Page 16 of Wicked Riddles & Bitter Heartbeats (Till Death Do Us Part #1)

Chapter Thirteen

Atticus

I get all the blood off me with the help of Lilah and the hose we find in the backyard.

It’s easier to do, rather than worrying about leaving my DNA behind in this guy’s bathroom.

Not that my DNA is in the system, but with all the new technology, who knows what they’ll find.

They could connect me to a long-lost cousin, my mother, or more likely, my brother.

I’ve never wondered if cops keep their DNA in databases, but now I need to know.

This makes the game all the more dangerous.

On the way home, I make a call to Rex, letting him know I have a job for him, to which he promises to handle.

When Lilah and I are back home, I take a proper shower, then clean the entire thing with bleach, making sure to dump some down the drain.

Lilah is lying on the bed, browsing through the guide on the TV for something to watch.

She smiles at me when I stop near the bed.

“How are you feeling?” she asks.

“Scoot over.”

She moves to the middle of the bed, and I settle beside her.

“Thank you for today,” I say. The words feel weird coming out of my mouth. I rarely thank anyone for anything. “No one has ever done anything like that for me before.”

“I said it’s you and me forever, Atty. I meant it.”

“Who was that guy?” I ask.

She shrugs, clicking on something and causing the guide to go away and a movie to pop up.

“I just did a search for local pedophiles and that guy was close, so it made sense.”

“I’ve never had a code before. I don’t think I’m capable of that. Sometimes I just… go.”

“Well, you didn’t have me then. I’m here now, and I’ll make sure that you get rid of only the bad guys.”

I shake my head, running a hand through my wet hair.

“I don’t want you having unrealistic expectations.”

“What does that mean?” she asks carefully.

“I have issues.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Don’t we all?”

“I’m serious, Kitten. Ever since I was little, I knew something was off with me. I wasn’t like other people. I didn’t get joy out of things that should bring me joy. I didn’t cry when people were sad. I didn’t love my parents, and I didn’t have any friends. Well, I had one friend.”

Her brow pinches and she turns to me. “I’m not sure what you think I’m expecting, but you’re probably wrong. Give me credit, Atticus. I’m not as dumb as I look.”

“You don’t look dumb at all.”

She rolls her eyes, turning back to the TV, but I grip her chin and make her look at me.

“You do not look dumb.”

She sighs, and I kiss her lips before letting her go.

“I don’t want you to be too hard on yourself if I don’t listen when I get like that. I’ve never had anyone around me when that happens, so I don’t know anything about it.” I pause. “Well, except for one time, but I’m also worried that you’ll try getting in the way and I’ll hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do,” she says firmly. “I see the way you look at me even when you get like that.”

“This was one time.”

“This was the second, actually, and I’m sure the other times will be the same.”

I’m not the kind of man who likes to argue his point.

I say my piece, and if they want to believe me, they can.

I don’t like confrontation, and I don’t like debating.

I’ve told Lilah how I feel about this, she can do what she wants with it.

Arguing is only going to frustrate us both and make it worse in the end when one of us is wrong.

It’s better to leave it alone and see how the cards fall.

“Tell me about the one time,” she says.

“Huh?”

“The one time someone was with you. Was it the friend?”

Violet.

“Yeah,” I say with a nod.

“Tell me about him.”

“Her,” I correct, and her eyes widen. I shake my head. “It wasn’t like that with her. We were friends and we were… the same.”

“The same how? She kills people?”

“Yes, but more than that.” She turns to face me fully. “Violet and I met at a foster home. The parents were shit, assaulting the kids left and right, but no one cared because they took the kids no one wanted. We understood each other. From the first day I met her, I knew she was like me.”

“Kind of like me?” she asks in a quiet voice.

“Sort of,” I say. “Only different.”

“How so?”

“When I saw you, something in me told me I needed to protect you. That I wanted to make you mine. That I had to have you.” She smiles, her cheeks turning a little pink. “With Violet, it was more about being understood. About having someone by my side who just got it.”

“Like a partner?”

“I suppose, yes.”

“Where is she now?”

I shake my head slowly. “I haven’t seen her in eight years. One day I woke up, and she was just gone.”

That’s partially the truth. Well, mostly the truth. One day, I did just wake up and she was gone, but I was expecting it. It was only a matter of time. We were spiraling together and talking about how bad it was. How we shouldn’t stay together because it’s dangerous.

“From the foster home?” Lilah asks.

“She’s a few months younger than me, but she was going to leave when I did. When I went back to get her, I found her covered in blood, our foster father dead on the ground. He was trying to rape her— again . And so… she killed him. We left after that and stayed together for a while.”

“I don’t blame her.”

“Neither did I. But then things got out of hand…”

My chest gets tight when I recall everything that happened between me and Violet. I’ve never felt emotion in the way I felt it that day. Never felt a high the way I did in those moments. My first kill, Violet, the sex… it was a trifecta of perfection.

“Out of hand how?” Lilah asks.

But I don’t want to answer. I can’t keep talking about this.

It sets me off when I think about her, and for a ton of reasons.

The excitement over the kill, the anger I have over not knowing where Violet is and if she’s okay and why she left me at all.

I never felt like I had to protect her the way I feel I have to protect Lilah.

Not before I saw what she was capable of, and certainly not after.

Violet had been through a lot but she’s tough.

She can handle herself. If only I knew why she left me, maybe I could let it go.

Yes, I agreed about us separating, but I didn’t think she would actually leave me.

I turn on my side, leaning over Lilah. “How about we stop talking about my past and talk about what we’re doing next.”

Lilah frowns before it turns into a smile. She pushes on my shoulder to roll me to my back, then climbs over me.

“Or we stop talking completely,” she suggests, grinding against my dick that’s growing hard.

“Is it enough yet?”

I recall the way she said those words, and I knew exactly what she meant by them.

I wasn’t lying when I said almost. It’s just too much of a risk.

Once I give her what she wants, she’s going to leave like everyone else has.

The only difference now is I’m not sure I can handle Lilah leaving.

That’s a dark spiral I don’t even want to contemplate.