Page 18 of Watch Me Burn

For a moment, she leaned closer, licking her lips. This little gesture was getting me rock hard. Fuck, I wanted this woman so bad it physically hurt. I had been deprived of the warmth of a woman for fifteen years! This was hell and heaven!

Was she inviting me for a kiss? Did she deep down still have some feeling for me? Wanted me to claim her like the animal I have become after fifteen years in prison?

Unfortunately, I was laughably wrong.

Anna yanked the collar of my shirt, then propelled me off her body.

“No thanks,” she spat coldly.

My body stood still as she stormed into her room, slamming the door loudly behind her.

I couldn’t understand it. The chemistry was clearly there; she was flirting with me so hard up until that point. What was the holdback? Was it that she deep down still thought I committed a murder we were working to clear from my name?

Or maybe I just had absolutely no clue when it came to women. Which, considering my resume, was more likely.

I couldn’t just leave her like this—but as I reached to turn the doorknob to her bedroom, an incoming call was picked up that I didn’t want to interrupt.

“Hi, Mom,” I heard her say behind the door. I knew I was supposed to leave, but with her mother being one of the ringleaders in making me a murderer, I felt obliged to hear what she’d say. And I didn’t even need to strain my ears too much, either. After a few forced pleasantries, the women descended into a full-on yelling match.

“I’m a grown woman, Mom!” Anna bellowed.

I could hear her mother shouting through the phone, “I’m telling you, that man is dangerous! If you don’t stop this, I’ll go and place a new no-contact order on Ethan, I promise you that.”

“Mom, you have NO right to do that. If Ethan was detained innocently, then the right thing to do to is to clear his name!”

“You’re not thinking logically but with emotions, Anna. You have always been like this. I’m doing this because you’re my little girl, and I’m trying to look out for you so that you don’t get hurt!”

“Then what do you think about the fact that Nathan sides with me on this?! That he’s on board to help as much as he can?”

The call went silent. I had no idea that Anna had talked to Nathan about our quest. And more importantly, that he believed me as well!

Some mumbles sounded from the other end of the line, but I couldn’t make out what was said. And then, the phone began beeping—they disconnected the call. Of course, being the one who allegedly killed a loved one of their family, it shouldn’t have exactly been a surprise that my involvement in Anna’s life drove a rift between her mother and her. But her brother Nathan seemed to believe me! So why was Anna locked in her bedroom?

Around late afternoon, I couldn’t cope with it anymore. We needed a breakthrough, or this quest would end very, very soon.

Logging in from a local library computer, I signed into the Facebook account we created to meet with Mr. Lautner. Surprisingly, I wasn’t struggling with it too much and was able to actually catch Lautner when he was online. The chat went pretty smoothly, as he had already read the message, and I was able to transition our conversation into an offer to meet up publicly.

But that didn’t mean a damn thing without Anna’s help. She might’ve stood up for me during that phone call with her mom, but no words could hide the fact there was a brick wall between us.

I needed to get back to her apartment and tear that wall down, or at least try to find a way around it. For the investigation. I swear, the way her soft body pressed against mine, driving me insane on every level, had nothing to do with it!

But when I got there, nobody answered the door. And when I checked back the next day, and waited for hours, she was nowhere to be found as well.

Chapter 8

Anna

I was sitting in my parked car in my mom’s driveway. My hands squirmed in my lap. They fiddled over one another, searching for the slightest distraction to take me away from my circumstances. And another phone call from Ethan.

“Ethan,” I mumbled in sad anger. What a mess.

I could still feel a tingle on my lips. We didn’t draw close enough to actually make contact, but the way Ethan stared me down, we might as well have had eye sex in the living room.

He was so bold, but worst of all, relentless. He knew something was up between me and my mom and would pry to make sure we were on the same page for the investigation.

Of course, he’d make communication a priority—his livelihood depended on solving this case. But a thirst also blazed inside of me, a longing for him to see past my façade and just thrust me into a wall like he clearly wanted to.

“Daddy!” a little girl squealed in the distance. I craned my head up to see my young niece prancing near my mom’s house’s top-floor terrace, Nathan himself trailing closely behind.

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