Page 11 of Pretty Lethal
Even as I try not to notice, I spot an old jumper of mine in the wardrobe that IknowI took to the charity shop back at Halston. It seems that no part of me was safe from violation. Not my possessions, my body, my free will. She wanted it all—every inch of me.
“Uhh, guys, you might wanna see this,” Wilder calls from somewhere deep in the closet.
“I’m really not sure I do,” I mutter mostly to myself, making no effort to move toward him.
“No, you definitely do.” He emerges from the closet carrying a large shoebox, carefully setting it on the bed before removing the lid. “It’s the same sort of shit she has on her dresser,” he begins, and I take a step back, wondering why he thought I needed to see more of that crap. “Except, the girl isn’t you.”
I stop in my tracks, staring intently at the box while the three of us wait in anticipation as Wilder lifts out a photo and holds it up for us to see. We all lean in to get a closer look.
“She looks like you,” Hawk points out, and I nod in agreement as I stare at a photo of a black-haired girl with similar green eyes. She’s petite-looking, her facial features not dissimilar to mine.
“She stalked her too?” I ask, still staring at the picture. I’m not sure if the possibility of her stalking someone before me makes me feel better or worse. If she did, then I guess at least I can rest assured that it wasn’t something I did to lead her on.
I know the guys have tried to assure me none of this was my fault, and Kai has explained the psychology of people like Mel, but it still doesn’t stop the niggling thought that I brought this all on myself somehow.But, if she’s done this with another girl—maybe multiple girls—then it’s possible I did nothing wrong.
“It looks that way,” Wilder surmises as Kai moves to search through the rest of the box.
“Who is she?” I ask numbly, unable to take my eyes off the photo of this girl who looks so like me and isn’t.
Wilder glances at the back of the picture before shrugging. However it’s Kai who answers. “There’s nothing identifiable in here. It’s the same creepy keepsakes that she has for you.”
“We can run the image through Nocturnal Enterprise software and figure out who she is,” Hawk supplies. “We should take the box with us.”
“What about everything else?” I ask, staring warily around the room, although never letting my gaze linger long enough to actually take in the horror surrounding us. I swallow roughly, my voice coming out unsteady. “I don’t want to leave all of this here for someone else to find.”
Heat envelopes my back seconds before a kiss is pressed to my forehead and warm breath glances over my ear. “Go wait in the car with Wilder, baby girl. Hawk and I will gather all of this up,” Kai says, reassuringly squeezing my shoulder before directing me into Wilder’s comforting arms. Without a word, Wilder leads me out of the godforsaken apartment and all of the terrible memories it possesses.
Chapter4
KAI
My entire body thrums with barely contained tension that is seconds away from exploding out of me. My muscles bunch and flex, every ounce of willpower being directed into keeping my cool as I press a tender kiss to Em’s forehead and direct her toward Wilder.
Only a couple more seconds, I tell myself, gaze fixed on her back as they slip out of the apartment door, and I wait for it to close behind them. The second the lock snicks, the leash I had on my self-control snaps and I completely lose my shit.
“Motherfucking psychotic cunt,” I snarl furiously as I smack my palms against the wall of photographs. With rage boiling in my bloodstream, I kick out with my leg, my foot connecting with the wall and putting a hole in it as I growl out my frustration, unable to string together a coherent sentence in my fury-filled state.
“Dude!” Hawk gasps, gaping at me with wide eyes as I rip photos from the wall and send contents from the top of the dresser scattering across the floor. I rarely get angry enough to lash out. That’s more Hawk’s style, but seeing the sheer depravity of this psychopath, watching my Blackbird retreat further into herself as we peeled back the rotten layers of Mel’s life… I just couldn’t contain it any longer.
“That bitch is continuing to mess with us even from the grave,” I growl at him, my shoulders rising and falling with heaving breaths as I fight to get myself under control. “Did you see how shaken she was?” I wave toward the closed apartment door. “She’s still getting inside our girl’s head, and she’s not even fucking here.”
Hawk runs a weary hand down his face, suddenly looking utterly wrecked. “I know.” His voice comes out defeated. Exhausted. Matching his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles underneath them.
“She’s not sleeping at night,” I continue, my own voice coming out strained. “The only way I can get her to sleep for a couple of hours is if I completely exhaust her.”
Hawk arches a brow. “Are you really complaining about that?”
I return his sarcasm with a deadly glare. “Of course, I’m not, but I’m worried about her.”
Hawk’s shoulders fall, and he stares off into space.
“I’m worried about you, too.”
His eyes snap back to mine before he waves away my concern. “Don’t be. I’ll figure my shit out.”
“Not if you keep stomping around like a pissed-off grizzly bear, refusing to deal with your trauma and ignoring Wilder’s very existence.”
The glower Hawk spears me with could kill a lesser man. “I am not doinganyof those things, and if we’re talking about trauma, then how the hell are you so okay after what happened?”
