Chapter Two

“How was your night?” I asked as I stepped into his office.

“It was good. How was your night?”

“Not too bad.”

I looked around. Melina wasn’t here yet, which meant it was just me and Dean. “So, are we still on for tonight?”

“Of course. I checked your schedule. You get off at 5:00 tonight, which means you have a little time to get things going before I get there. Whatever special things you have planned.”

I laughed softly. “Don’t get your hopes up. I may not be in college yet, but I’m still pretty much that broke.” I winked.

“Oh, is that a hint?” He raised his eyebrows. “I can always give you my black credit card.”

I had to control my reaction. “I’ll pass.” I smiled. “I wouldn’t want you to think I was just dating you for your money.”

I made it sound like a joke, but it was the truth. I was willing to bet he’d had lots of girls try to date him for his money, and I never wanted him to feel that way about me.

“Trust me; I’ve never thought that about you.”

“Good.”

“You’re not the type. I know that type, and you’ve never given me the impression that you’ve ever been interested in my money.”

I smiled softly. “It’s because I’m not interested in you for your money. I actually think personality wise you’re kinda cool.”

Dean grinned, but I saw his cheeks turn a shade darker. “I’m glad you think so. What did you get up to last night?”

“Nothing really.” I pulled out a small baggy with white powder in it and handed it to Dean. “We’ve been working on white chocolate and lavender.” He raised an eyebrow. “So far this is our best batch; I might even keep the recipe. Oh, and we had some guy move in down the hall … He didn’t have any food, so we just let him have some of our leftovers, and he stayed for a couple hours.”

I saw his body stiffen. I shouldn’t have liked seeing it, but I really did honestly. I bit my lip. Glad to know he cares

“Really?”

“You’re not jealous, are you?”

I mean, I liked seeing the reaction out of him, but I didn’t want him going all crazy jealous boyfriend on me. That was not cute.

“That another guy got to spend time with you? Of course, I am. But I’m also jealous that Katie gets to spend time with you. I’m not jealous that you were hanging out with another guy, just jealous of people who get to see you when I don’t.”

“Kinda like how Melina gets to spend more time with you than I do.” I didn’t think before saying it. The second it came out, I knew I probably shouldn’t have said it, but it was out there now. They’d both told me several times that they were just friends, but I mean come on, he’d flown her out here from New York. Of course, I questioned it. And, of course, it made me jealous that she seemed to be the only person he would talk to about something. I wanted to be that person; I didn’t want it to be another girl, a pretty girl at that, and one he’d clearly known for a long time.

“Are you jealous?” Dean stared at me.

“Only a little,” I admitted. I wasn’t totally ashamed to admit it. As long as I kept it under control. “I mean, I like her. She’s nice. I just … wish you saw me the way you saw her.”

“Trust me. I see you in a much better way.” He stood up and crossed over to me.

“I mean in terms of talking. It’s like you can talk to her about anything.” His arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me close. “Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s great you have such a good friend in her … I just …”

“Wish you could be that friend?” He stared into my eyes.

“Yes.”

“Just like I could be like Katie is to you.” He smiled. “We all have someone who helps us with our goals. And normally that someone is a person we have a long-standing connection with. It will come with time. In time, I’ll be able to talk to you like I do Melina, and you’ll be able to get my help with your business.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I already did, but the truth was I didn’t really care about his opinion unless it was a strong one. If he said the hot chocolate was dreadful, I’d care … but if he said it could use less of something and Katie disagreed, I’d probably believe her.

Dean pulled away from me and gave me a smile. “Just because Melina is that friend to me doesn’t mean you’re not important. You’re just important to me in another way.”

I smiled, and for the first time today it was because I was actually happy. “I know, but still.”

Dean put a finger to my lips. His eyes locked on mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat. I licked my dry lips. It was amazing how this man could make me feel.

His lips touched mine for a fraction of a second before he pulled away from me. “It’s almost opening time; we should probably behave ourselves.”

“Alright, fine.”

I didn’t want to. Oh God, I really didn’t want to, but I was going to. Slipping out of his office, I made my way to the change room to get changed into a pair of black slacks and the uniform shit.

I spent a couple seconds looking myself over. My black hair was tied up in a bun, and the black and red striped uniform shirt looked cute actually, or, at least, I thought it did. I was more than willing to bet it had been Melina who came up with the idea of the four aces stitched on the back of it. I bit my lip thinking about her.

I liked her; I really did. She’d been the one to train me when I came here, but I couldn’t help being a little jealous of the relationship she had with Dean—one I was sure I would never have with him, and that sucked.

I wanted to be everything he needed. I wanted him to feel like he could bounce ideas off me if he needed to; I wanted him to feel like I could help him come up with ideas. Then you’re just going to have to prove to him that you can, I told myself.

My big eyes stared back at me in the mirror as I took a deep breath and gave myself a nod. Yup, I’d have to prove to him that he could do things like bounce ideas off me. But how was I going to get on the topic of work with him? That was going to be the main issue.

“Hey,” Natalie said as she opened the door and stepped in.

I grabbed my purse and pulled out my lip gloss. “How’s it going?”

“Not bad, you? How is it you’re always here before anyone else?”

“Dean and Melina are here before me.” Sometimes. Melina wasn’t always here before me, but Natalie didn’t need to know that.

“Okay, how is it you’re always almost here before anyone else?”

I shrugged. “I like being early. It was … something I picked up at another job.” How to date a boss without anyone realizing. Great skill to have. I should be sure to put it on all my resumes. I applied a quick coat of lip gloss and let my hair out of my bun.

“Well, I’m sure Dean loves it.”

“I’m surprised you don’t do it.” I gave her a wink. “Would give you two some time alone.”

Jealousy tugged at me as I said it, but I didn’t want to make it look like I was trying to get the time alone with him.

Natalie laughed as she slipped into her uniform. “Actually, I’m going to play hard to get for a little while.”

“Really?”

“Yea, I met this guy, he’s super cute, and he asked me out at the weekend, so I’m going to see how that goes.”

“Lucky guy.”

“Well, he’s definitely not as rich as Dean, but he is almost as hot as him.” Natalie grinned. “Anyways, money never really mattered that much to me.”

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue talking. She caught my eye and smiled but didn’t say anything for a couple more seconds.

“When you grow up without much, you either let the idea of becoming rich control you when you’re grown up, or you learn when you’re little that money can’t buy happiness and that all that matters is finding inner happiness.”

It was the smartest thing I’d ever heard her say. Actually, I’d never really heard her talk about anything except getting at Dean.”

“You’re right. Just gotta be thankful if you’re one of the ones who were smart enough to figure out money can’t buy happiness.”

She gave me a soft smile before heading to the changing room door. “I was.”

*

I plastered on a fake smile as I strode towards the slot machine with three beers.

“Here you are.” I handed one man his beer. The sober ones tended not to give out any tips, but once you got them drunk, they tended to get a little bit gentle with their wallet. I made my way to the guy a few seats down. He held a $20 out to me. “Thank you so much, sir.” I handed him his beer before taking the money.

I froze, staring at the man who had just come in here.

Jake tilted his head to the left as he looked me up and down. “Hey.”

“Hi! How are you doing? Coming to gamble away your sorrows?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Meeting a friend.”

“You’ve already got a new girlfriend?” I grinned, letting him know it was a joke. Jake chuckled.

“No. Just had a friend promise to get me drunk, so figured I’d take him up on it.”

“Well, let me get you a beer.” I smiled, turning on my heel and heading back to the bar. It felt odd seeing Jake here, not because I’d just met him, but because he knew me from outside of work. I always hated having people I knew outside of work find me at work. I took a deep breath heading back to the bar.

“Hey,” Melina caught my eye. “Beer me?”

“Sure thing.” She grabbed a couple of beers and handed them to me. I placed then on the tray and nodded my thanks. Since we’re a casino, we give out free booze, you know as a way to get people drunk, so they spend more money—which meant that often times my job was pretty much just to walk around with a tray of beer.

I headed to the table I saw Jake sitting at. Another guy looked me over as I came over and handed them each a beer.

“So, how are you settling into the new place?”

“Fine thanks. I got some of my own food so you won’t have to worry about me trying to bum more off you.” He grinned as he took a sip of beer.

“I really didn’t mind.”

“Still. I’m sure it would have gotten annoying. I didn’t know you worked at a casino.”

“I do.” I didn’t mention I was dating the owner of the casino. I glanced over at the clock. “But my shift is almost over, so I’d better get going. I’ll see you around, Jake.”

“See you around, Rebecca!” he called as I turned on my heel and headed back to the bar. I waved over my shoulder.

“He’s cute.” Melina grinned as I reached the bar. “Was he hitting on you?”

“No, he … I know him.” He wasn’t a friend, which was what I’d been about to say.

“Well, if I didn’t have a boyfriend, I’d be getting his number.” Her eyes lingered on him as she spoke.

“If you break up with your boyfriend, I’ll be sure to get you his number, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds fucking perfect.” Her eyes sparkled as she finally turned to look at me. “You’re getting off, right?”

“Yup.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow. And have a good night.”

I sure as hell hoped I was going to have a good night. But I still wasn’t even sure if Dean would actually make it home in time for dinner so I didn’t reply; I just headed for the change room and changed out of my uniform. Tucking it into my purse neatly, I slipped into a dark blue skirt and a black cowl neck T-shirt. It wasn’t anything crazy fancy, but when I looked in the mirror, I felt pretty, and right now that was all that mattered to me.

I had to make a quick stop to pick up the stuff for dinner, and thankfully they had everything I wanted, and it was affordable.

When I got to Dean’s, I used the spare key that he’d told me was under a stone in the garden to let myself in and headed right for the kitchen.

How’s work?

I sent the text right before getting to my own work on dinner.

Long. Waiting for reporters to show up; they are 30 min late. -_-

Oh :(

How’s dinner coming along? What should I be expecting? ;)

A surprise ;)

I crossed over to the frying pan with the sausage and bacon. My meal was nothing fancy, but beans and buns were a staple, and I’d been told I made wonderful beans, so I was going to make them and hope they impressed Dean. If not, I’d order pizza or something.

It took me half an hour to get everything ready to go and the beans, along with the meat, in the crockpot, then it was just a matter of waiting.

Dean still had another two hours at least at work, so I wasn’t too worried; it was just a matter of finding a way to spend that time.

And boy did I find a way to spend it.

I know snooping is wrong, but really who doesn’t do it? I bit my lip looking around his living room. Besides the TV, the bookshelf, and the video games, there was a couch, a coffee table, and a couple end tables. The end tables had some nuts and seeds in them, along with a little black book that had phone numbers. It put my mind at ease to see things like “mom” and “mom’s cell” in there, along with the fact that a lot of them were male, and they all had little notes about how they’d met—most seemed to be business associates.

I knew it was stupid that it made me happy to know that the majority of people in his address book were male, I mean for all I knew, he could be into guys, but it still did.

After I was done in the living room, I made my way into the bedroom. Although I’d been in it before, I’d never really looked around. I did, however, notice once that there was a black box in the closet. And if movies had taught me anything, it was that boxes should always be opened.

I crossed to the closet quickly and pulled it open. Despite the fact I knew Dean would be gone for a couple hours, my heart still raced as I reached for the closet door and pulled it open.

My brow furrowed as I stared down at all the papers. That’s what the box was; it was filled with papers. Pulling out a handful, I caught sight of some pictures as well. I grabbed a handful of the pictures and flipped through them. The girl in the brown hair that was cut to her ears and spiked up. She smiled widely at the camera as she held a drink in her hand. I flipped to the next one.

In this one, she was flipping the camera off with her tongue sticking out. I didn’t realize it made me smile until the smile vanished when I flipped to the next picture. This time she wasn’t alone. Dean was there with her; he had his arms wrapped around her tightly and was kissing her cheek. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as I remembered I was going through his stuff. Right now, I needed to know who she was.

Putting the pictures aside, I looked at the papers. They were all newspapers.

Woman killed in park late at night.

22-year-old Jessica Bright was killed Oct 23rd around midnight and 1:00 a.m. There currently are no suspects, but sources say that she was involved in a fight the night she was killed.

Jessica was found yesterday morning; cause of death is believed to be strangulation. Police refused to comment but did tell us that this was an ongoing investigation, and that they would provide us with updates when possible.

I stared down at the clipping for a long time. Who was Jessica Bright to Dean? And why would he have clippings of her death? Even if they had been together, wasn’t that creepy? I looked through a couple other newspaper clippings, but they were all pretty much the same. She died, police were looking for the killer; one did say that they had a potential suspect—a lover of hers who she had been having the fight with that night. My heart did a back flip. Dean had to be the lover—right?

I took a deep breath; that was silly. To think Dean could be a killer, he was so kind and caring. But you hardly know him. It was true—I’d never seen him mad or, well anything other than happy, but still … you didn’t just accuse someone of being a murderer because of newspaper clippings you found in their room. I mean, that would mean I’d have to admit to snooping through his stuff, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to do that.

I pushed myself up, grabbed the pictures and put them back into the box. As I reached for the clippings, I paused, staring down at them. What’s the deal? I asked myself, even though I knew I didn’t have the answer. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of the girl’s name. Jessica Bright. I was sure I’d remember it but wanted to have a backup plan so I didn’t have to go through his stuff again if I could avoid it. I put the clippings back in and placed the lid back on the box before carrying it over to the closet and putting it back where I had found it.

My heart sank as I stared at it for a few seconds. Talk about skeletons in the closet. My fingers curled around the handle of the closet and I pushed it shut.

My heart skipped a beat as I heard the shrill of a doorbell. Taking a deep breath, I double checked that the closet was closed; you know, just in case Dean was ringing his doorbell instead of just coming in or something stupid like that. I rolled my eyes at myself and headed for the door as quickly as I could. The outline of a woman was visible as I reached for the door and pulled it open.

She stared at me with wide eyes. I waited 20 seconds to see if she would say anything to me.

“Hi?” she finally said with a smile.

“Oh, um, hi. Is Dean able to come to the door?”

“I’m sorry; Dean’s not here at the moment.” My brow furrowed as jealousy nipped at me. “Are you a friend of his?”

“No,” she said quickly. “We’re not friends; I had some business to do with him.”

“Oh.” I nodded, not really believing her.

I gave the woman a good up and down. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, highest cheekbones and thick lips. She didn’t wear much makeup, but she didn’t need it to look pretty, she looked almost perfect in her simple leather jacket and a pair of jeans that fit her perfectly. I stared down at her Gucci boots and her Prada purse.

Well, she must be one of his “rich” friends. For a split second, I felt a lump form in my throat. Even if I did open my own business and do well enough, I’d probably never do well enough to afford half of what she was wearing.

“So, would you like me to take a message for you?” I cleared my throat before looking down at my cell phone. “He should only be gone a couple more hours.”

“It’s fine. I’m sure we will see each other sometime soon.” She smiled as she looked me over. “Are you, like, his maid or something?”

My eyes widened as I opened my mouth to say something very rude, but taking a deep breath, I changed my mind just in time. “Yea, or something.” I gave her a snide smile. “Well, have a good day.”

And without another word from her or myself, I closed the door. Well, more slammed it than anything else. Who the fuck was she?

Who did she think she was to call me the goddamn maid? I looked down at my clothes. Were they that bad? I thought I actually looked kinda cute today in my yoga pants and tank top, I mean, sure it was simple, but so what? It’s not like I was at work or something; I was just at my boyfriend’s making him dinner.

I froze as I realized what I’d just thought, and then swallowed dryly. My boyfriend. That is what Dean was, right?

I bit my lip. Yes.

We hadn’t come out and said it, but the relationship had moved fast.

Wait, who the fuck was that bitch? And what business did she have with my boyfriend? I frowned as I reached for my phone to text him and checked the time. He wouldn’t be gone that much longer; I’d just wait for him to get home, and then I’d tell him about that girl. Part of me wanted to see how he would react.

*

“So…” I poked at the beans with my fork. “How was your day?”

“It was long.” As he told me all about his day, I didn’t listen. I couldn’t stop thinking about the newspaper clippings I’d seen in that box. Why would he have those?

I swallowed dryly trying to get them out of my mind, but I couldn’t.

“How was your day, Rebecca?”

My own name snapped me back into reality.

“Oh … it was … it was good.” I forced a smile over my lips. “I … I just, well, I worked and didn’t really do anything. I tried to work on some marketing ideas for my business, but that’s about it.” Forcing a smile over my face, I tried not to be a damper on the day. “Oh … and some girl stopped by while I was making dinner.”

“What?” Dean perked right up as if it was something that scared him. Who would have thought that Dean would be scared of a girl? Maybe it’s not that he’s scared of her, maybe he’s scared of you meeting her.

No. That wasn’t like Dean, right? I nodded. “Yea, she wanted to see you … she said it was about business or something. Did you give a reporter your home address?”

“No. I wouldn’t have done that.”

“Maybe Melina did; she might know who it was. The girl, I don’t even remember if she gave me her name or not … she said she was here to talk to you, and when I said you weren’t home she just kinda left, saying she’d speak to you some other time then, but she didn’t want to leave a message with me.” I frowned, looking at him. “You have no clue who it could have been?”

As if he picked up on what I was implying, he stared at me blankly. “Really? Melina’s not enough of an issue? You have to add another girl in here?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yea, well you didn’t have to. I know the look on your face.”

Anger simmered inside me. What made him think he had a right to talk to me like that? I was the one finding random news articles about women dying and then having random girls knock on his door and leave as soon as they saw me.

“Yes, ’cause this is all my fault.” I glared at him. He stared at me for thirty seconds before I opened my mouth again. “You know, I’m actually really nice about Melina. I like her, and I don’t actually think you’re fucking her.” Whether or not they had in the past, I wasn’t so sure about, but I wasn’t going to admit that. “But I’m not sorry if I don’t like random girls showing up at your door who I’ve never seen before. Of course it bothers me! You’re saying it wouldn’t bother you if there were random guys showing up at my door?” I shook my head. “You work all the fucking time. And I never know what you’re doing or who you’re doing it with because you always tell me not to stay. I put a lot of faith in you for only having known you a couple weeks, and I’m not sorry I’m questioning you because anyone in their right fucking mine would be. You’re saying you wouldn’t?”

I didn’t realize I hadn’t taken time to breathe until I stopped talking and inhaled deeply trying to refill my lungs.

Dean just stared at me. “What can I do to put your mind at ease?”

“You can tell me the truth.”

“The truth is that I have no clue who you’re talking about, and I’m kinda freaked out that you just told me some random girl showed up at my house and that she wanted to talk to me.”

I swallowed dryly trying to decide if I could believe him. It honestly seemed like he sounded truthful, but maybe he was just a really good liar.

“Have you and Melina ever had sex?”

Dean stared at me. “Really?”

“Yes.”

I needed to know if he was telling me the truth.

“No. But we’ve kissed before.” His cheeks flushed. “A long time ago.”

“Alright.” I took a bite of my dinner to avoid talking as I processed everything he’d said. If he didn’t actually know about the girl showing up, and he didn’t actually know who she was, should we be worried? “Should we go to the cops?”

“I was thinking something a little different. A private detective.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Alright. Why?”

“Because, I don’t like cops, and the information gets tossed all around. We don’t know who this girl is or what she’s been told, or what she’s after for that matter. She could be a stalker, or she could be something else.”

What kind of shit does he think is after him? I took another bite of food, so I didn’t have to say anything.

Dean looked at me; for a split second, I had all his attention. “Are we okay?”

I swallowed mulling it over. “I don’t know, are we?”

“I want us to be, but if there is something we need to work through …”

“Well, one of these days you’re going to have to open up to me.”

“I will, and eventually, you will know all my deep, dark secrets.” He smiled with his lips, but it wasn’t there in his eyes.

We finished our dinner mostly in silence, though it wasn’t strained, and when we did speak it wasn’t bad. I thought of what we’d talked about, not sure of whether I believed him, but I really wanted to, so I decided I’d give him a shot.

I smiled as I grabbed both our empty bowls and stood, crossing over to the sink. “So, do you have any work to get done tonight?”

“No, I’m all yours tonight. Do you want to sleep over?” I turned to see him grinning at me.

My heart skipped a beat, and for a split second, I forgot all those reasons I was mad at him a little while ago. I bit the inside of my cheek, mulling it over.

“I guess I could stay the night.” I smiled, stepping towards him. Was there a way you wanted to spend the night?”

“I had a couple ideas.”

“Really?”

“Would you rather I fuck you in the shower? Or I take you to the bedroom and tease you until you’re begging to have my cock inside you?”

My heart raced as arousal ran down my spine, pooling in the pit of my stomach. “Why don’t we start in the shower and see where it goes.” It wasn’t really a question, and Dean didn’t have an answer for me.

We both rushed for the bathroom. Dean was naked before me, so as he got the water ready, I slipped out of the last of my clothing before joining him in the shower. My fingers ran over every inch of hard muscle that was in his chest, lower and lower over his abs and to his cock, which was getting hard.

I grinned, my fingers wrapping around it. Dean inhaled deeply as he reached out, his fingers brushing over the curves of my body and slipping between my legs. I bit back a moan as the water poured over us, wetting my body and hair. Letting go of his cock, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss.

His arms wrapped around my hips, drawing me closer to him as I closed my eyes to keep the water out of them, our kiss deepening. My teeth grazed his lower lip, and Dean moaned softly.

Dean’s hands slipped down to my butt, cupping it gently as his fingers dug into my skin. He pulled away for a fraction of a second. “Just for the record, you’re not … into that are you?” He sounded nervous.

It took me a couple seconds to realize what he meant before I laughed softly. “Never tried it honestly, never felt the need to.”

“Good.” Without another word, he pulled me back into a kiss, his teeth grazing my lower lip gently before his lips trailed along my jawline and towards my neck. I moaned as he nipped gently at my neck, covering every inch of skin he could get to in kisses and soft nips.

I rolled over the next morning and opened my eyes. Looking around, my brow furrowed. Where was he? I chewed my lip, knowing the answer to that. He wasn’t here. He wasn’t even home, was he? I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. That kind of hurt you get when you feel like someone’s just let you down, and you don’t think you’ll ever be able to get over it, and then you start to question if you’re crazy or if you’re not good enough—yea, that kind of hurt.

Quit being a drama queen, I thought, sitting up and slipping out from under the covers. The windows were open, and a cool breeze blew through them. I reached for my pants and slipped them on, then grabbed my bra and slipped into it as I made my way into the kitchen. A note on the fridge was the first thing to catch my eyes because it had my name on it.

Rebecca,

Sorry, I couldn’t stay longer, and you looked so beautiful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you. Will see you later. Hope you slept well, even without me around.

Dean.

I pulled the letter from the fridge and stared at it, feeling a little bad for being mad when I woke up. I knew that being at work was probably the last thing he actually wanted to do right now, but I still couldn’t help feeling a little hurt he hadn’t even woke me up to say goodbye.

Biting my lip, I padded over to my purse, pulling my phone out of my pocket as my mind raced. I took a deep breath, mulling it over. I hadn’t called in sick for work in the past eight years, and I was honestly feeling fine, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to face anyone there, including Dean, to be honest. Last night we’d gone to bed happy, but this morning, I woke up and not having him there … it was just harder than I’d expected it to be. I had research to do today because I damn well wasn’t going to sit around and wait for him to tell me who this girl was. Since starting work, I hadn’t gotten much time to myself. It was either seeing Dean after work or at the weekends, or I was with Katie, and if I was with Katie it normally meant I was working on hot chocolate related stuff, which was all fine, but I couldn’t remember the last time I actually just sat down and did something nice for myself, or had a hot bubble bath or binge watched movies without pants on.

I smirked as I unlocked my screen and pulled up the work number.

It rang twice before someone answered. I recognized the voice right away; it was Melina.

“Hi Melina, it’s Rebecca.”

“Becca!” I hadn’t realized we were on nickname basis. It took me back a little. “What’s up? Why are you calling? Is everything okay? Oh, you’d better speak quickly, Dean looks worried.”

“Everything’s fine. I’m fine. I’m just not feeling the best, and I don’t want to risk getting anyone sick before this weekend. So I think I’m going to stay home, alright?”

“Ohhh, no, I hope you feel better.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I hung up without another word for fear of actually having to talk about what was wrong. Melina had a way of seeing through everyone and seeing what they didn’t want her to see.

*

Melina turned to me. “What did you do?”

With her hands placed on her hips and that glare on her face, she looked kinda scary. And knowing her, I knew I didn’t want to piss her off even more than she already was. I chose my words carefully.

“W-what do you mean?”

Okay, I should have been a little more careful, but I had to figure out why she was mad at me before I could be sorry for it—right?

“You did something.” She shook her head at me. “I have no clue what, but it was obviously enough to upset Becca enough that she’s decided she doesn’t want to be around you. What was the last thing you did to her?” Her eyes narrowed.

“I um …” My cheeks flushed. “Nothing she hasn’t enjoyed in the past.”

“Gross,” but a smile touched her lips. “Now, assuming you’re not that bad in bed, why else could she be mad at you?”

“I … I don’t know. I left her a note instead of waking her up. Do girls get mad about that kind of thing?” I had no clue, since Jessica, I hadn’t really had much experience with girls, and we’d been together for so long that I’d just learned what she liked. She would have wanted me to leave her a note.

My heart sank the moment I thought it. Not because it brought up the past, but because I didn’t want to compare Rebecca to Jessica.

“What did you do?” Melina’s voice was much softer this time.

“I …” I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t what I did. It’s what I’m doing now that had me thinking.” It was scary how well she could read me. “I don’t know what I did last night …” I trailed off thinking about the night before. “It wasn’t me.” Everything clicked in. “I mean, it was kinda, but it’s not.”

I rushed over to my office knowing she’d followed me in, but I didn’t turn to face her until I heard the door close. “When Becca was there last night, alone, someone came by. A woman.”

“Why was there a woman at your house?”

“I have no clue. She told Becca that she had business with me.” I crossed over to my computer. “And … I’ve been getting emails from Keith.”

“What?” Melina snapped. “And you didn’t think you should mention that to me?”

“I just figured he found my email.” I shrugged. “More of the same threats that he sent before.”

“We need to do something about this?”

“And what do you suggest we do about it?” I raised an eyebrow. There is nothing there that cops could do, and we already knew that.

Melina blew out a deep breath. “Great, just fucking great.” She paced for a couple seconds then turned to me. “Do you think she was actually working with him?”

“I have no clue what to think.” I shrugged. I wish I had an answer.

“If she is, Becca just became a target.”

“I’ll check in on her tonight.”

“And keep her with you as much as you can.”

“I will.”

“I’ll have to tell Jake everything; you understand that, right?”

“I was actually hoping Jake might be able to help … maybe with his line of work … he knows someone?”

“I’ll ask.”

She padded over to me and pulled me into a hug. “We’re going to sort this out.”

“Thanks, I sure hope we do.”

“We will.” It sounded like a promise, but I wasn’t sure it was one she could keep.