Page 71 of Capture Me
A voice in my head that sounds a lot like my therapist reminds me that the guys aren’t able to read my mind and that it's unfair to expect them to change how they’re treating me unless I am assertive with communicating what I need from them.Damn it, Jacy.
Knowing what I need to do, I dress and step out of my room, ready to hunt down the guys and confront them, when I hear the soothing chords of a guitar filling the air.
In all the time I’ve been here, I haven’t heard anyone play. Interest piqued, I pad down the hall on silent feet, coming to a stop in front of Declan’s door. I push it open just a crack, and the scent of sandalwood and something deep and earthy floods my senses, surrounding me in a warm hug that’s so intoxicating, I want to curl up in it.
Declan. That smell is all Declan.
I spot the subject of my thoughts sitting on the edge of his bed, a beautiful acoustic guitar in his hands. There’s a crease between his brows as he closes his eyes and strums at the strings like he’s pouring his secrets into the music. I don’t recognize the song, but it’s captivating, rootingme to the spot with the intensity with which he plays, in the way the notes seem to express a sense of melancholy and longing.
And then, be still my fucking heart, he starts to sing. Low and gravelly, his words do something to my soul. His voice breaks me open and stitches pieces of my heart I didn’t know were torn back together. Tears sting my eyes as he plays for no one but himself, and I shift forward, drawn like a moth to a flame.
Declan stills, the song ending abruptly with an unresolved note. His eyes snap open and he turns those beautiful gray eyes on me.
Oh, shit. Busted.
He shoots up from the bed, his shoulders tense. “You ever hear of privacy?” he snaps, then tosses his guitar on the bed.
I arch a brow, my awe giving way to irritation. “You ever hear the term hypocrite?”
Boots stomp across the carpet flooring until he’s standing inches away, looming over me like a dark cloud. “Do you seriously have nothing better to do than sneak around spying on us?”
“Not really. Or have you forgotten that I’m stuck in this house unless one of you guys decides to reward me with outside time?” My temper rises, matching his. “You know what? I was going to tell you that I think you’re really talented, but instead, I’ll just tell you to eat shit.” I shove away from his door, turning back toward the hall.
A hand clamps on my wrist, stopping me before I get more than a step out of his room.
“Wait.” Declan’s voice has lost its rough edge. I look over my shoulder at him with pursed lips. “I’m sorry. That…Fuck.” He lets go of my wrist and leans against the door with his eyes downcast. “I suck at feelings, okay? I’m a fucking sledgehammer in a china shop with this shit.” He looks up at me then, and I soften. He’s warring inside on how to handle me getting a vulnerable peek into his life. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you when I saw that you heard me playing. It’s just… I don’t sing for anyone. I hardly ever let the guys hear me play either. It’s something for me, a way to express what I’m feeling without wondering if I’m fucking things up.”
“Why would you think you’d fuck things up?”
“Because that’s what I do. Look what happened outside. I wanted to make you feel better, so I threw the race, but it only pissed you off.” He raises his brow, daring me to argue. “Like I said,” he places a hand on his chest. “Sledgehammer.”
I pull his hand off his chest, intertwining our fingers together. “Yeah, well, you’re wrong. You’re actually a really sweet guy when you’re not worried about walking on eggshells around me.”
“I’m not fucking sweet,” he grumbles, but tugs me forward against his body. His arms wrap around me, and I bury my face into his hoodie, breathing in his scent as he holds me in a, dare I say, sweet embrace. “Did you need something?”
“Actually, yes.” I gaze up at him. Damn, he’s tall. “I wanted to talk to all of you guys. It has to do with the eggshell thing I mentioned. Is everyone home?”
“Should be. Teo is probably downstairs starting dinner, and Akio is around here somewhere.”
“Great.” I step back. “Can you grab them and meet me in the living room?”
He nods, and I head downstairs, already feeling lighter.
I pass through the empty kitchen to get to the living room. It smells amazing in here, so I know Matteo has been around recently. The TVis on, playing the news on a low volume, like he needed the background noise. Matteo doesn’t like to cook in silence.
I settle onto the couch, waiting for the guys to show, when three familiar masks pop onto the screen.
What the fuck? When did they film this?
I grab the remote, bumping up the volume to hear the anchor of AHX News speaking.
“–Cerberus, the vigilante group sweeping through Axton Harbor. In their latest surge of justice, Officer Jason O'Brian, trusted and highly decorated officer in the Axton Harbor Police Department, was found dead this morning off the coast. Evidence of his crimes were stapled to his body, along with a video from Cerberus themselves. I must warn you, the following video is not for the faint of heart.”
I swallow hard as the three figures I share a roof with come on to the screen, filling the space of the dark room I know is the cement torture room downstairs in their basement. Masks tilt as they stare down the camera, as if looking straight into each soul in Axton Harbor, judging them. I almost forgot how intimidating they look in their masks. And how much of a turn on it is. The one in the middle who I know to be Matteo starts talking, his voice warped, just like the previous videos, and my thighs squeeze together, that same strange throbbing lust I had in my room weeks ago sweeping through me.
“Citizens of Axton Harbor, we reach out to you now with another warning. Cerberus knows the atrocities that go on in this city. The ones that happen under the noses of those you elect, of those who took an oath to serve and protect.” Their hooded figures step back, revealing the man strapped to a chair behind them.
I gasp, springing to my feet. It’s the cop, still tied to the chair and bleeding in the same position I last saw him in. Only now, there’s a bullet hole through his skull. Cerberus has never flaunted their victims on camera before. Especially after they’ve killed them.
