Chapter 39 #2
I lower my forehead to hers, careful to avoid her cut. “You’re alive, baby. You’re okay. You’re safe now. You did the right thing, but now the only thing you have to do is listen to my instructions. You think you can do that for me, baby? Yeah?”
We both tense when Jack makes another gagging sound. I tighten my hold on her to bring her attention back to me.
“Mina?”
“Y-yes.” Her breathing quickens, and I rub my hand up and down her waist to remind her that I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.
“Yeah? Yeah. Good. Okay. Follow me, baby.” I step backward, and she follows.
“Just keep walking. Don’t turn around.” I let go of her just to hit the lights, plunging us into darkness.
“You’re doing so well. Keep going. I’ve got you.
It’s just you and me.” Once we’re upstairs in our bedroom, I flick the switch so there’s no way she can see back the way we came.
“That’s it. Not much further. I’ve got you. ”
I steal glances at the rest of her body as I keep walking us until we reach the en suite. I can’t see the state of her bare legs, but I don’t miss the dots of red on her forearm.
She killed him.
Mina killed Jack Norton for me.
A couple weeks from now, I might find satisfaction in that thought. Now the only thing going through my mind is how to fix this. I need to make sure she’s okay, then figure out what to do with Jack.
Mina doesn’t deserve to be dragged into my mess or be subjected to the level of investigation the police will do if I call them. If they look into me, they’ll look into her, and she’s not innocent on any front either.
But I can’t ask her to stay quiet about what she’s done. Thomas was different. This time, she took someone else’s life for me. She saved me—us.
Still touching her waist, I lean back to flick the shower on, and her attention falls from me to the water’s spray. She blinks and sucks in a staggered breath. Something shifts behind her eyes. An awareness of some kind.
The rise and fall of her chest slows, becoming more stable with every second that passes as her stare sharpens on the water swirling into the drain. It’s not coldness I can see, or malicious calculation, but her mind is turning. Quickly. It’s almost a . . . detachment.
“Shower,” I tell her when she makes no sign that she’s going to move. “I’ll get you clean clothes.”
That kicks her out of her spiraling. “No,” she rushes to say, expression far clearer than it was half a minute ago. “Please don’t leave me.”
I frown. “Never.” I press a kiss to her temple.
“He—he—he was—”
Cupping her cheek, I force her to look up at me. “But you saved me before he could.”
The tears running down her face might end me. If not, her stuttering will. “I . . . I . . .”
“He hurt you, Mina. He was going to try to kill you right after he killed me. You did what you had to.”
Her eyes widen and she tries to pull away. “Leo, oh God, I killed him. I fucking killed—”
“Hey, hey, look at me. If you didn’t step in, I’d be dead. Okay? The only reason I am alive right now is because you saved me. You did, Mina. You.”
I circle my arms around her and hold her against my chest, hoping she doesn’t notice that Jack’s blood is on me. Violent sobs tear through her frame, and I hug her tighter. None of this should have happened. I should have been here. I should have stopped Jack before he could hurt her.
“I’m sorry, baby. You shouldn’t have had to do that. I’m so sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. I—I couldn’t let him . . . There was no way . . .”
“I know. But it’s still my fault.”
She shakes her head. “He did this to himself.”
“Yeah, baby, he did.” My kiss lingers on her forehead, hating that I have to say the next part. “I need to deal with Jack.”
Deal with. I should’ve dealt with the fucker the moment he started messaging her.
Mina latches onto my wrist when I turn to leave. “I—I’ll help.”
Tensing reminds me of the pain growing in my side. This is my fuckup to deal with. I was angry and impulsive, and look what happened. I’m the one who’s supposed to be “slaying her demons,” not the other way around.
“You should shower and stay—”
“No,” she says adamantly, tightening her grip. “We take it as it comes. Together. You and me. That’s what you told me.”
With each breath she takes, she draws herself straighter with a detached calmness.
I can’t help but stare at her, remembering all the times I’ve seen her break down.
It isn’t until she says the next part that I understand what’s happening in that mind of hers.
She’s pulling herself together because in her eyes, she’s protecting me and not herself. I’m the one in crisis. Not her.
“We can’t call the cops because they’ll start investigating you, and who knows where that might lead.”
My lips part. I shake my head. “I can’t ask you to do that for me.”
Her hand drops from my wrist, her fingers threading through mine. “You’re not asking. I’m telling you that I’m going to.”
I try to see through her conviction, but it stays there, unwavering, and that one singular look has the power to ease some of the tension from my chest.
We have each other’s back.
We’re as crazy as each other.
Still, I give her a couple more seconds to change her mind. She doesn’t.
Pursing my lips, I try to come up with a rebuttal or demand that she stay here to protect her from more harm, even though I’ve spent the past month telling her that she can make her own choices and decisions. But I can’t.
If I make her stay, I’m throwing my promise back in her face and showing her that she needs me, not the other way around—even though it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I take a deep breath, then nod once. “We need to get rid of the evidence. His car is probably still outside too.”
She looks to the side of my head, and the muscle in her jaw twitches as she thinks. “We . . . we should dump his body by where he lives, so our alibi holds. We’ll also need to leave his car in Detroit to avoid triggering any kind of federal investigation from crossing state lines.”
My brows hike. I never thought there’d be this type of benefit to being with an author. Mina has graduated from stalking to body disposal.
She frowns at my chest in consideration, and I wait for her to tell me what else to do.
“It might be a good idea to post something to social media to strengthen your alibi as well. Nothing overly complicated. On the couch watching TV or something.”
If I didn’t know everything about her, I’d question whether she’s done this before. It’s hot as shit.
“Anything else?”
Her eyes dart to the side again, and she studies the wall as the cogs turn in her head. “We’ll need an oxygen-based cleaner, hydrogen peroxide, and bleach so his blood can’t be detected, and to kill any traces of his DNA.” When I don’t respond, her attention shifts back to me. “What?”
“How do you know this?”
She grimaces. “I write dark romance novels, Leo. You don’t want to see my search history.”
Under a different circumstance, I’d laugh. “Will you be okay going back down there?”
Taking a deep breath, she hesitates for several moments before nodding. “It’s just a body.”
It’s not just any body. It belongs to the person who’s tried ruining my life, time and time again. I’ve been dreaming of killing him for years. Imagined it in a hundred different ways, and weighed up the pros and cons of different methods.
Somehow, this is right. The way he became just a body.
But now, we’re even.
I’ve killed for her, and she’s killed for me.