Page 42 of Darkness Tempt Me
Tearing open the closet doors, I look through everything, each time coming up empty. Mavik is a smart man. Even if he were some crazy mastermind vigilante, there’s no way he would have any clues just hanging around.
These past few nights have been so fucking perfect. Too perfect. I know I’m freaking out right now, but I can’t shake this feeling that I’m right.
I storm into our bedroom. Yes,ourbedroom, because I’ve been sleeping here the last several nights, wrapped in Mavik’s arms. Peering around frantically, my eyes land on the nightstand on his side of the bedroom. I jog over to it and yank the drawer so hard, it almost flies out. Then I spot it. Mavik’s burner phone. The one I see him hiding in his suit jacket and making secret calls to Hunter.
With shaky hands, I pick it up.
Then, I place it back down. I shake my head. “No,” I say out loud. “I’m just being paranoid. I’m acting crazy.”
I pick up the phone again.
I swipe open the screen. Blinking up at me are eight asterisks, indicating I need to put in an eight-digit password. I’m about to start punching in random numbers when I stop. What if I get the password wrong and it alerts Mavik somehow?
I stop and think for a moment. It’s probably not a four-number pin repeated twice. Not a phone number. Maybe a date? It wouldn’t be his birthday or his mom’s because if this really does lead to some secret vigilante mission or whatever, Mavik wouldn’t be that dumb.
My brain decides to take that moment and remind me how sweet Mavik has been to me, how tender and caring. Am I really accusing him… of what? Being a murderer? I’ve been falling for this man, and it seems like the feelings are mutual.
Slowly, I type in the date for my birthday, waiting for red flashing lights or some type of alarm to go off. But no, none ofthat happens. Instead, the screen just goes to the home screen. Oh, fuck. The password was my birthday.
My breaths are shallow now. How fucking stupid! My birthday?Fuck. How romantic. I shake my head, slamming down the phone. This is insane. I slow my breathing and take a deep breath.
Picking up the phone again, I notice it’s timed out, and the screen is black. I swipe it open and scan the home screen. My heart races all over again when I see a folder labeled‘Kills from my favorite TV shows’
When I tap on it and open the first file, I see exactly what happened to Drake Sinclair. I rush to the bathroom and throw up.
Then, I run.
Chapter twenty-five
Peyton
It’s been three days since I ran.
Not knowing what else to do, I lied to Iris, sent a few emails to some co-workers, and told my brother the same thing. I told all of them I was setting up a surprise for Mavik and would be on my honeymoon over the next week. In other words, I won’t be answering any calls or emails for the next several days. In hindsight, if Mavik finds me and wants to kill me, then it buys him a few days before people question where I am.
It’s obviously just a Band-Aid, but I needed a few days away from everyone. Away from Mavik. Based on the two hours I spent looking through videos, I can determine at least one thing: all these men deserved to die. Some of the confessions Mavik, or at least I’m assuming it was him, got from these men disgusted me. Some of the confessions made Jimmy look like a fucking saint.
Since I couldn’t think of a place where Mavik wouldn’t find me, I’m currently hiding in the only place I hope he doesn’t think to look. His mother’s place.
Since she’s in Italy and Mavik had a spare key, it was the only place I could think to go.
It’s been seventy-two hours since I discovered the man I married is a serial killer. In that time, I haven’t called the cops, and I don’t think I’m going to either. But why, right? Because I have a feeling Mavik meant it when he said he would always protect me.
The proof is right in front of me. A video of a murder that’s almost three years old.
For what must be the millionth time since I ran, I press play and watch the video of my abusive, asshole ex get murdered all over again. There’s something wrong with me, because just like every other time I’ve watched Mavik screaming at Jimmy Melton, torturing him, cutting him, and, finally, forcing a confession out of him, I grow hard.
This murder is unlike the others. This one isn’t as gruesome or gory. It’s passionate. I know what’s coming. By the end, I can almost convince myself that maybe Mavik didn’t kill my ex. But when Mavik wraps his thick fingers around Jimmy’s neck and squeezes, I swear it’s one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen. It’s my favorite part of the video, and I’m already eager to watch it again. In the video, Mavik is wearing that scary-as-fuck mask he wore in front of my balcony window. Because yes, I’m convinced that night was real too. Mavik was, in fact, watching me from outside. Watching me pleasure myself to thoughts of him stalking me.
I might not be ready to confront Mavik just yet, but as the masked man in the video wraps his fingers around Jimmy’s neck for the millionth time, my gaze flickers over to the window,hoping my masked savior is there watching me as I pull out my cock and stroke myself to the thought of him.
Chapter twenty-six
Mavik
Three fucking days and I have no idea where my husband is. At first, a part of me thought some unknown stalker got to him. That maybe, just maybe, Drake Sinclair was telling the truth when he promised me he wasn’t following my husband. When I came home to a ransacked house, I thought someone had taken Pey from me, but the security feeds showed me that the little hellion who’d torn up our place was him.
Then, I watched him find my phone, magically plug in the password on the first try, and promptly throw up after watching one of my murders. Of course he fucking ran, but to my shock, he took my burner phone with him.
