37. Veronica
CHAPTER 37
Veronica
An hour earlier
I need to be quick if I’m going to do this. With the knife clutched in my hand, I open Leo’s apartment door and poke my head out.
It’s late, and there is no sign of anyone roaming the halls. Shutting the door softly behind me, I sneak into my apartment for my trusty Bobby Pins. I also changed out of Leo’s clothes because I don’t want blood on his stuff if this goes wrong.
When the pins are secured, and I’m changed into a tank top and a pair of my own sweatpants, I go down the hall and stop once I’m standing outside Aiden’s apartment. The only reason I know which one is his is that once, when he tried to invite me back, to which I declined, he told me the apartment number in case I changed my mind.
I’d forgotten about it. Tucked the number away in the back of my mind, not realizing that I would ever need it again. But here I am. Plucking it from its hiding spot to plant a weapon in his place.
Before I kneel on the floor to pick his lock, something in my mind tells me to turn the door handle. When I wrap my gloved hand around it, I find it unlocked. It’s not surprising, I guess. With our neighbors, there would be no reason for him to worry about anyone breaking in.
How foolish of him.
Opening his door, I enter to a mess. There are food wrappers all over his counters. Beer bottles and Coke cans sit on the island right by the trashcan.
Seriously? How hard would it be to throw that shit away?
Pushing my annoyance to the side, I step into his apartment further, searching for somewhere to place the knife. I could hide it in his closet. Or maybe somewhere in his bathroom.
Standing in the center of his bedroom now, a shiver of disgust rolls through me. He has dirty clothes everywhere. For someone who has a well-kept appearance, his apartment is one of a pig’s.
There is a bedside table where I decide to stash the knife, but when I am about to open the drawer, a deep voice sounds from behind me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
My eyes lift to the wall, and I clutch the knife tightly. Straightening my back, I spin around on my feet to see Aiden standing in the doorway.
His eyes drop from mine to the knife that’s clutched at my side. “That looks familiar.”
“It should,” I state. It’s the same one I threatened him with.
“Except the last time I saw it; there was no blood on it.” He takes a step into the room. “Did you use it on that guy I met in the elevator?”
Leo .
I don’t bother answering him. Instead, I remain quiet and stand with confidence, my body built like stone. He cocks his head to the side, a deranged smirk tugging at his lips as his eyes roll down my body.
“Didn’t know you were into the freaky stuff.” His words are slurred, and when the next step he takes turns into a stumble, I know he’s drunk.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“I can tell.” He gestures to the knife. “Did you come here with that for some fun? That little bitch not doing it enough for you that you need a real man to finish the job?”
“Cute that you think you’re more of a man than him.”
“Let me show you,” he slurs again, almost falling forward with his next step. Aiden’s hand flies out and presses against the mattress to save himself.
“No, thanks,” I decline his offer, my foot beginning to tap on the floor.
“You’ve always been such a little tease.” He laughs darkly, and the sound sends chills down my spine. What he said is a lie. I’ve never once led him into thinking he had a chance with me. “Then you sneak into my apartment and refuse me?”
“That's not the reason I snuck in here.” I meet him halfway, still holding my posture.
“Then why did you?” Aiden stands up straight, blinking his bloodshot eyes to keep me in focus.
Maybe this will work out in my favor. “You killed someone last night.”
His brows dip in confusion. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yes.” I nod. “You did. Stabbed the poor man seventeen times. With this knife.”
I hold the weapon up between us. Aiden stares at the dried blood coating the blade. When he looks back at my face, his confusion switches to horror.
“You killed that man.”
Shaking my head, I purse my lips before I say, “ You did. Catch.”
I toss the knife at him, which he catches. His hand wraps around the blade, touching the dry blood before he removes it and grips the handle.
He gazes up at me, eyes flaring with anger. “You're trying to set me up?” When I only respond with a wicked grin, he curses, “You little bitch! You think you can get away with this?”
He points the knife in my direction, eyes darkening with pure evil. My breathing becomes sporadic once I realize what I’ve just done.
I'm trapped in this room with a drunken man who’s holding a knife. He’s standing far enough from the door that there is a chance I could get past him. I just have to be faster than him.
Not wasting any more time, I jump on his bed and rush around him. I hiss at a sudden pain in my left arm, but it doesn’t stop me from running. I leave the bedroom, slipping on the wooden flooring as I escape towards the front door. On my way, I throw his barstools to the floor, hoping it will slow him down.
My left arm stings at the motion of my tipping the chairs, and I feel warmth trailing down my skin. I don’t have to look down to know that the fucker sliced me! I tear off the gloves I’d been wearing and drop them to the ground.
Inches from the door, my chest vibrating with adrenaline, his hand grips my hair. He yanks on it so hard that I cry out in pain, and then he throws me to the floor. I wince as I land on my back, the wind getting knocked out of me.
“You think you could run from me?” Aiden wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, the knife still in his grasp. “I didn’t kill anyone last night, but maybe I will tonight.”
As he stands over me, about to straddle my body, but I kick my leg up. The moment my foot meets his dick, I’m scrambling to get up. He doubles over in pain long enough for me to get the door open.
I stagger into the hall and place my hand on the wall to collect my breath, not caring that I left a blood smear.
The air hasn’t come back to my lungs from me hitting the floor. As much as I would like to breathe normally, I can’t stand here to catch my breath.
I hear a frustrated growl from his apartment, which makes me finally start moving. I underestimated how fast he could be for someone who is wasted because one second, I’m a good distance away, and the next, he is slamming me against the wall.
The blade slices along my chest, drawing more blood that is seeping into my shirt. I clench my teeth at the pain but continue to fight him.
“I’m going to enjoy this.” He smirks as he begins raising the knife to my throat.
Without hesitation, I throw my head forward. His nose connects with mine. The pain is instant, and my eyes fill with tears, but it makes him remove the knife from my throat.
I sneak out from him and run only to pause when I see the two officers who visited Leo and me last night.
“Put your hands up!” I do as I’m told, raising my shaky arms.
A groan comes from behind me, causing me to flinch. Keeping my tear-filled eyes on the officers who have now pointed their guns at us, I plead. “Please… he was going to kill me.”
Both sets of eyes move from me to the man behind me. The one officer, Richards, yells at Aiden.
“Drop the weapon and put your hands up!”
The blonde officer, Stevens, gestures for me to come to them. Dropping my arms, I race over to where they stand. Stevens pushes me behind him while Richards moves a bit, still pointing the gun at Aiden so I can get behind them.
The other officer calls for backup. He takes one look at me and calls for an ambulance, too. I won’t be going to a hospital, though.
“I said drop the weapon!” Richards yells.
At this point, doors are beginning to open, and residents are popping their heads out to see what the disturbance is all about.
Aiden finally lowers the knife to the floor. He laughs in disbelief. “She’s lying.”
Richards approaches him cautiously. “So you weren’t trying to kill her?”
Aiden glances at me and chuckles to himself. He doesn’t need to answer the officer because the man already knows the answer.
“He killed that man.” My voice is soft but shaky as I inform Stevens. I swallow hard, wetting my throat. “He told me he killed the man before he was going to kill me.”
Stevens glances back to Aiden and then to the knife lying on the hallway floor. Once he looks back at me, he offers a kind smile. One that I wasn’t expecting from him. Especially since he pulled up that picture of me when he was in Leo’s apartment.
“The ambulance will be here soon to look over your wounds. Just try to calm yourself down,” he says in a sweet tone.
I nod, crossing my arms across my body when the sting on my arm and chest reminds me of what Aiden did. Richards has put handcuffs on Aiden, and Stevens leaves me to collect the weapon.
As Aiden walks past me, he scowls, and with no one looking at me, I grin. He fights in the officer’s hold at my expression, but he doesn’t get anywhere.
Once Aiden and Officer Richards are out of the hall, Stevens comes to stand with me until the backup arrives. When the rest of the officers enter the hall, he informs me that he will be right back to get my statement.
The other officers huddle in a circle around me, staring at my wounds but not saying much until Stevens arrives with a paramedic. The woman sets her bag down, assessing the cuts before finding what she needs to clean them.
“Richards is taking him down to the station,” he tells the others. He reaches into a pocket, grabs a notepad, and then focuses on me. “Tell me what happened.”
Wetting my lips, I open my mouth to speak when something gets my attention by the elevators. I lift my gaze from the ground to find the person I need the most right now.
“Leo.”