Page 38
“Well, that’s what happens when time passes by.” He lets out a humorless laugh, smoothing down the front of his grey shirt.
“You’re so funny. You weren’t funny the last time I saw you.”
“Maybe because I was in the hospital after I survived an attempted murder, and had witnessed my brother die. Look, are you here for a reason or just to chit chat? I have things to do.” He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me, his eyes roaming over my body in a way that gives me goosebumps, and not in a good way.
I turn around, opening my front door, when I feel a steel grip force on my arm. I stare down at his fingers that are wrapped tightly around my lower arm, making me wince.
He notices it and smirks.
“Let me go.” I try to shake him off, but to no avail.
He only lets go when I step hard on his foot. He grimaces, taking a step back, which gives me time to get away. I open my door, giving him one last look over my shoulder. “Get the hell off my property.” He holds up his hands in defense, walking backward, his eyes trained on mine, only losing sight of me when I slam the door in his face.
I notice it only an hour later. A red-purplish mark has started to form on my lower arm, in the form of fingerprints.
Great.
The mark luckily doesn’t hurt. It’s only sore when you press on it, but I hate the sight of it. It reminds me of my childhood.
It’s not that noticeable so far, but in a few hours or days, you’ll be able to see it from a few feet away.
I’m sitting at the dinner table, working on a new portrait. This one is more personal than the others I’ve worked on. Dinner is cooking on the stove. I’m keeping an eye on the boiling pan when I hear the familiar ring of the doorbell.
Oh god, not again.
I grab a wooden spoon, in case it’s Officer Kane again, so that I can whoop his ass. That won’t get me in jail, right?
I sigh, preparing myself for who I might see. I blow out a breath when I see it’s Carson. He grins, then notices the wooden spoon in my hand. “You’re planning on hurting me with that?” he teases. “I’m sorry, Sunshine, but you’re going to need something better than that.”
I chuckle, opening the door for him. “How was work?” He is home earlier than I anticipated. I thought he had a few hours left on his shift.
“Busy. There was a car accident a few miles out. It took us a while to evacuate everyone.”
He turns around and meets my eyes. His mouth opens when the smile on his face vanishes, turning into a thin line. His jaw clenches so tightly it must hurt. But his eyes. His eyes are filled with fury and disgust focused on my underarm. The underarm that is now covered in fingerprint bruises.
Fuck.
“Alexis?” he asks calmly, “What the fuck is that?” His voice is still so calm, but I hear the fury radiating from it. I swallow past the knot in my windpipe, thinking over the choices: should I tell him the truth or lie? I don’t think he’s going to like either answer. “Someone grabbed me?”
“Someone…grabbed you?” he chokes out, his hands clenched tightly into fists.
“Yes?”
“Who?” he demands. My mouth is dry, my words coming out as a rasp.
“An officer came here this morning. He wanted to talk to me. He grabbed my arm. I told him to let go, but he didn’t, so I stepped on his foot, and he left.” The words escape in a quick breath. Carson’s face is getting redder and redder with every word. ”Kane?”
How did he?
The look on my face must say enough. He turns around, grabs the keys from his pocket, and storms his way over to his car.
“What the—Carson! Where are you going?”
“I’m going to kill him.”
“What—No, Carson!” I sputter, running after him, grabbing his arm, stopping him from entering his car. He tries to shrug his arm free from my grip, but I hold him tighter. Both my hands hold his muscled biceps in a tight grip, definitely not as tight as Officer Kane did with me, since I don’t want to hurt him, but tight enough he can’t get away from my hands.
“You are not killing anyone,” I tell him strictly. He peers into my eyes. He’s biting his lip so hard I’m scared he might break the skin.
