Page 83 of Kiss Me Honey Hone

“You think it’s him?”

Kenny stood, pacing the room, gesticulating with his hands as he spoke, voice shifting into that calm, authoritative tone he used in his lectures. But there was a sharpness now, an urgency beneath the surface making Aaron sit up straighter. Andlisten.

“He’s rewriting his story.” Kenny narrowed his eyes as he pieced it together aloud. “If it’s him, this Peter Middleton, he’s operating on a deeply fractured psychological framework. A combination of trauma bonding, dissociation, and displaced rage. He isn’t just targeting random victims for sexual gratification or because he feels inferior. These young, blonde women represent something specific.”

Aaron swallowed. “Roisin?”

Kenny looked at him. Well, through him. “He’s recreating the scene of his trauma to reassert control. Victims of extreme abuse, especially prolonged and ritualistic abuse, often feel a sense of helplessness persisting long after the events themselves. When they can’t process or overcome that helplessness, they sometimes fixate on re-enacting it. But in a way that placesthemin power.”

Aaron swished his wine glass. “So… he’s not just trying to kill people. He’s trying to rewrite history?”

“Yes,” Kenny said, pacing faster. “He’s moved from survival mode to a state of active dominance. He’s transforming himself from the victim into the predator. Turning his fear and pain into a weapon and wielding it over others who represent his pain.”

“But why go after the files? Why Carly? How did he even know there was a Child A?”

Kenny stopped pacing and folded his arms. “If he has unresolved rage toward the Howells, and I have no doubt he does, then Child A is the last remaining link to them which he can getto. In his mind, Child A isn’t a separate person. They’re a symbol of everything he endured.”

“So this isn’t just revenge. This is obsession? To get to…” He didn’t finish. Kenny would know exactly who this bloke wanted to get to.

Him.

“Obsession, driven by years of psychological damage. And Carly’s files were the key to finding Child A, or at least getting closer to them.”

Aaron swallowed hard.

Kenny crouched, grabbing Aaron’s face in his hands and kissed him. “You beautiful fucking creature.”

“What did I do?”

“You observed.” Kenny kissed him again, then stood and pointed at him. “Get your shoes on.”

“What, we going for a romantic strollnow?”

Kenny didn’t answer. He already had his shoes and coat on, rushing out the door to the car.

Chapter twenty

Lover, Please Stay

Kenny gripped the steering wheel, eyes ahead as he navigated the car through town. Aaron was too busy trying to do the laces up on his boots to ask questions, and Kenny was grateful for it. He should have left him at home, because there were things he needed to say and refer to right then that he couldn’t let Aaron know.

But nor could he leave him alone.

“Where are we?” Aaron peered out the window as Kenny sidled up to a semi-detached house in another part of town. “This isn’t the police station.”

“No.” Kenny shouldered open the door. “You can stay in the car if you like?”

“With a killer on the loose?”

“Just avoid kissing anyone until I get back and you’ll be fine.” Kenny stepped out.

“Ha fucking ha.” Aaron got out of the car and slammed the door shut. “Can’t guarantee that when I look this good, can I?”

Kenny gave him a look, then marched up to the front door and rang the bell. When that didn’t get an immediate response, he banged his fist on the door.

When the door opened, Aaron blinked. And blinked again.

Flame-haired, and undeniably ripped, Fraser answered the door, wrestling into a dressing gown barely big enough to cover him, revealing a deep V of muscle leading to abs so sculpted they looked like they belonged on a statue.

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