26. Mallory #3
I scratched behind the kitten’s ears, and she leaned into my touch, her eyes closing to contented slits. “What makes you think you might be the reason I keep getting these notes?”
He ran a hand through his hair, the gesture frustrated and tired, making the dark strands stick up at odd angles. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but since you might already be involved, and maybe it’ll keep you safe, I don’t see that I have a choice.”
I waited for him to continue.
“We’ve been hunting the people taking these girls,” he said.
My eyes widened. I didn’t know what I expected him to reveal, but this wasn’t it. If anything, I thought he might tell me his father was involved. But hunting them? “Hunting how?” I asked, wanting to understand.
His scowl lines deepened as he stared out the window intently. “You don’t want the details, but my brother’s girlfriend was one of those girls taken.”
“She’s helping you,” I clarified, putting the pieces together of this guy who was so much more than he let people see.
“Yeah,” he said, his profile sharp against the passing streetlights.
“And her friend. It’s a long story. Complicated as fuck.
But the organization made a fatal mistake when they made it personal and took one of ours, which is why I’m telling you to be more careful.
” His eyes flicked toward me briefly before returning to the road, the contact lasting just long enough to burn.
“Especially if my hunch about the notes is right. Then you’re not a random target. ”
My nose wrinkled, wondering if moving to Elmwood was the worst mistake Mom and I made. “You think they might try to take me to get to you?”
“Let’s just say, I wouldn’t put it past them. They’ve done shit like this before. Gone after people we care about to hurt us….to send a message.”
His warning made my nervous system light up.
“And with Kaylor and Kenny heavily protected,” he added, “they might need another way to hurt us. Another pressure point.”
Kenny?
That was a name I hadn’t heard before. I filed it away, adding it to the growing list of things I needed to understand.
His gaze dropped to my lap, to the small gray bundle. “What are you planning on doing with that?”
The kitten had curled into a tiny ball, already half asleep. “I don’t know.” I ran one finger along her spine, feeling each tiny vertebra. “I’ve never had a pet before.”
“Do you want one?”
I shrugged. “I used to. When I was younger. Before we started moving so much.”
He gave the kitten and me a sidelong glance. “A cat suits you.”
I sniffed a laugh. “Is that so?”
“Yeah,” he said, a hint of a smile playing at his mouth. “You seem like someone who would take in strays.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly, but I couldn’t quite keep the smile off my face. “I think.”
We pulled up in front of my house a few minutes later, the porch light casting a warm glow across the front yard.
Maddox shifted the Jeep into park but didn’t turn the engine off.
“Lock your doors, Hales,” he ordered, his voice serious again.
All traces of lightness were gone. “And your windows. Don’t let anyone in. ”
“Not even you?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.
He grinned, quick and devastatingly. “Well,” he said, leaning slightly closer across the console, “rules don’t apply to me.”
That damn smile. It was a thousand times more effective on me than Mason’s dimples ever could be. I swallowed, doing my best not to stare at his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind if you decide to scale my roof and knock on my window in the middle of the night.”
“Don’t tempt me,” he retorted, and his voice dropped lower, rougher.
A blush stole across my cheeks. Thank God, it was dark within the Jeep. I really wanted to lean across the car and kiss him. “So I should leave my window unlocked or locked?”
He gave me a look. “Lock the damn window, Hales.”
I grinned and opened the door, the interior light flooding the space, and grabbed what remained of my takeout as I cradled the kitten carefully against my chest, stepping out onto the curb.
Maddox stayed in the driveway until I unlocked the front door, slipped inside, and flipped the deadbolt into place. I peeked out the window to see his headlights sweep across the front yard as he drove off, the rumble of his engine fading into the night.
The house was quiet, and the kitten blinked up at me from my arms. I sighed, looking down at her. “What the hell am I going to do with you?”
She just blinked again, contentedly, as if she’d already decided we belonged to each other.
Now to convince Mom to let me keep her, not that I needed an additional responsibility, but I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to have her around to keep me company.
Especially at night… When I was alone.
Of course, I could tell my mom the truth.
Or I could beg her to let me keep the kitten. Seemed a safer route for all, particularly since I’d become attached to Elmwood. More specifically, attached to a boy. And my friends. It was definitely Paisley and Atlas that had me wanting this move to be my last.