Page 37 of Wicked Lies Grow Wildflowers

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

XANDER

A tight feeling invades my chest as I leave Maeren’s apartment.

What the fuck just happened? She doesn’t believe me, she thinks I’m the one that left the notes and flowers but it wasn’t fucking me.

I can see how she thought that, especially with me giving her the pet name Wildflower.

It fits, it fucking fits, and paints me to be a liar.

Ice crunches under my feet as I cross the street to my car, the cold leather seats leeching their chill through my jeans. I slam my hands against the steering wheel, beating on it with my frustration and fucking rage. And then it hits me.

If I didn’t leave that shit, then who did?

My blood runs cold at the thought, a nagging feeling surfaces.

Maeren wouldn’t cheat, I know that. She’s the most loyal person I know, and I haven’t ever seen anyone hanging around aside from Sage.

Which means whoever has done all of this is unknown to Maeren.

A stranger. A fucking psychotic stranger trying to get my girl in this insanely fucked up way.

I feel nothing but disgust and horror at the thought of anyone else trying to get to her.

To touch her, to take what’s fucking mine.

I’ve spent so many days and nights driving by checking on Maeren, just fucking watching from afar and I’ve never once seen anyone out of place come or go.

No suspicious activity to speak of, aside from myself, of course.

Which means whoever has been doing this knows how to be sly.

They know to make sure no one is watching, and fuck —they know her schedule too.

I’m torn between wanting to run back inside and make Maeren understand and wanting to give her space to figure shit out on her own.

If I press her too hard right now she might hate me more and I don’t think I could handle that.

I choose to give her space, but not too much.

She shouldn’t be left alone right now, not when I know someone else is watching her.

I sit in my car and keep my eyes trained on her apartment until all of her lights switch off, shifting into drive and pulling away once they do.

The look on her face as she screamed at me to get out nearly brought me to my fucking knees.

I have to fix this, she’s still mine, she will never not be mine, she just has to realize that.

I’m going to find out who’s been fucking with her, and then I’m going to make them regret every single time they fucked with what’s mine.

When I get home I tear into the parking lot, storming into my condo and slamming the door. I pace my living room, pulling at my hair.

“Fuck! ” I scream in anger before grabbing a glass off my end table and hurtling it at the wall. That felt good, the crash of the shattering glass therapeutic. For a quick second I debate throwing every fucking dish I own but decide better. This isn’t productive. This doesn’t get her back.

I’m usually very emotionally regulated, having to be with the nature of my profession.

Hot heads don’t do well as professional killers, it requires careful planning and extreme control, a certain level of finesse that only the ultra-calm can master.

I close my eyes and unclench my fists, rolling my neck out and relaxing my entire body.

Counting to ten, I focus on my breathing until I feel level headed again.

Time to figure out a way to win back what’s mine.

I’ve used all the tools in my arsenal to check out each one of Maeren’s neighbors.

Everyone clears, no red flags to be found.

Not one tenant has anything on their criminal record, everyone is young, and the building seems nice and quiet, so that rules out any of them.

I drum my fingers on my desktop, humming as I try to figure out another angle.

Cameras. There aren’t any in her building, seeing as it’s only a quadplex, but I can install a hidden camera.

Unfortunately I don’t have any on hand. I could also see about hacking into any security cameras that may be in the neighboring buildings, so I make a plan to drive over there tomorrow.

I can’t go back so soon, I’m not in the clearest headspace for that by any means, and I don’t trust myself to not stand at her door and beg her to let me in.

Scrolling through pages of security devices I find exactly what I’m looking for.

A small wireless camera that I could so easily attach to one of the bushes next to her apartment building’s front door.

The live feed would allow me to track anyone who comes and goes with my phone.

Setting it up on Maeren’s Wi-Fi will be a breeze.

Perfect. I order it and just have to bide my time for the next three days until it arrives.

That’ll be easier said than done, I’m sure.