Chapter 15
Mateo leaned against the wall and followed Melody with his eyes.
The throbbing bass of the music pounded through his veins, making him aware of his heartbeat.
Its rhythm was steady, but each beat thumped through him in throbbing pulses.
He had been at Solstice for nearly an hour, but Melody gave no indication that she was aware of his presence.
Instead of sitting in her section, Mateo lurked on the fringes of the second level, watching her every move.
The club was as busy as ever, which kept her in constant motion—taking orders, fetching drinks, clearing tables.
She wore ruby red tonight. The body-hugging dress flaunted the nip of her waist and the flare of her hips.
The short hem made her legs appear endless, and the matching fuck-me heels gave her a few extra inches of height, making it easy to keep her in his sights.
She seemed different tonight. He had noticed the change in her the second he had arrived.
The genuine warmth in the smile she typically gave her customers was absent.
The usual fluidity of her movements was stifled, as if it was all she could do to place one foot in front of the other or make her hands lift and manipulate objects.
Her eyes were avoidant, shuttered, and she chewed her lip as if distracted.
Mateo felt certain she knew about the raid.
Could that be the reason for her distraction?
Was she worried that the walls were starting to close in, that she might be next on the chopping block?
There was only one way to find out. Remembering that she was allowed a break every hour, he glanced at his watch.
Sure enough, she deposited her tray at the bar and exchanged words with Rudy.
Then, she was heading straight for him, though her gaze was cast downward.
Mateo backed down the hallway, pressing himself against the wall and holding his breath as she approached.
The surface of his skin began to tingle and he clenched his fingers into his palms. She was so close now he could smell her, and still she didn’t look up, didn’t notice him until she had nearly walked straight into him.
He peeled himself away from the shadows and stood in her path, grasping her upper arms when she collided with him.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I—” Her words choked off on a strangled sound, and she stared up at him with wide, fearful eyes. “Mateo.”
Without a word, he propelled her down the dark corridor.
Her heels clicked and scraped the floor as she struggled to match his long strides, but she didn’t fight him as he opened a door and deposited her inside.
Darkness enveloped them, and Mateo could hear her every breath, harsh and unsteady.
He heard her moving away from him in the dark, and then a dull yellow bulb flared to life over their heads, enveloping them in a circle of light.
They were in some kind of storage room, boxes and crates lined up against one wall, while shelves held stacks of towels and cleaning supplies.
A mop and bucket were shoved in a corner along with multiple brooms and a vacuum.
Melody’s distinct scent did battle with the smells of antiseptic and bleach.
She pressed herself against the line of crates and watched him as if he were a snake ready to strike at any moment.
He remained near the door, not certain he trusted himself to get much closer.
She was already pushing all of his buttons, standing there in that goddamn dress, her braids pulled into a high ponytail that flaunted her sloping jaw and cheekbones.
Her lips were tinted a glossy, beckoning, dark red.
The same color as the blood she’d drawn from him with her teeth.
Primal heat flooded him at the reminder.
“You have to stop coming here,” she said when he went on staring at her without speaking. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
Mateo narrowed his eyes. “Are you threatening me?”
“No, I’m warning you. Though I don’t know why I bother. It’s not like you listened the last time I told you to back off.”
“I’ve been told I’m stubborn.”
Melody scoffed. “More like obsessive.”
Yes, he was obsessive. He was obsessed with her for reasons he couldn’t begin to understand.
“If you had seen the things I have seen, you would be obsessive too. Suede, Wilson, and Morrison … the things men like them do … the way they hurt people—”
She advanced on him, mouth pinched and nostrils flaring. “You think I don’t know about the pain men like that cause? That I’m unaware of the trail of victims in their wake?”
Mateo clenched his hands into fists and held his ground. She was far too close, but there was nowhere for him to go with the door at his back.
“Then why cover for them?”
“Haven’t you been paying attention? I don’t have a choice. If any of them assumed I was even thinking about opening my mouth, I’d be dead.”
Mateo studied her closely, digesting those words. Suede had said as much to him earlier. “Suede, Morrison, and Wilson are done.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“You ought to be safe then. Unless there’s someone else you’re afraid of. Roman Korenic, maybe?”
The panic in her eyes at the sound of that name was unmistakable. The whiskey brown of her irises darkened and her pupils dilated. She blinked and shook her head slowly, a subtle warning.
“You don’t want to fuck with him, or the guys he runs with. These aren’t your bargain basement criminals we’re talking about.”
“So I’ve been told. And you should know, Suede insisted he’d turn up dead if he talked … but he told us everything once we offered him a deal and protection. I could do the same for you if you tell me how you’re involved.”
“There are no deals for women like me.”
He cocked his head, edging closer. They stood toe-to-toe, Melody craning her neck to stare up at him.
“And what kind of woman are you?” he asked, raising his hand and letting it fall against her shoulder.
His trailed his knuckles down her arm, drawing goosebumps in their wake.
He watched them rise against her skin, fascinated.
She was so reactive, even while keeping her mask firmly in place.
She practically vibrated at his fingertips.
It made him want to toy with her, pull her apart and discover what made her tick, what made that flash of defiance and desire spark in her eyes.
“The kind that this world chews up and spits out. The kind no one gives a shit about.”
“I give a shit.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I doubt anyone really knows you, Miss Johnson.”
She tried to rear away from him, but Mateo closed his hand around her wrist and reeled her back in. Melody gasped when their bodies collided, her arm trapped between them.
Her voice emerged in a low, rasping whisper. He strained to hear her over the pounding of the music vibrating the walls. “What do you want from me?”
His head spun as the possibilities swam through his mind, each one more depraved than the next. The things he could confess to wanting from her. The filth he could whisper in her ear as he drilled her with his cock.
He shuddered.
“Something true,” Mateo murmured, pressing his lips to her ear. “Something real.”
Melody pulled back to look him in the eye, her gaze open and vulnerable. Her lower lip trembled before she took it between her teeth. She lowered her eyes for a second and then brought them back up, taking a deep breath before speaking.
“I knew Kacey Mills. Not personally … but Suede brought her and a few other girls to the club a few times. He used to pimp her out of the back rooms downstairs. That’s what brought you to town, right? Kacey’s death?”
“How did she end up dead?”
“No idea. Girls appear and disappear from this place all the time. The circuit keeps them passing hands, state to state. But Kacey was different. One day she was here, the next she was all over the news, and they were saying some serial killer called The Satanist had done it. Normally, I would assume she crossed Suede or someone above him. But the way she was killed … I read the description of what was done to her. I’ve never seen anything like that. ”
“I have,” Mateo said. “That’s why I’m here. Someone is killing girls like Kacey … girls my intel indicates were trafficked through this ring. If I show you some photos—"
She shook her head and began to back away. “Now you’re trying to get me killed.”
“Then tell me what your role is.”
“I have no real role. I’ve seen and overheard some things I shouldn’t have. Things that could get my tongue cut out if I go running my mouth. Suede held that over my head to keep me quiet.”
“What have you seen?”
“Nothing you wouldn’t already know about. Money changing hands for girls. Kacey and others being sold out of back rooms. I’ve heard talk of shipments and cargo but that’s it. They talk business in VIP, but save the hardcore stuff for the back rooms.”
“They meet here?”
“Suede and his guys, but others too.”
“When’s the next meeting?”
Tearing her gaze away, she stared off across the room. “Even if I knew … I’ve told you enough. The little I’ve said is enough to result in my disappearance.”
Mateo wanted to press her further. It was clear her walls were crumbling.
He wasn’t certain how long she had been living this pretense, but it had to have grown exhausting.
She was coming apart at the seams. But, pushing her too hard would scare her more than he probably already had.
If Melody disappeared, he could lose an important link in the case.
That was why it was important to keep her in his sights. Nothing else.
“I understand,” he said. “I’ll go now.”
Her voice called out after him once he’d turned away. “You’ll leave me alone, then? You’ll stop watching me? Following me?”