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MADISON

H ours later, I’m lying in his arms, tired and spent. Yet I can’t seem to shut my mind off as the recent events plague my mind. Ben is the Falls Creek serial killer.

How did I not see any signs? There had to be… something.

“Jagger?” My voice is a hesitant whisper. His gaze locks on mine as I stare up at him, waiting for me to continue.

“Do you think Ben is… after me?”

Jagger stares at me, saying nothing. I know the answer from his silence, but I wait him out, needing to hear it. “Yes, baby girl. The look in his eyes when you gasped and he raised his head. I saw it…” Tightening his arms around me, “You know who he is. You witnessed what he did. Plus, you’ve noticed the similarities between you and his victims, right?”

I nod, holding my breath.

“That can’t be coincidental.”

My brow furrows as my thoughts race inside my head. Finally, I say, “I saw you the morning after my dad’s funeral.”

He nods, saying nothing.

“I felt like someone was staring at me at my dad’s funeral. The feeling intensified when I was walking behind…” I can’t even say their names. Chloe has not been a friend to me for a long time and Ben…

“That was you, right?”

He nods. “It was.”

“Outside by the rosebushes in my mom’s backyard. A guy in a hoodie, staring at me. That was you?”

Jagger’s grin widens. “Yes, baby girl.”

“The roses with the note on my mom’s doorstep. And the one beside my dresser with that… note.” My voice breaks, thinking of those sweet words. “You?”

He simply gives me a look, raising his brows like, what do you think ?

I grin, relief flowing through me. “The roses on the windshield of my car were a nice touch. But the note saying, ‘Soon,’ was a little creepy.”

Jagger freezes, his expression darkening and growing hard. “Those weren’t from me, Maddie.” His cold tone sends goosebumps erupting over my skin and I shiver.

“It wasn’t?” I squeak out.

He shakes his head. “No, baby girl. I did all those other things, but not that. When were they put on your windshield? Did they look like the ones from the rosebush behind your childhood home?” As soon as he fires off those questions, dread fills me. I know it wasn’t him.

Clearing my throat, I wrap my arms around myself. “The night you saw me at the coffee shop. I got off work, and they were on my windshield. I couldn’t tell if they were from the rosebush my dad had planted for me since they were wrapped in paper. There was a note that said ‘Soon’ beneath my wiper.” My brows wrinkle as another incident pops into my head. “The newspaper article about the Falls Creek serial killer that I found after I came out of the restroom at the bookstore. That wasn’t from you?”

Jagger looks unsettled, his hand running through his hair. “That wasn’t me, baby girl. Especially not the serial killer article. Do you still have any of that?”

I swallow hard. “They’re in my car, which is still on campus. I tucked the note and moved the article from my purse to my backpack. I don’t know why I kept the article…” I rub my arms, trying to get the goosebumps to go away. “I threw the roses on the floor of my car.” I sit up, running a hand through my hair. Looking at him over my shoulder, I confess to the pictures Ben showed me on his phone that had an X over my face and the creepy messages accompanying them. I don’t like the look on Jagger’s face and I know damn well he wasn’t behind them.

“Who do you think sent them?” I finally ask him.

Jagger sat up, wrapping his arms around me. He doesn’t answer as he tightens his arm around me, his handsome face lined with concern, intent eyes accessing my emotional state. “Bryce and Jason can get your car. We have a rollback.” He shifts on the bed, pressing his forehead against mine. “I’ll keep you safe, baby girl.” His voice drops to a low whisper, the promise filling my ears. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I nod, feeling better. I believe him. Look at the lengths he’s already taken to protect my safety. “I know.”

He smiles, erasing the darkness that plaques me. “I have a confession to make.”

Raising my brows, I say, “Okay.”

Then he confesses to stalking me for the past six months. I’m in shock. All the times he watched me with my dad, and neither of us noticed. I never felt his eyes boring into me.

When he gets to the recent stalking episodes in my childhood bedroom, I can’t help the laugh the bursts from me. “Wait… you were in my bedroom and I clung to your hand? I put my arms around your neck and you kissed me?” Shaking my head, I grin at him. “We are so unconventionally weird.”

Jagger laughs, winking at me. “I’ve been trying to convince you of that.” Growing serious, he resumes, spilling it all. By the time he’s finished, my heart is soaring, flying like a bird in the sky. His brow wrinkles as she watches me. “What? I didn’t expect—”

I shut him up by tackling him, making sure I don’t bump his wounds. My lips press against his, my arms around his neck. I rain kiss after kiss from his lips, covering his face, and back to his mouth again. When I’m finished and pull back, he looks so happy, yet perplexed.

“You care for me in a way no one else has before, Jagger. The things you do… Yes, some could be construed as creepy. But I know better.”

He raises his brows, saying nothing.

“When you watched me and my dad, we never noticed. And my dad was a damned good detective.”

Recognition flashes over his face. He swallows audibly before he says, “I made sure I wasn’t noticed. It wasn’t hard. When you and your dad were together, you focused on each other. I’d watched him at work and I honestly believe he helped me advance my stalker skills. He’s very observant.” Jagger chuckled, shaking his head. “A few times, I was convinced he spotted me. But if he did, he never confronted me." His feather light touch glides over my arm. “Your dad was a damned good detective. Devoted to his job. But there was one thing he was even more devoted to. You .”

Tears fill my eyes and I nod, the acute loss slicing through me.

Jagger tightens his hold on me. “At first, I watched you because of the corruption in Falls Creek. I needed to figure out if he was part of it. After watching him for quite a while, I realized he was a good guy and was aware of the corruption, but was trying to fight it legally, which is impossible. We were opposite sides of the same team.” Jagger pushes a lock of hair from my eye. “When he was with you, I stayed hidden and ensured both of you were safe. I’m glad I did. It allowed him to focus all his attention on you and not the bullshit around him.”

My smile is wide. “And that’s why I tackled you and kissed you like that. I realized you were watching over us. You had plenty of opportunities to make yourself known or harm us, yet you did neither.”

His smile is so wide, eyes so soft, making him the most breathtaking man I’ve ever seen. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Maddie. Full of so much warmth and goodness.”

I laugh. “Usually. There is a dark side to me.” Winking at him, I climb onto his lap. “You don’t wanna see it.”

Tugging me so tight against him I lose my breath, he cocks an eyebrow. “Don’t I?’

H ours later, Jagger rolls over onto his stomach, his head turned toward mine, tired eyes watching me.

Everyone else fades away as those intense eyes of his draw me in, like a fly trapped in a spider’s web. He stares at me for a few beats before his hand reaches over, lightly stroking my cheek. “ Mine ,” he simply states.

My heart squeezes inside my chest. The look on his face is too intense, causing me to drop my gaze to his muscular body. Leaning up on my elbows, I lightly stroke my finger over his arm as he lays his head in them, feeling his intense gaze boring into mine.

But I can’t look at him right now. It’s too much.

As my gaze roves over his back, a giant tattoo that covers the majority of his skin draws my attention. Leaning over, I study the giant red rose lies on a pile of embers, the outside petals covered in flames. My fingers reach out, lightly tracing over it. He gives a violent jerk, and I instantly yank my hand away as though I’ve been burned by the flames on his back.

His eyes are closed, his face scrunched up in pain.

“Jagger… Talk to me. Your tattoo… What does it mean?”

His eyes open, onyx orbs focusing on me.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I say, “I felt ridges and bumps… jagged scars… beneath the ink.”

His features tighten and harden, making me tense. Even though he looks formidable, his chiseled face is so damn handsome he takes my breath away.

Expelling a long sigh, he reaches his arm out, pulling me against him. Rolling on his side with a wince, he presses my body against his. “I’m sorry, baby girl. I… I-I’m just not… Used to talking about it. Everyone close to me already knows what it means, and I keep my shirt on around strangers.”

My eyes widened with surprise. “But… I mean, you were with other women, I’m sure. Just… Look at you.” I gesture at him, my cheeks burning. “You probably have women fawning all over you, just begging to have sex with you.”

“ Had women,” he emphasizes the past tense. “I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t been with other women. But it was meaningless.”

“You’ve never… Been in a relationship with anyone?”

He grins. “No.”

“You’ve never taken your shirt off around any other woman?”

He shakes his head, the smile dying from his face. “Rarely. I’d have brief one-night stands with the others. I didn’t want to deal with their bullshit questions. If they insisted I remove my shirt, I’d ensure it was dark. Kept my back away from them so they couldn’t see or touch it.”

“You took your shirt off for me.” My eyes are soft.

He nods. “Because you’re different.” Then he grins. “Just like I’m the first man who’s ever come inside you.”

I nod and say, “Yes. Only you.”

He pushes a lock of my hair behind my ear. “You were in a relationship… With him . Yet, he never came inside of you?”

I shake my head. “Since I have an IUD, I told him that he didn’t have to use a condom. But he was insistent. It didn’t bother me, although it made me wonder if he was unfaithful.” Swallowing hard, bile creeps up my throat. Yeah, he was cheating. Raping and murdering women.

“Look at me.”

My gaze lifts from the random invisible circles I’d been tracing on his chest with my finger.

“There’s only you for me. No one else.” Pressing a gentle kiss on my lips, he pulls back. “You’re not a bad judge of character, Maddie. Some people are good at fooling others for their own gain. That’s not a reflection on you, but them.”

Nodding, I give him a smile, though I’m not fully convinced yet.

But Jagger convinces me when he trusts me enough to tell me about his tattoo. “I’ll tell you how I got the scars on my back, and the significance of my tattoo. It’s not just to cover them...” He breathes out a harsh sigh, his face tight. “It’s so I don’t forget the worst day of my life. The day my innocence was stripped from me.”