.
My nipples were hard points beneath my bra, and wetness soaked into my panties.
The last thing I wanted to do was leave.
I wanted Gideon’s ravenous gaze on my body again.
I wanted his hands to touch and claim and possess.
I wanted everything—wished I could have everything.
The everlasting love of a happily-ever-after.
The pleasure of good sex. The ability to take his body into mine the way I knew he wanted. The way I wanted but could never have.
Most of all, I wanted him to know me—all of me, secrets and flaws and all—and keep looking at me exactly as he was in this moment, forever.
My tongue slid out to lick the tip of his thumb, and his body went rigid from head to toe. Drunk on the intensity of his reaction, I swirled my tongue around again, tasting the salt of his skin.
“Sadie.” His voice was a tortured groan, as if he wanted me to stop. But instead, he pushed his thumb into my mouth. I fastened my lips around it and sucked. He grunted—
And the door flew open. “Gid—oh, shit. Sorry! Sorry!”
“OUT,” Gideon bellowed, his eyes on mine, his thumb sliding out of my mouth as he shielded me from view of the door.
“That flash drive Sadie got did have footage of Mr. Titty on it,” Jack said from the doorway. It sounded like he’d stepped around the corner but had stayed near. “Thought you’d want to know.”
Gideon let out a shallow breath, his eyes blazing as they circled my face. “Fine.”
“Yep,” Jack said, and closed the door to leave us alone again.
“This isn’t over,” Gideon warned, sending a thrill rushing down my spine. Then he tangled his fingers with mine again and dragged me, face flaming, out into the other room.
We all watched the video on the screen. A hooded figure dressed in all black other than a pair of white shoes darted into view.
They spray-painted breasts onto the side of Rock Bottom with a few smooth, practiced movements, signed their work, then glanced over their shoulder and sprinted off toward the forest behind the bar.
A moment later, a motorcycle came to a stop in the frame.
Cash got off his bike, stared after the graffiti artist, then considered the new breasts on his clubhouse’s wall.
“That’s it,” Jack said when the video stopped. “Do we think Mr. Titty vandalized Sadie’s car?” Jack asked, leaning back in his chair. It squeaked slightly as he spun around to look at us.
Connor glanced up sharply. “What? Why would he do that?”
Jack shrugged. “He knew, somehow, that she was getting this footage, and got spooked?”
Gideon was staring at the still frame of Cash on screen. “Mr. Titty has a motive. He wouldn’t be so prolific if it was just the thrill of tagging all these buildings. He’s trying to make the town look unappealing to newcomers.”
“Newcomers like me,” I said, finishing the line of thought.
Gideon’s palm slid up my spine. It was embarrassing how much I loved that touch.
How much I’d missed him reaching for me like this, especially when Gideon didn’t even seem to notice what he was doing.
His brows were drawn and his eyes were still on the screen.
“We know that whoever vandalized Sadie’s car wants her to leave.
That could be Mr. Titty escalating to direct threats.
Instead of making the town unappealing to new residents, he’s trying to scare them off directly. ”
Knox hummed from his chair, his hand coming up to rub his jaw. “Could be a coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Gideon said darkly.
“Cash doesn’t want newcomers in town,” Bennett, the youngest brother, piped up to say. “If Marswood Harbor grows, his territory gets threatened.”
“You think he orchestrated this?” Jack asked, waving a hand at the screen. “Got someone to tag his bar so he could give us the footage? If that were true, why wouldn’t he give us the video when we asked the first time?”
“I don’t see him for it,” Gideon said, shaking his head.
“What if Mr. Titty is multiple people?” I asked. All eyes turned to me, and I cleared my throat. “Would that change your opinion?”
Gideon frowned at me. “What do you mean?”
“I started looking at the graffiti today,” I said, pulling out my phone. “That’s how I ended up at Rock Bottom. I was taking photos of every tag I could find because I noticed something strange. There are two styles that Mr. Titty uses, and to me that says two people.”
After selecting all the photos I’d taken, I handed Jack the phone so he could transfer the pictures to the big screen.
A moment later, they were up, and Connor’s fingers were flying over the keys.
It took him less than two minutes to get all the pictures dropped onto a map of town so we could see the distribution of photos.
“The breasts on the church doors are one style,” I said, pointing to the spot on the map. Connor clicked the photo and dragged it over to one of the many screens. I gestured to another photo. “Compare that to the tag on the hair salon.”
We went through all my pictures, and I categorized them on two screens. All the men were silent and watching.
“One style favors large breasts with tiny nipples. The signature is always angled upward, and there’s a lot of overspray.
” I pointed to the other screen. “These breasts are more pear-shaped, and the nipples are more realistic. The signature is clearly different, and the spray is much more concentrated.”
“It’s two different people,” Gideon agreed, staring at the screens. “Maybe three.” He gestured to the big breasts, subtly different in a few of the images.
“The other thing I noticed was the location of the tags. Most of them are on Mars family buildings.” I felt the weight of everyone’s attention turning toward me, and I fought not to fold under the pressure.
“I got curious,” I said, a little defensively.
“I mean, I married into the family, right? And then Caroline made a comment about the museum being paid for by your grandmother, so I started Googling buildings in town when I found a tag. Most of them belong to your family, or at least have some sort of historical significance.”
Knox’s fingers flew over the screen, and at least two-thirds of the graffiti locations lit up. “She’s right,” he rumbled.
Bennett clapped me on the back and wrapped me in a hug, laughing. “I gotta go talk to Grandma Mars’s computer guy. He did something right when his algorithm picked you, Sadie.”
“It’s just a theory,” I protested, but I was struggling to fight my proud grin.
I glanced over to look at Gideon, who had a strange look in his eyes. When Bennett dropped his arms from around me, he reached over to tug me closer. His hand went around my arm, thumb stroking the inside of my elbow. “Good work,” he murmured.
“So who are they?” Jack asked, returning to the issue at hand. “And are they the ones who threatened Sadie?”
“And how do we find out?” Knox added in a quiet rumble, his brow drawn in a deep frown. Silence settled over all of us in the wake of his question, and I glanced at the brothers and cousins, waiting for someone to answer.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Gideon, who’d been scowling at the screens, lifted his head to stare at me. “What’s obvious?”
“We need to set a trap,” I said.
They all turned to look at me. Gideon understood me first, and his scowl deepened as he crossed his arms. It was Connor who looked most confused; he was the one who finally asked, “How would we do that?”
I spread my arms. “Easy. Use me as bait.”
GIDEON
She was out of her mind if she thought I would allow her to put herself in harm’s way. Out of her fucking mind.