~ Olivia ~
It’s been a week since things changed between us. I never thought I’d be able to find happiness, not being the scarred freak that I am, but somehow Mason looks past all that and he sees me.
I’ve become addicted to the way he looks at me. To the way he touches me.
I wish we could just lock ourselves in my room and make love all the time. No food, no outside world, no nothing. But that’s not a possibility and just another pipe dream.
Mason has pretty much returned to his old routine of going out at night. Yesterday, I asked him where he goes, but he avoided answering me by kissing me until we were both naked and screaming with pleasure.
I need to know what he does at night. If things are going to work between us, there can’t be any secrets.
I sneak across the parking area until I get to his truck and then I climb in the back and lay down low so he won’t be able to see me. It’s not long until I hear his steady footfalls and then he unlocks the door. I can feel the truck shift under his weight as he gets in.
He drives for twenty minutes before he brings the truck to a stop. I hear him get out and when the last of his footfalls have faded away, I peek over the side. We’re parked in a residential area, and I blink into the darkness, just in time to see Mason jog around the back of a house.
I quickly scramble out of the back and run after him. I really hope he’s not into illegal crap, such as drug dealing. That will break my heart. Not that it would make me care any less about him.
As I reach the back corner of the house, I peek around it to make sure it’s safe. That’s when I see Mason looming over a man in a wheelchair.
I frown, not sure what to make of the scene that’s playing out in front of me.
“Everyone thinks you’re the victim but we both know that’s not the case, Haywood,” Mason growls. The threatening tone of his voice sends chills racing down my spine.
“I’m calling the cops. You’re trespassing,” Haywood barks back, but there’s nothing threatening about it. He actually sounds scared and I’d be too by the menacing look on Mason’s face.
Mason walks around the man and grabs hold of the wheelchair. He pushes it to the edge of the pool and it’s only then that I start to feel fear pulsing through me. What is Mason doing?
I sneak closer and hide behind one of the pillars so I can hear better. Suddenly, Mason tips the wheelchair and the Haywood guy almost falls out. He screams with fear and panic and grabs hold of the armrests to keep himself in the chair.
“It’s because of you that Amanda killed Mackenzie before she took her own life. You beat her until she couldn’t take it anymore!” Mason hisses and then he tilts the chair a little more towards the pool.
“Wait! Stop!” Haywood shouts, his voice shrill with panic. “What do you want? Anything! I’ll give you anything,” he begs Mason.
My eyes dart to Mason’s face and I expect to see the face of a killer but all I see is the face of a broken man. This Mackenzie and Amanda must’ve meant a lot to him.
Common sense tells me to run and get help. My conscience screams at me that this is wrong, but I can’t make myself move. My eyes are glued to the man I’m falling in love with, and all I can do is hold my breath as I wait for his next move. I pray he does the right thing. I believe he’s strong enough to overcome the beast inside of him, just like I overcame my own.
“I promised Mackenzie that I’d take care of the monsters. You were her father. You were supposed to protect her but instead you hurt her. You don’t deserve to live,” Mason hisses. This time I can hear the judgment and anger in his voice. In this moment, I start to wonder if he’s really going to kill the man and it makes fear bleed into my soul.
My mind races as I try to think of ways that I can stop this from happening. Deep in my heart I know Mason is a good man and I somehow have to make him see it.
I want to run back to my apartment and crawl into bed. I want to be back in our little bubble where he is the good man that I’m busy falling in love with.
My hand goes up to my cheek and my fingers brush over the scars.
It takes a monster to see a monster. It hits so hard that I stumble backwards, and then I trip over a pot and I fall hard to the ground.
I let out a shriek of shock and then my eyes dart to where Mason is righting the wheelchair as his head snaps in my direction. His eyes find mine and I watch as all color drains from his face.
Quickly, I scramble to my feet and run away. I can’t watch him kill that man but I hope with everything in me that he doesn’t, that he’ll follow me and give me a chance to save him the way he saved me.