Chapter 6
An hour earlier…
“I want everything you can find on Camryn Park.”
The silence on the other end of the phone is loud.
“Are you claiming her?”
Am I? My body screams yes, but my mind rebels.
My loyalty and respect for Jace Park are being stretched to the limit.
He’s one of the few men, maybe even the last man beyond Riggs, and Onyx and a few Legion Lords, that I trust and hold with any sort of regard.
But today. Tonight I was tested. There’s something about her that I can’t let go of, even knowing what it will mean if I cross the lines.
“You know this won’t end well if you do.”
The harsh reminder doesn’t help alleviate my frustration, and yes, the absolute knowledge that if I do this, it could end not just my friendship, but her life.
But, I can’t find the conscious to walk away.
Temptation started the moment I saw her.
And while I know I can’t have her the way I crave, the way my blood calls for me to, I can watch.
I can get near the fire and feel the delicious heat without burning everything down. “Just get me what I need.”
“Jesus Christ, Stef.”
The resignation in his voice doesn’t move me. “I want her car tracked. Her apartment bugged, video feed. All of it.” He hums on the other end, and I know he’s already searching. Checking into it.
“Video and audio is going to be hard. Her address is listed as a duplex on the Upper East Side, New York City. Two million dollar price tag. Probably crawling with security.”
“Don’t care. Get it done.”
I listen as he clacks away at what I know is a million-dollar computer setup, housed in a secret location even I’m not privy to.
I don’t want to know what he does on the side.
Riggs has as many secrets as I do. I could get Ansel, Cade, or Linc, or Easton, to check on her, but I trust Riggs to do it thoroughly.
It’s bad enough that I have to ask him. I don’t want him to be the first to look her up.
I want knowledge, the discovery of who she is, all to myself.
“She has a year-long lease with a man named Reed Spencer.” Riggs’s voice stalls my thoughts.
I log the name, wanting to know who he is to her. Jace had never mentioned his sister’s romantic relationships, but now it matters. It matters a great fucking deal to me who this Reed Spencer is. “Find out who he is. Her license plate is FVT 0678.”
“How the fuck do you know that?” He growls, still typing.
“Blue Beetle 2000 model.” I know because, after I left, I checked every car and easily figured out hers.
The cute blue car suited her personality, and when I disabled the lock mechanism, a skill I had learned early in the Legion Lords, I opened the dashboard and found her registration. Camryn Emilia Park.
“Give me 48 hours.”
“No. Tonight.” I end the call and sit, waiting in the darkness.
Sucking the smoke from my cheroot, I settle my weight on my bike, waiting, secretly hoping.
I stare at the lights of Jace’s lakeside mansion.
My cock is hard knowing she’s there, maybe still wearing that white bikini.
Perhaps she’s asleep, safe and sound in her bed.
I close my eyes, imagining sneaking into her room without her knowing.
Listening to the sounds of her relaxed breathing.
In my mind, I step closer to her bed, pull her sheet down, revealing her body.
I’d want her naked, her soft, unmarred, unbroken skin revealed to my gaze.
I see myself leaning close and smelling her perfumed skin.
Maybe she’s showered after the pool, washing away the sunscreen and chlorine.
Her skin would be perfumed. Floral. Like what I smelled as a subtle under-layer on her skin.
Then, every so gently, I’d trail my blade down between her chest. Her eyes open, and she stares at me in fear. Just a small incision, one tiny opening. Then those green eyes would refract, turning emerald with desire as I cleaned up her wound, tasting her skin and the warmth of her blood.
I pull out my knife and smile at the silvery glint in the moonlight.
Testing its familiar weight, I caress it in my palm.
When it cuts my skin, I release a moan, closing my fist over the blade, letting the steel cut deep, opening the injury more.
When I open my palm and remove the knife, a knife wound drips blood.
Licking my palm, I swallow the thick liquid, imagining that it’s Camryn Park’s blood I’m tasting, drinking.
When the twilight of a small blue car drives by, I smile, anticipation filling me. There she is. I start up my bike, shutting off my headlights as I pull out from the shoulder and follow her.