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TREY

I sit like a king in the back corner booth. It’s my vantage point, where I can see everything happening in the bar. I take in my surroundings, the sounds, sights, smells. I have a girl whose name I can’t remember sitting next to me with my arm around her shoulders.

She’s pretty and I’ll sleep with her but I never go back twice. It’s better this way or they get attached. I know I’m attractive, always have been, but that’s not important to me. Sex doesn’t make me feel alive, not the way I do when I punish and torture. Men only. I don’t hurt women or children—that’s my only rule. And no matter the price clients are willing to pay me, I decide which jobs I take. I don’t kill innocent people.

A server comes to my table and I order another whiskey. “I’ll get that for you, Trey. Anything else?”

She’s a hot blonde, not unlike the one sitting next to me. I wonder if they’d be interested in a party of three tonight. But just as my dick awakens at the thought, the server says something that makes my heart stop beating.

“There’s some girl looking for you at the bar. Says her name is Maggie Houser. Want me to get rid of her?”

I remove my arm from around the girl next to me and shift in my seat.

Maggie Houser. What the fuck is she doing here?

“No. Send her over.”

The server’s face drops and the girl at my side huffs with a pout on her lips. I don’t even know her, and if she thinks she has a claim on me, then she’s out of her fucking mind.

“Oh, okay. I’ll tell her. And I’ll be right back with your drink.” She offers a weak smile before heading to the bar.

Guess the waitress thought I’d send Maggie away. It’s what I usually do. Most people in town know to leave me the fuck alone when I’m here, because this is where I come to relax and unwind when I get back in town from a job. I like to people watch, learn their behaviors, observe how they interact. And it helps to hear the gossip they’re all so eager to spread. I don’t get involved, but I pay attention to what’s happening around me. That’s a key to survival in my line of work.

Maggie, however, isn’t like the rest of them. When we were kids, she used to talk a mile a minute, and it always amused me. Yet, over the years, she’s grown quieter and more reserved. I’m sure I played a role in that, but I got what I wanted—she avoids me and people don’t mess with her. That’s how I need it to be, since I’m not around much.

Seconds later, the one person I’d give my left nut for is standing in front of me. All timid and nervous, wringing her hands together.

My little Mouse.

I look her up and down and take in her modest appearance. Her long, curly dark hair that she tries to hide behind. Her thin-framed glasses and pert nose. That smooth, light-brown skin and those plump lips that I long to have wrapped around my cock.

That’ll never happen, though, because she hates me and it’s my fault. I did what I had to do, and I’d do it again. I kill people for a living, for Christ’s sake. My childhood friend deserves better than that. I do miss her, though, and I’ve been keeping tabs on her since we were kids. That’ll have to be enough. Because, right now, I have to pretend I don’t like her, and it fucking kills me.

“Well, well, well… look what the cat dragged in.” I give her a cocky smirk. “What are you doing here, Maggie?”

Her lips are pinched together while her eyes narrow. Then she grits her teeth. “I need to talk to you.”

“Speak up, Mouse. Can’t hear you.” I’m being a dick, but it’s for her own good. Until the girl next to me snickers, and I shoot her a seething glare.

Maggie huffs and straightens her spine. “I need to talk to you, Trey. It’s… It’s important.” Her voice is stronger now, but if she clenches her fists any harder, her nails will cut into her flesh.

“I ain’t stopping you. What do you want?”

“I was hoping we could talk privately .” She raises her eyebrows before shifting her gaze to the scantily-clad woman on my left.

“I don’t have all day, Mouse, so get to it.” God, I hate being such an asshole to her, but it’s best she stays far the fuck away from me before I ruin her, like I ruin everything else.

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Just forget it. This was a mistake.” She turns away, but I’m not letting her go that easy. Maggie never comes here. I’d know if she did. So if she made a point to bring her sweet ass inside this bar, just to talk to me, then I know something’s up.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

She whips around to glare at me with her soulful brown eyes, and I hold her stare.

“Leave,” I command and she rears back, but I’m not talking to Maggie. I look at the girl in the booth with me with a passive expression. “Did I stutter?”

She points a pink-painted acrylic nail toward herself while her eyes go wide. “Me? Baby, I thought?—”

“Don’t call me that. You don’t know me,” I sneer. “Now get the fuck out.”

Her heavily made-up face twists into a scowl before she yanks her purse off the table and slides out of the booth.

Maggie stands frozen in place until the other girl leaves, then lifts her gaze to mine. I nod my head to the side and indicate for her to sit down. She hesitates for a moment but finally takes a seat at the edge of the booth, avoiding getting too close.

“You have my attention. Talk.”

An exaggerated sigh escapes her pretty mouth. She pivots her body toward mine. “I… I need…” Her shoulders slump as an exasperated expression spreads across her face. “I need your help.”

I’ve known this girl since kindergarten and she’s never come to me for anything. Not since the fifth grade. Not since we stopped being friends. Not since I became her tormentor when we were fifteen. If only she knew the truth, but that’d probably make her hate me more. Knowing I crave the feeling of warm, copper-scented blood on my hands would scare and disgust her. It would any normal person, but I’m far from that.

“I can’t help you.” The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.

“Can’t or won’t ?” She shakes her head with disappointment. “I never should’ve come here. I don’t know what I ever did to you, Trey, but?—”

She’s trying to get away, but I stop her in her tracks with a heavy palm landing high on her thick thigh. My fingers wrap around the inside of her leg and if I flexed my index finger, I’m positive I could brush it across her denim-covered pussy lips. My dick twitches and begins to lengthen inside my jeans.

“Get back here, Mouse.” I drag her supple body into my muscular side and wrap a protective arm around her, caressing her shoulder with my thumb.

I shouldn’t touch her like this, but it’s been more than a decade since I’ve been this close to her. Her familiar scent is intoxicating, warm and sweet and innocent like fresh-baked sugar cookies. She’s so fucking beautiful and she’s not even trying.

“Now, talk.”

Her gaze falls to the hand I still have on her—the same one I refuse to move until she makes me. “I… I think someone might be stalking me.” Her words penetrate my chest like a sharp knife.

“What the fuck do you mean, Maggie?”

She starts to explain, but doesn’t look at me. That won’t do, so I lift her chin with my free hand and force her eyes to meet mine.

“His name is Chris. Or at least that’s what his profile said.”

I’m struggling to listen while getting lost in the gold-flecked amber of her eyes. “What does that mean? His profile?”

“That’s the thing about small towns. Nobody will date me now, after you deemed me some kind of pariah back in high school. You bullied me constantly and acted like I had the plague. Everyone took your cue and it’s followed me around ever since.”

I wince. I was attractive, athletic, and popular. Guys wanted to be me and girls couldn’t stay off my dick. They hung on every word I said like it was law.

Fucking lemmings, the whole lot of them.

“Get to the point, Maggie.”

She rolls her eyes but continues. “I don’t have a lot of friends. And now that my parents have retired to Florida, I’ve… I’ve been lonely,” she whispers, dropping her chin to her chest. “I thought I’d try one of those dating apps and see what was out there.”

I barely contain the growl threatening to escape my throat. “And what did you find, Mouse?” It’s a struggle to keep the anger out of my tone, but I manage. Those sites are filled with nutjobs and predators, and Maggie makes the perfect target—beautiful, sweet, and finds the good in everyone.

“He lives a few towns over. He seemed so nice and kind at the beginning, and we had lots in common. We both love indie films and amusement parks and books. He thought my job as a librarian was cool. Or so he said.”

I chuckle, and she nudges me in the ribs. I used to tease her for always carrying a book with her, and now she does it for a living.

The truth is I loved hearing about her books. I was never into them myself, but Maggie’d get so excited summarizing the stories to me and telling me about the fictional worlds and characters. She’d come alive when she talked about them, and I was mesmerized by her passion and animated expressions.

“We chatted for weeks and weeks, getting to know each other. We were planning to meet in person, but then he started to say things. Things that…” Her voice trails off and she knits her brow.

My fingertips graze the bare skin of her upper arm and goose bumps rise to the surface. I like seeing that I affect her because fuck knows she affects me. She always has.

“Things that what, Maggie?” I know I’m not gonna like whatever she says next.

“It all started so sweet. I swear. But then… then he told me what he wanted to do. He scared me.”

Fire floods my veins at the thought of someone harming her. She’s the only one in this world, besides my parents, who I’d kill for with no questions asked. “What did he say to you? And don’t leave anything out,” I warn.

“I’m not sure if he was joking or not. Maybe he was, but it didn’t sound like it.” Maggie takes a deep, cleansing breath, her ample chest visibly rising and falling. “He said he wanted to choke me. Wanted to see fear in my eyes. See the bruises forming on my skin.” She visibly shudders. “He wanted to cut me to see what my blood tasted like. Said he thought the noise my bones would make when he broke them would sound like music.”

Her voice is shaky now, and I tug her closer. I’m ready to find this motherfucker and kill him with my bare hands. Drain the life out of him while I laugh in his face, then fuck Maggie in a pool of his blood.

I keep my tone indifferent so my anger doesn’t scare her. “Did you ever meet him?”

She shakes her head. “No, I never did. He had my phone number, but I blocked him. Blocked him on the app too. I thought that would be the end of it. But then, I started getting calls and texts from new numbers. Emails started coming in from fake accounts, telling me they were watching me. That they knew what I was doing, knew where I was.”

“Did you tell the police?”

“I did, but they couldn’t help me. They said without proof that it was Chris—I couldn’t even tell them who Chris was because I didn’t have a last name—and since he hadn’t physically done anything to me, it was out of their hands.”

Of course, they wouldn’t do anything. Lazy fucks. They could’ve at least tried to investigate.

“Then the notes started. I’d find them on my doorstep, or the mailbox, and sometimes on my car.”

I’m pissed she waited until now to tell me, but it’s my own fucking fault, and I have no one to be mad at but myself. “What the fuck, Maggie? You should’ve come to me sooner?”

Her laugh is humorless. “Are you joking? You’ve hated me for years. Why would I have come to you? I’m only doing it now as a last resort before I decide to move away so he can’t find me.”

Over my fucking dead body is she leaving.

“What do you want me to do?” Just tell me, and I’ll do it.

“I don’t know.” She sighs with apprehension in her eyes. “Maybe you could pretend to be my boyfriend or something? But only for a little while!” She blurts out the last part as if she’s worried I’d say no. “Just until this blows over. If Chris, or whoever he is, sees that I have a man in my life, maybe he’ll lose interest and go away.”

My poor little Mouse. So delusional.

No man could ever stay away from her, and not one obsessed like I am. If anything, having a boyfriend will only piss this guy off. But if he’s ballsy enough to come near her, I’ll destroy him and take pleasure in ending his life.

I sink deeper into the leather cushions, spreading my muscular thighs farther apart until my leg touches hers, and she jolts. “You want me to be your boyfriend, baby? That what you need?” I taunt her because I like watching her squirm, just like she did when I used to chase her around my yard with worms.

“My fake boyfriend, Trey. Fake.”

“Fine. Then we start now.”

Maggie’s eyes go as big as saucers, and her mouth drops open.

“I’m taking you home, and you can tell me everything I need to know. We have a lot to catch up on, Mouse.”

It’s time for me to stop pushing away the only woman I’ve ever loved. She’ll either accept me, or run for good once she learns the truth.