Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
I glance up at him. “I don’t.”
“I crossed a major line with you tonight, but you make me unable to think straight.” He makes me feel the same, but I keep my mouth shut. “We can’t let that happen again.”
I change the subject. “You didn’t have to walk me to my car.”
He blinks at me. “I should have walked her to her car that night.”
“Who?”
He shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”
I place my hand on his arm to stop him from walking. “Who?” I ask, a little gentler this time.
He stares at my small hand on his muscular arm. “Ginger.”
I don’t want to push too hard, so I give him time, waiting for him to finish his thought.
“The night someone murdered her, she was the last one at the club.” He brushes a hand through his hair, glancing up at the night sky. “I should have walked her to her car.”
“But the news said the killer didn’t abduct her from here. So, whether you walked her out wouldn’t have mattered.”
“I just feel like I could have done more. I should have protected her.” His gaze scopes out the parking lot.
“What time did she leave that night?” I ask, sounding as nonchalant as I can. Not like the detective I am.
“Midnight. The night ended early because of some assholes getting out of hand. I had Brandon kick out a lot of members, who I’ve now banned from the club.”
The report on my coffee table says Julie arrived home from work at three and now he’s saying she left after midnight. “Banned?” I don’t want to play my hand, telling him I know Julie’s expected time of death, so I focus on the members he banned that night. “Who?”
He blows out a breath, shoveling his hand through his hair. He’s getting agitated, and I know my inquisition is ending. “I’d have to pull the file. It’s late.” He glances up at the storm clouds rolling in. “You should get home.”
I have so many more questions I want to ask, but I know I shouldn’t push. “Ok.”
Once we’ve made it to my car in the lot, I hit the key fob, and he opens the door for me.
I slide in, thanking him once more.
He holds onto my door, leaning his head into my car. “Swan,” he rasps. “Please drive straight home. Get undressed, slide under your covers, and be my greedy girl tonight. I want you to replay everything that happened in that room with me. I want your fingers to do the job I can’t.”
I inhale in a ragged breath, letting it out slowly as our eyes connect. “Ok,” I whisper.
He shuts my door and slides his hands into his pockets. I give him a small wave, and for the first time, I allow myself to appreciate his stunning smile without guilt.
I start my engine and slowly drive out of the lot. In the rearview, I see Devereaux strolling toward his Bugatti, and I want to hit the brakes, so I can spend more time with him. But I don’t. I head home. Do not pass go.
Straight home to do exactly what he said to do.
Because I am wound that tight.
I need the release like a drug addict needs their next fix.
Tomorrow’s my meeting with Finn, and I also want to do a little sneaking of my own. The fact Brandon would sleep with one Greedy Girl doesn’t mean he hasn’t with others.
You never know what could be going on.
Sugar says Ginger would never have slept with him, but doesn’t mean he didn’t try, right? I plan to follow him tomorrow. But first, I need to race home and get some much-needed relief.
“They’ve got a profiler working the case with us now,” Finn says as I sit in his white Dodge Durango. “They say with most serial killers, it’s a white male, age twenty-five to thirty-four years old. Charismatic. Charming. All that shit that Devereaux Huxley is. We should just bring him in.”
“They’ve already questioned him, and besides, he’s thirty-five.”
Finn scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Same thing.”
“Did you run the list of names I gave you?” I ask, changing the subject.
Finn nods. “Most have alibis for the time of the murders, but there’s a few people who I’m following up on. I also plan to question the Chekov brothers. I’ve been sitting in the far lot, taking pictures of people as they walk in, and I’ve seen them there occasionally. I also saw Kurt Merrick there.”
“The senator’s son?” I’ve never seen him there.
“Yeah, he goes to the club, and I bet Daddy doesn’t know. What if the girls were blackmailing him?”
“Didn’t he have some issues with a girl when he was in college?” I ask, trying my best to remember the story that I heard a few years back.
“Yeah, he beat the shit out of his girlfriend,” Finn says. “He’s definitely got violent tendencies. I plan on paying him a visit.”