A wide grin spreads across his face and not a second later, his hand presses down on my thigh, slowly riding up until it’s only a breath away from my promised land.
“If you want your car back in once piece, I’d highly suggest that your hand stops moving right the fuck now.”
His tone drops low and the rasp in it has me relaxing into Colton’s touch. “Or what?” he murmurs, moving his hand just that slight bit more and grabbing what’s his to take. He cups me over my pants and I find myself grinding against his hand, wondering how the hell he manages to set my body on fire so damn quickly.
I keep my focus on the road, terrified of actually hurting this precious car but I don't dare stop him as his hand begins to rub over me. “I should have let you drive this ages ago. Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are driving my car?”
A low groan pulls from deep within me, hearing his words wrap around me but the mood is quickly cut off by the shrill ring of my phone. Colton lets out a frustrated groan and grabs my bag from where he dumped it at his feet. He digs through it and pulls out my phone.
“Ugh, it’s Nic,” he says. “That motherfucker is such a cock-blocker. Does he have a fucking camera in my car too?”
I laugh as I glance at the phone but a seriousness comes over me. Nic has been giving me my space since showing up at the school. He hasn’t tried to call me like he usually does and for some reason, I feel compelled to answer it.
“Can you put it on speaker?”
“Fine,” he groans. “But as soon as you're done talking to him, you’re all mine. All fucking night.”
“Deal.”
With that, Colon hits accept on Nic’s call and his voice instantly sails through the Veneno. “O.”
“What’s up?”
“What are you doing? Turn on the news.”
“Can’t,” I say, flicking my gaze to Colton. “I’m driving. What’s going on?”
“Well pull the fuck over and bring it up on your phone. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this. I fucking know you, O. You’re going to be pissed if you find out through someone else.”
My brows furrow and I instantly realize what the hell this is about. My eyes go wide. “Thanks,” I say, grabbing the phone off Colton and ending the call. I drop my phone into my lap and hastily dart to the side of the road, bringing this magical beast to a startling stop.
“What the fuck is going on?” Colton questions, watching me in a panic.
I grab my phone and instantly bring up the news before turning the media volume right up. Colton leans over and together we watch as a reporter appears on the screen.
The wind brushes through her hair as she holds the microphone to her face with the Bellevue Springs Police Station right behind her. “Jude Carter, son of the wealthy business tycoon, Francis Carter, was arrested today at the Bellevue Springs Police Department, following his confession to multiple counts of rape and the murder of 16-year-old Mandy Johnstone.”
I suck in a deep breath and my eyes go wide, all while Colton sits beside me in confusion, thinking that Jude is still safely locked in his little dungeon. I guess I may have forgotten to tell him something.
The reporter goes on as the screen cuts to earlier footage of Jude showing up at the precinct and handing himself over. Next comes footage of his parents arriving with their many lawyers and the press going nuts with cameras. “Tonight, Bellevue Springs police are scouring bushland for the remains of Miss Johnstone who was reported missing by her parents nearly two years ago. Mr. Carter has not released any other names at this time. Police are urging the young lady to step forward to make a statement. More on this breaking news soon.”
The story cuts out and I remain staring at my phone as though it’s going to magically continue telling me every little detail.
“Ummmm … what the fuck?” Colton grunts, looking up at me in surprise. “Did you know about this?”
“Kinda,” I say with a cringe. “I was done. You said I could handle it however I wanted to handle it and all I wanted was to move on and be happy. With him in the wine cellar, it was always sitting on my mind so I called Nic and had him handle it. I figured he’d just put a bullet between his eyes but I think Nic knew that the guilt would eat at me so they must have had him hand himself over.”
“Fuck me,” Colton says with an impressed smirk. He rubs his hand over his face. “They must have done a fucking number on him to get him to voluntarily walk in there and admit to what he did.”
“Well, what can I say?” I grin. “The Widows certainly have a few impressive … skills.”
“I can imagine,” he says, still a little in shock. He shakes his head and a faraway look enters his hazel eyes. “He really did kill that girl.”
“Yeah, sounds like it,” I whisper, reaching over and taking his hand, hating the guilt that spreads across his handsome features. He links his fingers with mine. “There’s nothing you could have done, Colton. You couldn’t have known that he was going to hurt that girl again. You were only a kid yourself.”
His features fall and I have a feeling that a few lousy words from me isn’t going to do the trick this time. This is just one of those things that are going to sit heavy on his heart until the day he takes his final breath.
“Come on,” he finally says, squeezing my hand and lifting his chin toward the road. “Let’s get home. There’s bound to be a mountain of press waiting outside the gates wanting a statement from me.”
“Okay,” I say, releasing his hand. “But as soon as you’re done with that, you’re all mine.”
A soft smile lifts the corner of his lips. “Deal.”
Chapter 25
Mom’s heavy glare settles on me as she passes by the massive dining table that seats at least a hundred business partners and their families. It’s freaking huge but all that matters right now is not breaking and smiling at my mother.
Just the smallest little grin from me will have her storming through the room and removing me from the table by my ear before dragging me back to the pool house to curse me out. With the business dinner being a lot bigger than we anticipated, Mom has spent the whole day preparing and hasn’t had a chance to tell me and Drix exactly what she thought of our sneaky little plan, but whatever she has to say about it, it doesn’t matter.
There have been at least twenty times today when I’ve caught her smiling to herself. It’s almost as though she’s floating. I don’t think I've ever seen her like this. It’s like she’s a teenage girl again, experiencing the attention of a boy for the very first time. Her cheeks have been flushed all day and if there were music playing, I’m sure she’d be dancing around as though she stepped right out of a musical.
I absolutely love it. Her happiness is contagious. Hell, she can come and yell at me all she wants because, in the end, it will always be worth it. Unless Roman turns out to be some psychotic serial killer, only then will I admit that I might have been wrong.
Mom disappears through the service entrance with her arms full of plates and guilt soars through me. Under any other circumstances, I’d be out there helping her but instead, I’m sitting at the table as a guest while my mother slaves away. It’s wrong.