Easton
I couldn’t believe I was so fucking stupid.
As we drove back to Laney’s house in silence, I kept going over and over in my mind all of the idiotic mistakes I kept making, over and over again.
Mistakes that distracted me. Mistakes that kept me from hunting down this murdering fuck and bringing him to justice.
Sure, I wasn’t in the FBI anymore. I wasn’t in law enforcement. But whoever was doing this was clearly somehow targeting me, somehow sending me a message. In a lot of ways, it was all my fault that these women were getting killed. Plus, I was closest to the case, knew the most about it. The sheriff had even directly asked for my help, which only proved that they were out of their league. I was the reason, the catalyst for everything, and people were being yanked into something they never wanted to be a part of because of me.
Especially Luisa Suarez.
While the poor girl was getting strangled to death, I was probably too busy fucking my distracting stepsister in my car. I was thinking with my cock and not with my head, and someone had lost their life because of it.
Would I have caught the guy before Luisa had died? Probably not. But maybe I could have been better informed, more engaged, and maybe I could have changed something. Maybe Mrs. Suarez would have reached out to me sooner if I were more interested in her. Maybe I could stop the next killing, at least.
But I needed to get my head out of my ass. Actually, I needed to get my mind off Laney’s fucking pussy.
Because her cunt was distracting. Hell, her lips and teeth and eyes were distracting. The way she smiled at me uncertainly as I made some dirty comment was distracting. The tilt of her head, the wave in her hair, the way she dressed and spoke. Everything about her made me want to fall deep into the black hole that was her body and never fucking come back out. I wanted to hear her speak and moan and the soft slap of my skin against hers.
I needed to give her up.
As much as it hurt to think about, I needed to concentrate entirely on the case, to give myself up fully to it again. Otherwise nothing was going to happen, and this sick bastard was going to keep on killing over and over.
We pulled up outside the house and I parked. I killed the engine and sat there, stewing in my thoughts.
“Easton?” Laney said softly. “Are you okay?”
I glanced at her. “Fine.” I opened the door and climbed out.
She followed. “Did you tell our parents that you’re staying here?”
I nodded. “They know.”
“Okay.” She bit her lip. “It’s going to work out, you know. We’ll figure it out.”
I whirled on her. I felt so much anger bubbling inside me, and even though I knew none of it was her fault, I couldn’t help but let my own self-loathing rise up to the surface.
“There’s no ‘we’ here, Laney,” I said. “The office is closed. We’re just stepsiblings now.” I paused, letting that sink in. “And it’s already not okay.”
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, and the hurt I saw there mirrored my own hurt. I only hated myself even more for saying it, but it was for the best. She needed to put distance between the two of us or else risk getting sucked into my whirlpool of fucked up shit.
“I can still help you,” she said. “I know we’re not really working together anymore.”
“No,” I said, grabbing my duffel. “It’s over. Go back to doing whatever it is you did before you met me.”
The hurt in her face quickly shifted to anger. “I don’t get it. You said you wanted my help.”
“You don’t need to get it, Laney.”
“Fine. If you want to be a prick, be a prick.” She held out the Seed case file. “Take your precious file.”
I took it, looking at her grimly. “Just forget about everything. You’ll be better off.”
“You don’t know as much as you think you do, Easton.”
“Maybe not.”
I turned and walked off into the house without another word.
I didn’t look back. I knew that if I did, she’d see the pain in my eyes, see how badly it hurt me to walk away from her, to try to push her away.
And she’d also see the rage. The killer rage, the desire to tear apart the world.
I wasn’t sure which was more terrifying.
17
Laney
I woke up early the next day, Easton’s words ringing in my ears.
I wasn’t surprised that he was being a dick. Honestly, I half expected it. He was normally such a cocky person that I was wondering when he’d decide to lash out or something like that.
It wasn’t so much his words that bothered me. Rather, it was the look in his eyes, like he was haunted, haggard, angry, and above all, afraid.
He wanted to handle everything himself. He didn’t want help because he thought he could make everything happen completely alone. And maybe that was true. Easton was an incredible person, both inside and out. He had a sharp mind and was about as physically fit as a person could be.
But I got the feeling that he was too wrapped up in his case. I wanted to help, wanted to be a part of it, but I was afraid he was going to push me away.
I rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and doing my usual morning routine.
I hated that he said we were finished, that we were just stepsiblings again. I thought we were something more than just coworkers and stepsiblings, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I had misread him. Maybe in the end, all he cared about were his cases and himself.
Frustrated, I went downstairs and into the kitchen. Susan was sitting at the table, which surprised me. She was rarely at home, always so busy with her job and her city council seat.
“Good morning, Laney,” she said.
“Morning.” I poured myself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. “You’re not normally home around now.”
She smiled. “I’ve been working too hard. Decided to take the morning off.”
“Lucky you.” I paused, sipping my coffee. “You know Easton is staying here now, right?”
“I sure do. I suggested it, actually.”
I cocked my head at her. “Why?”
“Well, you’ve heard about what’s happening.”
“Sure. The murders.”
“Sheriff Sloan thinks Easton can help. And I want to offer as much support to him as possible. I figure he can get more work done here than he can in that little office of his.”
“Maybe,” I muttered. “Or maybe he’s better off alone there.”
Susan laughed. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“You seem a little annoyed.”
I sighed, sitting down across from her. “Your son is a real asshole, that’s all.”
My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe I had just said that, but Susan only laughed harder.
“He is a stubborn boy, that’s for sure. What happened?”
“He closed the office and is finished working with me.”
“Really?” She seemed mildly surprised. “He had said you’ve been a huge asset to him.”
I nodded. “I thought so. We were going over the case together one second, and the next he’s telling me we’re done working together and to just forget it.”