Page 15 of Masked March

My hand slaps across my mouth as my jaw drops. How did little Link grow up to be such a stunner? He looks somewhatfamiliarto me, but I’m not sure from where.

Carefully traversing the bathroom, he balances a silver tray filled with food and a broad grin slides across his lips. “Morning, beautiful. I'm no cook, but I made what I could for you while you caught up on sleep.”

I sit and grab the coffee from the tray as he sets it on the counter beside me. “Thank you, Link.” After a sip from the mug, I eye him carefully. “Are you going to explain to me why you’re backnow? How you can enter my place at will?Why you switched my birth control?”

He flips the chair around and straddles it, his jeans stretching against his large thighs. His thick arms cross on the back and he looks into the water like it holds some answers. “I’ve checked up on you for years, Mel. Just hoping that the little girl, my best friend, would return.” A line of black stubble dances as he tightens his jaw. “After your parents died, I saw a change in you.” His deep green eyes find me, causing a shiver to run over my skin despite the heat from the bath. “And I knew I had you back.”

I pull my knees to my chest and swivel to face him while attempting to pin my long, dark hair into a bun. “Have you ever married? Had kids?”

“No. Every woman I was with left because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. So, I just remained single.”

“Where? You weren’t in Crystal Frond. You—” My voice catches as his eyebrow dips and I see it. An image of a billboard in Times Square. “Oh my god. You’re that model. The underwear guy. You’reeverywhere.”

One of his hands runs through the top of his black hair as a little chuckle escapes. “Yes. I modeled for a while. But, mainly, I used my money from that to start my own security company.”

“Security…” My chest seizes. “You were doing security for this building. Youchangedmy codes.”

He clears his throat. “Yes.”

“Link, just how far did you go?”

Lifting those summer greens up to my face, he drops his boyish grin. “I’ve watched you on camera for years, Mel. I know everything about you.”

My chest tightens at his confession. Some level of fear overtakes me. “C-camera? Which camera?”

His broad shoulders shrug as if it doesn’t matter. “The ones on the streets. At your work.” He stops abruptly and I know there’s more. Lowering my head, I encourage him to tell me everything. “Your laptop. Your phone… And all the ones I’ve kept around here, too.”

Seven

LINCOLN

She shrinks back, but doesn’t shriek or scream or anything. As I suspected, she needed me here. Melody Lockewantedme all these years. It just took some time before she could admit it.

“Lincoln, I mean,Reaper.” Her brown eyes look just to the left of my face, like she has something difficult to tell me.

“Yes, my love?”

Clearing her throat, she pulls herself up into a tighter ball. “I-I need some time. Tothinkabout all this.”

With a smile, I open my palms at her. “Of course. I’ll pick you up for dinner. Do you want early or late tonight?” I’m not stupid. She’s trying to get rid of me, but that will not happen. If she needs a few hours tothink, so be it.

“Um… Can I call you later?”

I stand up and place my hands on my hips, narrowing my eyes with a warning look. “Sure! My number’s in your phone as ‘my husband’. You can’t miss it.”

Her eyes grow even wider as she nods slightly and I place a soft towel near the edge of the bath for her. “Don’t slip getting out of the tub. And eat something! The babies will need it.”

Tapping my fingers on the doorframe, I pause and glance back one more time. She’s frozen watching me move. Everything in me wants to tell her how fucking much I love her. That I would do anything for her. But the scared look on her face says I shouldn’t.

Not yet.

Instead, I shrug and give her a smile, then head toward the bedroom, gathering my hoodie and mask on my way. “Don’t open the last bedroom door!” I yell just before I leave her place. She shouldn’t look at that. It may terrify her too much.

As soon as my ass is sitting in my car, I pull up the feed for her apartment on the computer. I drive over to my place, but my eyes often shift to where Mel’s on screen, flopping about her bathroom in a hurry.

I knew she couldn’t wait. She flies down the hallway and throws open the guest bedroom door. Her hands slap her cheeks as she gasps. The nursery is fully outfitted and ready. With a little stumble, she bumps into the door frame and stands still, her eyes scanning the room.

It was difficult to get the interior designer in there and do everything while she was at work. But with enough money, everything’s possible. Her bank and medical records were easy to hack. And now that I have access, it’s easy to track her.

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