Page 6

CHAPTER 6

Butterfly Man

I didn’t follow her. I’m not a stalker.

All I did was check the location Birdie put in the Uber app, and it happened to be the café across the street. There’s nothing wrong with having a cup of coffee while reading my favorite book at the place right around the corner from my loft.

We are bound to meet. It’s not intentional. It’s destiny. She just doesn’t know it yet.

My heart skitters when she climbs out of the car in the same outfit she’s just masturbated in. If I concentrate hard enough when she comes in, will I be able to catch the scent of her wet pussy? I curl my lip under my teeth, imagining her taste.

She’s anxious, looking for something…or someone. I’m right here, darling, and I’m harmless. You should never feel anxious around me.

When she enters, her gaze is still wandering restlessly behind her shades. It falls on the large Ficus Ruby that obscures my table for a split-second, but she doesn’t see me. She gives me her back and sits, bestowing me with the gorgeous outline of her ass. I’m dying to know if she’s going to make the same orgasmic sounds I’ve heard today when it’s my face instead of that chair.

“God, you’re gorgeous. Have I ever told you that you look even more marvelous with dark hair? Don’t get me wrong. I loved your blonde waves, but this…is you . And I love you .”

I smile as she glances at me over her shoulder and says it back. Then she’s on my lap, her ass bouncing on my thighs while her hair is brushing my shoulder, and her mouth is wide open with her screams of pleasure.

“Is there anything else I can get you?”

My eyes snap open. I sit upright and make sure my cap and the hood on top of it are in place. “No thanks,” I tell the waitress without looking at her, pushing my sunglasses up my nose and covering my crotch with my book.

A woman approaches Birdie’s table. Her clothes are expensive. Tasteful jewelry. No wedding band. The briefcase in her hand gives a clue about her job. An ambitious African American woman who has a job that pays for nice expensive things. Corporate? Banker? Lawyer?

She’s giving Birdie a book to sign. A fan? I haven’t seen her around here before. A woman as busy as she seems won’t have the time to read recreationally. But if she does, she won’t randomly and accidentally walk into the same café the author of the one fiction book she has in her briefcase has just entered.

Who are you and what are you doing with my Birdie? I strain to overhear their conversation, but I’m too far away to catch anything. I fish my phone out of my pocket and resort to my best friend: technology.

A reverse image search tells me who she is. Adriana Lockwood, senior partner at Abbot and Lockwood. Ms. Lockwood is a family law attorney specializing in divorce.

“What are you doing, little bird?” Is she divorcing Blake? It’ll only make him angrier, nastier to her. This isn’t the way to resolve things with him. “I have a plan, darling. I will fix everything for you. All you have to do is wait and watch it all go away.”

But she doesn’t know that. The promise I left her isn’t clear enough. She doesn’t trust me yet. I have to show her that she can believe and rely on me. I must send her another message, louder and much sooner than I’ve planned.

She gets a call that riles her up. My protective instincts flare. Who is that dick? Just tell me and they won’t get to live another day. I hate to see her like that, scared and insecure. The urge to intervene is strong, but I force myself to remain still. For her sake, for our sake, I can’t expose myself just yet.

Ms. Lockwood talks to her, and it seems to ease my little bird’s anxiety. They go back to their tables. A few minutes later, a man in a suit enters the café and approaches Birdie’s table. A cop. I don’t need a search engine to tell me. I know a cop when I see one.

I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.

I slide lower in my seat and feel the cold metal of the gun in the inside pocket of my hoodie. I always have a gun on me. You never know when you need one. It’s best to be prepared.

Birdie is tense, on edge. My fists clench. If that man dares threaten my Birdie, I will not hesitate to act. She’s mine. I protect her at any cost.

Eyes pinned on the target, I do what I do best. Watch. Observe. Wait for the right moment to strike.