Page 166 of Like Grim Death: Part One
I frown in the dark, clenching my fingers tighter around my phone.
Atlas: Just right outside. You don’t have to go far.
I turn my head toward the other window of the office, opposite the open one. The heavy, charcoal curtains are pulled closed, but this one faces the front of the house.
On careful, light steps, like I might disturb something if I move too quickly, I head toward the window, shifting back one curtain and peering outside.
No cars in the driveway, both of ours backed into the garage.
I blink in the darkness, seeing nothing at first.
Atlas is lying. Or maybe he just hasn’t gotten here yet.
I hold my breath, scanning the street. It’s quiet, nothing moving, no cars leaving, a scorched spot on the asphalt and pieces of glittering glass from the car Mav set on fire the only evidence left of his crime. Halloween lights cause the street to glow in some places, but there’s no one out here.
I press my temple to the glass and sweep my eyes two houses down. Lucifer’s home.
Dark, save for pumpkins glowing on either side of his driveway.
Then a closer light catches my eyes. I step back from the window, one hand to the cool glass to keep my balance as I look down at the middle of our driveway.
Atlas.
Waving his phone, it’s that light which got my attention.
I suck in a breath, inhaling the dark notes of leather inside Mavy’s office.He really is here.It must actually be important, otherwise he wouldn’t have risked it.
Sighing, I pull back from the curtains and glance down at my shorts, ripped, black cotton. I’m in Mavy’s oversized white T, and I should change and put something else on, but then I’d have to go back into our bedroom.
Actually, there’s a coat closet in the foyer. I’ll grab a hoodie.
I turn, intending to do just that to see what the hell Atlas wants, if he knows something more about what happened tonight, and who was at The Madilyn, when someone grabs me.
I jump, my heart racing, a scream on the tip of my tongue as I’m forced backward, against the glass window, the ledge driving into my lower spine as fingers circle around my upper arms and I drop the phone, right on the screen.
But before I can make a sound, lips are on mine, Maverick’s hard body pressed into my own as he devours me.
“What are you doing, baby?” he asks between kisses, pulling back and pressing his temple to mine. His hands skim down my arms, to my hips, tugging at the waistband of my shorts. I’m aware my back is against the cool glass of the window, meaning the curtains are parted because of my body, and if Mav sees Atlas out there…
My heart thuds too fast in my chest as Maverick pushes down my shorts, and they pool between my feet, leaving me exposed.
He grips my chin, tilting my head up as I try to eye my phone, hoping to God it doesn’t glow in the darkness.Don’t text me again, Atlas. Don’t fucking text me.
“Huh? What the fuck are you doing, baby?” Maverick whispers again, his mouth over mine.
I try to push him back, only to get him away from the window, but he resists, and trying to shove Maverick is like attempting to move a brick wall. It’s not happening.
He pulls my bottom lip between his teeth, biting me softly, one arm wrapped around my waist. “I woke up,” he says, his voice hoarse. “You were gone.”
My heart skips a beat. For a second, my palms on his bare chest, feeling the flex of muscle beneath my fingertips, I stop thinking about Atlas. The phone. What he’s seeing right now.
Instead, I’m right here, in this moment with Mavy.
“You were gone.”Those words were full of so much meaning. I have dreams like that.Where he’s gone. Where none of this is real. I’m back in the trailer. I’m starving while Mom gets high.
“I’m here,” I tell him as he presses his brow to mine. “I’m right here.”
He groans, a guttural sound from his throat as he kisses me again, covering the side of my face with his hand as he holds me to him, like he’s worried I might try to break free again.
