Page 43 of Dark Encounter
"Let's start with the odd visit I got from a detective at the police station."
"What?" She leaned back and wrapped her arms around her. "Does it have to do with Thomas and the crap he's gotten himself into?"
"Yeah." I pulled the top off my coffee and blew on the hot liquid. "Did you find out anything about the check cashing place or his friend Billy's murder?"
"No, but my father hasn't left his office in a week. Every time I go over there, he's locked up in there." She paled. "And it's my fucking fault. Well, mine and Erik's."
"The virus he gave you?" I took a drink of my coffee and tried not to let thoughts of Erik overwhelm me. Where Charlie wasn't at all too much man for me, Erik most certainly was.
"Yeah. It was supposed to wipe out anything related to him, notallof the information my father had on his family. Now my Dad is under investigation for the files disappearing. He's going to figure out it was me, and then what? After all he's been through with losing Darek and then Denise or Ashley dying in a freak explosion." She ran her hands by the side of her face and gave me a crazed look. "I swear I have no idea how we got tangled up with them."
"Them?"
"Nate and Erik."
"That part is a very jacked up coincidence, but feel good about your decision. Nate is the lesser of the two evils in this equation." I glanced down at my pants and brushed off a small golden leaf that landed on my leg.
"Whatisgoing on with you and Erik?"
"Sex." I glanced up to find her studying me. "Really hot sex, but nothing else. He won't let me."
"First of all..." her eyes widened, "you lost your virginity, and you didn't call me? What the fuck? We're best friends."
"And grown women." I laughed before taking another sip of my drink.
"We're notreallythat grown. Come on." She reached over and squeezed my knee. "Was it amazing?"
"Yes. He's unbelievably talented in bed or on a table or in a bathroom." I paused as warmth spread up my chest and coated my cheeks.
"What!" Jenna laughed and leaned back, covering her mouth. "He's wild, isn't he."
"Very, but all we are is sex."
"So start there." She tilted her head to the side as her excitement visibly faded. "Wait. Don't start there. Erik is a really bad guy, Grace. You should walk away if you're able to."
"I'm not." I glanced down at my coffee and tried hard not to dive into despair. I loved him. I wasn't going anywhere. "Besides, he's just about ruined me for anyone else at this point. I can't imagine another man being so violently passionate."
"He's a murderer." She leaned in as someone glanced our way as they walked by. "He chops up animals. He's a butcher." She was making no sense.
"You're dumb." I let my eyes move across the people milling around the park where we sat. Couples holding hands always grabbed my attention first. How badly I wanted that life, and yet it wasn't ever going to happen with Erik. He'd mentioned how dangerous it was for us to be together at all at least a million times.
"That lady was staring us down. Jeez." She moved in closer to me, pressing her shoulder against mine. "He's not the right guy for you."
"Back to the cop." I gave her a warning look. "He wanted to talk about Thomas a little bit, but quickly moved into the same conversation you're trying to start."
"That Erik is a horrible choice for a baby daddyDaddy?"
I shook my head and moved to sit on the edge of the bench. "Yes, but it's not like you can choose who you fall in love with. I'm pretty sure Nate wouldn't have been your first choice."
"Nate and Erik arenothingalike, Grace."
"Wasn't it Erik who stepped up and helped you like you were family a month back?" I glanced over my shoulder as she offered up a sheepish grin.
"Yes. I fell in love with him a little bit during all that shit, but you have to step back from this and really think about who he is." She ran her hand down my back. "What he is."
"And what if I ignore it?" I turned back to face forward, studying people once again. "I mean, he deserves love too. Just because he's stuck in a messed up situation where his father is who he is doesn't mean Erik has to be alone for the rest of his life, right?"
"It doesn't, but Nate told me that his mother and sister are dead as a result of his father."
