Chapter 20
Nora
I should feel scared, terrified of the masked man before me.
I just witnessed him break a man’s neck with his bare hands and not even flinch.
Plus, he admitted he’s the one who did that to Mike.
He’s capable of terrible, heinous things.
A monster in the flesh. A real-life boogeyman.
Yet I don’t feel afraid in the slightest.
Perhaps my masked watcher is the key to my salvation. Which is why I asked him to kill my father. If anyone can do it, he can. He seems almost pleased by the request, a flicker of amusement in those icy blue eyes.
I was so close to unmasking him tonight.
To finding out who the man behind the mask is.
I’m almost glad I didn’t. Part of me wants to hold on to the illusion for just a little bit longer.
Who needs a white knight when you can have a dark one?
One willing to do even the most evil of deeds to protect you.
Sure, my father killed in my name. But it was never truly to protect me. It was only ever for his benefit.
I watch as my savior lifts the dead man’s body with ease, throwing him over his shoulder as if he weighs nothing.
The sight is strangely arousing and my cheeks flush with shame and embarrassment.
My libido is definitely fucked. A man just died, and I’m turned on by how easily his killer lifts his body.
However, I’m finding it hard to find any sympathy for the intruder who broke into my home in order, no doubt, to kidnap me and return me to the cruel hands of my father.
“Do you… can I help?” I offer lamely.
I have no idea how I’d possibly be able to help him, but it seems like the polite thing to say.
Not that I’m familiar with the etiquette of body disposal.
Thankfully, I wasn’t privy to the kind of dirty work and nitty-gritty details that come with running a criminal empire.
After all, my father wasn’t about to leave his empire in the hands of a mere woman.
God forbid he entertains the idea that I could be good for anything other than producing children or being a bargaining chip.
“We could put him in an old suitcase,” I suggest, pointing to the old, battered suitcase that sits abandoned in the corner of the room, currently filled with excess books I keep meaning to donate.
He shakes his head. “Not unless you want to chop up the body to fit it in,” he says grimly.
He’s right, the man’s too large to fit in whole, even with some contortions, and I don’t have any real interest in discovering how much blood and mess chopping up a body would make.
“Do you have any old blankets?” he asks.
I nod before rushing to get them.
We wrap the body up in the blankets and he throws it back over his shoulder once more. Like this, you could almost believe he was carrying a very heavy old rug. It’s not ideal, but under the cover of darkness, it might work if he can get the body into the trunk of a car.
“Are you parked nearby?” I ask.
It suddenly occurs to me that I have no idea how he follows me around.
He just always seems to be there, like a ghost able to disappear and reappear at will without the need for frivolous human transportation.
Which is, of course, completely ridiculous.
He might be mysterious, but he is human.
He’s also not stupid, which makes me think he must have a plan in mind for how to move the body without getting caught.
My mind is racing, I’m so frazzled, yet he remains as cool as a cucumber.
Part of me wonders just how experienced he is at this.
“No more questions. The less you know the better,” he replies.
Even now he’s trying to protect me. He’s right. Should the police come asking questions, plausible deniability is surely my best option.
“Of course. And thank you… for protecting me.”
He nods and groans slightly under the weight of the body, walking toward the door.
I quickly open it for him, checking that there’s no sign of Max or anyone else. “The coast is clear,” I whisper and he heads out.
“Keep your doors locked. Don’t let anyone in,” he commands.
I want to ask when I’ll see him again, or what he’s going to do now. But he just told me not to ask any more questions, so I stay quiet.
I lock the door behind him and spend some time straightening up the apartment so there’s no sign of any disturbance.
Then I decide to take a long, hot shower.
As I’m lathering shampoo in my hair, I remember the surveillance system Max installed.
A system that will have captured the entire murder on camera.
Shit! I need to delete that immediately. The police are going to show up to interview me about Mike at any moment, and the last thing I need is for them to stumble across incriminating evidence of another crime.
I hurriedly rinse the shampoo out of my hair and wrap a towel around my head before drying off and throwing on some sweats and a top, all the while praying the system isn’t too complicated and I’ll be capable of deleting the footage.
I open the app on my phone and eventually manage to find it.
I watch, half fascinated, half disgusted, as the video shows the struggle between the two men.
My involvement is clear, and my reaction could easily be construed as calm and collected.
No jury would believe I was acting out of self-preservation.
I curse, fretting that the one thing designed to protect me will actually end up being my downfall. Why didn’t I ask Max more questions when he installed the system? How long does the footage back up for? If I delete it, will it still be accessible somewhere?
I delete the file and then pace around anxiously for a while before deciding to make myself a cup of tea with plenty of sugar.
Tea in hand, I sit on the couch and Josef joins me, purring as I stroke his fur.
As the adrenaline spike slowly starts to wear off, it occurs to me that if the cameras caught the murder, there’s probably other footage of my watcher on here.
Pulling my phone back out, I look back over the files that have been automatically saved. Sure enough, there’s plenty of footage of my watcher. To my surprise, I notice that he’s been coming in through the front door, which means he must have a copy of my keys.
I’m grateful that there isn’t a camera in the bedroom.
My cheeks redden at the footage it would have caught.
I go through each video, hoping to catch a glimpse of my watcher without the mask, but he’s careful to always wear it, and based on his movements, he’s aware of the cameras, trying to avoid being captured as much as possible.
With a sigh, I go to the settings and delete all footage.
I’ll need to find out if there’s a way to recover the files.
I wonder how I can ask Max without arousing his suspicion.
That’s if he’ll even talk to me after how I ended things between us.
But if tonight’s proven anything, it’s that I did the right thing by pushing Max away.
Sure, he’d have tried to protect me, but chances are he’d have ended up getting hurt, or worse, by the man my father sent.
Max is confident and strong, he knows how to handle himself, but he’s no match for trained killers.
I got lucky tonight. Lucky that my watcher was here, luckier still that he could handle himself and protect me.
If my father sent that man, he won’t stop at one. More will come for me. What if more are on their way already? With my watcher gone, I’m completely alone and vulnerable.
My phone pings, and to my surprise, and relief, I see that it’s a text from the only other person who could help me.
Max: Hey, I know you said you needed space, and I’ll respect that, but I just found out about Mike. I wanted to let you know that I’m here if you need a friend.
I respond without allowing myself to think about how selfish and weak I’m being.
Moments later, there’s a knock at my door. I rush to it and let Max in. I collapse into his arms, letting myself enjoy the simple comfort of his strong chest and warm embrace. The enormity of my situation finally sinks in and I’m unable to hold back tears.
“Shh, it’s okay, I’m here,” he soothes, stroking my hair gently.
How easy it would be to fall in love with this man. If only things were different. If only I wasn’t already falling for my dark protector.
The thought only serves to make me cry harder. I’m going to have to push him away, hurt him all over again to protect him. If my father finds out about Max, he’ll kill him just to punish me.
But for now, for just one final night, I want to pretend I’m the girl Max believes me to be.