Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Her eyes were wide and terrified, and her hand rose up to claw at his. Fast—and carefully because he would be damned if he hurt her—Royal spun her around. He locked her back against his chest. One of his arms curled around her so that he could pin Violet’s arms to her sides. His other hand hurriedly flew back to cover her mouth before she could scream. “Don’t fight me.”
Uh, yeah, she fought. Violet drove her high heel down on his foot. Shit.
“What are you doing ?” Avalon’s horrified voice as she rushed into the office after him.
Royal glanced toward his desk. He saw the crime scene photos spread out. He cursed beneath his breath. “I can explain,” he said to Violet.
She trembled in his arms.
Beau hurried in right behind Avalon. He hauled the door shut. Locked it.
The click of the lock seemed oddly loud, and when Violet flinched, Royal knew she’d heard it. Immediately, he let her go. The room had been soundproofed. Their words wouldn’t carry. Hell, even a gunshot wouldn’t carry. Not with the material he’d used. “I can explain?—”
She whirled and drove her fist right at his face. He caught it. Then realized he shouldn’t have. She deserved to throw a punch. Probably a few of them.
“OhmyGod!” Avalon’s cry. “ She’s Violet Murphy. ”
Violet’s gaze whipped toward Avalon.
Beau stepped forward as his stunned eyes raked Violet. “She’s the one you were just— fuck, man, you are screwed.”
Violet yanked her hand free of Royal’s grip, and she immediately ran for the door. Only Beau blocked her path.
“It’s not what you think,” Beau said quickly. He held both of his hands in the air. Probably in a pose that he wrongly believed made him look non-threatening.
“He’s a killer!” Violet cried.
Those words pierced right through Royal.
“He has pictures, he has—” A deep inhale as she gestured toward Royal. “I thought he saved me. He’s the one who took me!”
“I’m not,” Royal denied. He kept his voice flat with an effort. He’s a killer. His hands had fisted at his sides. The better for him not to reach out and grab her again. “I did save you.” One of the precious few times in his life that he’d done the right thing.
She darted around Beau. His brother made no move to stop her. Neither did Avalon. Violet’s fingers were reaching for the lock.
“I was hunting the killer.” Again, Royal’s voice was flat.
Violet’s shoulders stiffened. She spun toward him. One of her dress’s delicate straps slid off her shoulder.
“I didn’t kidnap you. I didn’t ever plan to hurt you.” Except, in her eyes, he saw hurt. Pain. Betrayal. “I was after him. ”
Her terrified gaze darted around the room. From Royal to Beau to Avalon…then back to Royal.
“You weren’t supposed to be there. But when I saw you and you asked for help, I couldn’t leave you.” His hands fisted even tighter. “I took you away, but that meant he got away, too. And he’s still out there.” He backed up. Focused his attention down on the photos that were scattered across his desk. “This is what he does. He takes something beautiful, and he wrecks it. He would have wrecked you.” No one can do that. The idea that someone could take her. Use a knife on her… No.
Rage beat within him. The dark and hot rage that had haunted him when he was a punk kid who didn’t belong any damn place. The one people had called trash because he’d been fucking thrown away on a New Orleans street. No one had even known his real name.
No one had cared about him.
He’d grown up. They still hadn’t cared. But they had learned to fear him.
He’d almost come to enjoy the fear. People didn’t mess with what they feared. Fear could lead to respect. Power. Except…
I didn’t want Violet afraid of me.
But you didn’t always get what you wanted in this world. Hadn’t he learned that, so long ago? Back when he’d been a foolish kid, hoping that his parents would come find him. That there had been a mistake. That he should never have been thrown away.
Only I was.
“I think we need some serious de-escalation here.” Avalon sounded all calm and poised. Like they were having freaking tea or something. Hardly surprising, though. Avalon spent too many days and nights interviewing killers. It took a whole lot to knock past her control.
Sympathy flashed on Avalon’s face. “Violet, I am sure this scene is incredibly unsettling for you.”
Violet shot her a look of utter disbelief.
Avalon winced. “Especially in light of, uh, what we interrupted earlier. You’re undoubtedly feeling a rush of emotions. Fear. Betrayal. You don’t know me. You certainly don’t trust me. And given that you are probably suffering from PTSD?—”
“Screw this,” Violet threw out. “Screw it.” She whirled back for the door. Flipped the lock and?—
“I hunt down killers because the cops aren’t catching them.” Royal’s voice wasn’t so flat any longer. It was hard with the intensity that burned within him. “I was at the old winery that night because I was hunting the man who killed those other women. I didn’t know he’d taken another victim, not until I heard you in the trunk. You weren’t my prey that night. He was.”
She looked back over her shoulder.
“Royal has done this before,” Avalon added. “You might have even seen the stories in the news. You know about Everett Thomas? The Slasher?”
Violet’s eyes widened. “He…he was found tied up for the cops. With a…” She licked her lips. “A bow tied around his neck.”
“Someone has a bit of a sick sense of humor.” Avalon rocked forward onto the balls of her feet. “Everett Thomas wasn’t the first killer discovered that way.”
Violet’s eyes whipped back to Royal. Then to Avalon.
“The cops want to find the vigilante who has been beating them to the killers—and leaving those perps with red bows around their necks. The authorities aren’t exactly looking to give him a big reward. Unless, of course, you count that reward as jail time.” Avalon’s brows climbed. “So, in light of that, you might understand why Royal wasn’t rushing into a police station with you. His appearance would have raised all kinds of questions.”
Royal was sure that Violet had plenty of questions. “I was not there to hurt you,” he said again. She needed to know that.
She looked at him, then away. Too fast. As if she couldn’t stand the sight of him.
Been there, done that before. His chin lifted.
Beau cleared his throat. “You protected him before. You didn’t tell the cops anything about him. We know.” He gestured toward Avalon. “We, ah, have some contacts who filled us in. You told the cops that you were in and out of it because of the blow to your head. That the escape and drive by the Good Samaritan were all a blur. Since Royal knew where to park his ride so that no security cameras would pick him up, the cops have nothing on him.”
“That’s why you parked so far away,” she murmured. “You were avoiding cameras?”
He’d avoided them all through the city. No traffic cams would have picked him up.
“You trusted him then. You’d just met him.” Beau watched her carefully. “Can you keep trusting him now? He isn’t the bad guy.”
Oh, but he was. And Beau knew that. Beau knew him better than anyone else in the world.
Beau wasn’t his blood family. But what did blood matter? Their connection was deeper than blood. When Beau had escaped hell, he’d pulled Royal out of the fire with him. And over the years, Beau had tried to fight the darkness that they both knew lived and breathed inside of Royal.
But there was just no fighting some things.
“Can you trust him?” Beau wanted to know. “Or when you walk out of that door, are you heading straight for the police?”
Violet didn’t respond. She also didn’t look back at Royal again. Dammit.
Avalon inched closer to her. “My name is Avalon Trahan. I’m a true crime writer. Look me up when you leave. Or call the police station and ask to speak to the chief. The chief will vouch for me. The chief will say that I’m not just some random woman with crazy theories.” A slow exhale. “I’m telling you that Royal isn’t the man who took you. I’m also telling you that, if you go to the cops, he will be locked up.”
“Why lock him up if he stopped predators?” Such a soft question.
“Because the stopping wasn’t some easy takedown. Because the legal system isn’t designed for what I did.” And Royal had known that all along. He just hadn’t let the “rules” get in his way. In fact, he’d made his own rules.
“I have to get out of here.” Violet shook her head.
He wanted to grab her. Keep her. “You’re in danger.”
Her eyes snapped over to meet his.
“He’s still out there,” Royal reminded her. “He’s not walking away from you.” Neither am I.
Her hand flew out. Pointed to the desk. “Why the hell did you do that?”
That . Him going down on her like a starving man. Not really something he wanted to discuss with an audience, but, then again, he hadn’t wanted to discuss any of the other shit with Avalon and Beau right there, either. “There are some things you just can’t control.” The way he felt about her was one of those things. “I want you.”
She didn’t say another word. She pivoted on her elegant heel. Wrenched open the door and left with a swirl of her red silk dress.
And every single part of him wanted to rush after her.
“Royal,” Beau began.
Royal lifted his hand even as he turned away from his brother. “Not yet.” He exhaled. I still taste her. And she’d just run away from him. Looked at him as if he were a monster and then fled. He inhaled. Exhaled. The bloody pictures were on the desk. Spread out. It won’t be her. He pulled out his phone. Sent out a quick text to his buddy Kai.
V is on the move. Keep eyes on her at all times.
Three dots appeared as he waited for the response to show then…
On her.
He heard the door click shut softly. Beau must have closed the door. His shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t look over his shoulder. Instead, Royal reached for the scattered photos. He tucked them all back into the folders.
“Royal…” Beau’s seething voice. “If she goes to the cops, you are fucked.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“You’re just going to let her walk away?” Beau pushed. “She could be heading straight for the nearest uniform right now!”
She could be. She could be moments away from destroying his entire world.
“Aren’t you going to stop her?” Beau seemed stunned.
He peered down at the desk. “No, I’m not.” If she wanted to burn his world to the ground, he supposed he’d just get ready to enjoy the fire. Maybe he should even pick up some marshmallows.
Then a hard hand grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around. Beau glared at him. “You lied to me. You said that you’d stopped.”
“I knew another killer was hunting. He started in the Atlanta area. That’s where the first two bodies were found. Then he came here. Body three.” Violet would have been number four. “Authorities are still piecing this shit together. People in power are keeping the truth from the media because they don’t want to shout that a serial killer is at work.”
But that is exactly who is searching for prey.
Royal stared into his brother’s intense gaze. “He’s fucking seeming to imitate the Slasher. His crimes are just as bad and as bloody.”
Beau’s eyes widened. Yeah, he had a personal tie to that prick.
“What was I supposed to do?” Royal demanded. “The cops weren’t closing in. Someone had to do something. If I hadn’t been there… Violet would be dead.” Guttural. “So you think I’m going to regret hunting? She’s still breathing. She’s still walking around. She’ll be fucking dancing as the star of her show soon. She’s living.” A hard shake of his head. “I won’t regret that. Not even if it means my ass gets tossed into a cell.” A reckless smile curved his lips. “Hardly like it will be my first time.”
Beau’s nostrils flared. “And what you just did on the desk with her? You regret that?”
“Hell, no. I just regret that your bad timing interrupted me.”
The door flew open.
Again.
The world seemed to be shoving into his office these days. Only…it wasn’t the world.
It was Violet.
Maybe she is the world. A sudden, random thought that he immediately dismissed as he focused on her.
She’d pulled the loose dress strap back onto her shoulder. Her chest shook with her hard breaths, and her eyes were focused right on him. “You’re hunting killers.”
He winced. “Sweetheart, maybe shut the door and don’t scream that out to everyone? I truly am trying to keep it on the down low.”
Violet stepped forward. She kicked the door shut with one high-heeled foot. Then her hands went to her hips. “You’re hunting killers.”
“Guilty as charged.”
She marched toward him. Beau backed up. Avalon didn’t say a word.
Violet stopped right in front of Royal. She tipped back her head and stared up at him. “He got away when you saved me.”
“Yes.”
“And you think he’s going to kill someone else…if he’s not stopped.”
His lips pressed together.
“Royal.” Her voice vibrated with intensity.
“I think he’s going to come after you, sweetheart. Not someone else. You.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s why you’re trying to get close to me. Because you’re still hunting him, and you are using me to do it.”
“I’m still hunting him.” I don’t want to use you. But, yes, he was.
“Fine.”
Uh, what was fine?
Violet jabbed her finger into his chest. “I’m hunting him with you.”
Oh, the hell, no, she wasn’t.
Her finger jabbed him again. “I’m hunting him with you,” she repeated.
“We should probably go,” Avalon murmured.
Royal didn’t take his eyes off Violet. “The hell you are.”
She leaned closer to him. “The hell I am.” A nod. “Because if I don’t, if you don’t agree to partner with me, then I will be going to the cops. I will tell them that my memory has suddenly become one hundred precent crystal clear.”
Royal blinked.
“We should definitely go.” Avalon’s voice was much firmer. “Great meeting you, Violet. Can’t wait to see the show. I’ve heard you’re an incredible dancer. Beau, let’s go. ”
Royal cut a glance at his brother. Avalon was tugging on Beau’s arm, but Beau was currently an immovable object.
“We aren’t done,” Beau informed him. “Not even close.”
Right. A reckoning would come. Just not now. One crisis at a time.
Beau swung away and marched out with Avalon. And when that door closed again…
“Am I going to the cops?” Violet asked sweetly. “Or are we hunting?”
Royal clenched his teeth. “You don’t want to fuck with me,” he gritted out.
“Oh, but I do,” she told him. “I do.”