Page 171 of They Are Mine

“I didn’t hit her.” I shake my head. “Not at that point. I just firmly removed her hands from him, and she flailed around like I broke her fingers or something.”

Orion shrugs. “She was a real lunatic drama queen.”

“She was,” I agree.

Elliot tilts his head, eyes sharp. Studying.

“Not at that point?” Noah asks.

Oh, my sweet love. So innocent.

I take a breath. “She’s dead.”

Noah blinks.

“The cops found her stinking corpse because, shocker, no one missed her,” I say.

Silence.

Then, Orion sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, muttering, “Christ, it’s a mess.”

“Now, apparently, they need Orion and me to account for god only knows how much time. Unfortunately, I can’t account for my time because I was mostly busy following Elliot.” I beam and touch Elliot’s jaw.

He’s so handsome.

So sophisticated.

And so fucking speechless right now.

“Following me?” Elliot echoes, like he’s just realizing I’ve been studying him this whole time.

Orion smirks. “She follows all of us. She’s very finicky. Needs to evaluate before she decides.”

Elliot raises a single, disbelieving brow.

“Don’t be too flattered,” Orion adds, grinning. “Her notes on Noah are novels. My file? A pamphlet. Yours? Brochure.”

I huff. “Okay, first of all, I had a full notebook on you and Elliot.”

Noah snickers into the pillow. “She’s defensive about her research.”

I point at him. “You were my first. I took more notes. I had to get you perfect.”

Elliot exhales. Then, so goddamn casually asks, “How did you kill her?”

I barely hesitate. “Baseball bat to her thick head.”

Oops.

I slap my hand over my mouth.

Orion chokes on a laugh.

Noah mutters, “Jesus fucking Christ.”

And Elliot?

Elliot drags in a slow breath. His fingers trace little circles on my back. Soft. Thoughtful.

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