Deadly (11 page)

PRESENT DAY

I check the destination Mel took the car in and cringe when it shows she’s at a motel. How is she ever going to get over this betrayal?

Then I hack into the MPD database to gain access to the evidence they have on file for the murders in Miami. My cell rings and it’s Darcy, a uniform officer from the precinct who has a soft spot for me so gives me the heads up if there’s anything I need to know. She a sweet girl, ambitious and a good cop. I’m thinking of bringing her into the special unit with me. I need good cops like her. “Braxton.” I bark down the line out of routine.

“Hey, the girl they brought in that you were interested in.”

“Yeah, what’s happened?” I demand, nervous of her answer.

“She’s freaking out and they’ve called psyche, they’re referring her over to Blue Water.”

I can’t believe this is happening and I don’t know how to help her, how to prevent this from happening. I feel vulnerable and helpless… I’m so fucking lost. I need Mel.

Rapping my fist against the door again my knuckles split and bleed. I welcome the sting but nothing could compare to the ache inside my chest. “Don’t do this to us Mel.”

Loud thunder cracks the sky and rain pours down. Mother Nature is mourning with me. We are soulmates and belong together. We were strong enough to get through anything, damn we’d been tested enough.

Then why does this feel so different?

“Let me in Mel, don’t shut me out. I can’t do this without you.”

The door swings open and my wife, overtaken my emotion, stares at me like she detests me and my insides crumble. “You can’t do this without me?” She spits, disgusted. “It appears that you’ve been doing a hell of a lot without me, Blake. I can’t forgive this. How can you do this? Why wouldn’t you tell me? She’s my baby Blake.” Sobs tear from her chest and her knees buckle, causing her to fall. I reach out and ease her down, cradling her into me while she falls apart. “She’s my baby, how can this happen? Why didn’t you tell me? How can I help her? Oh God, my beautiful baby girl.”

“She’s not that little girl anymore. She’s sick, baby,”

“No …No!” Her arms tackle with mine and I don’t want to hurt her so I loosen my hold, only for her to get her arms free and rain blows down on me. “Your brother is sick! He did this to her and you let him, you son of a bitch, you let him have our baby girl.
Argh…
” A sound I never want to hear ever again ripped from her chest, causing my own scream of agony. I was losing her, she wasn’t going to come back from this and it was my fault. Everything bad that’s happened in her life revolves around me. I’m a sick fuck that’s too selfish to let her go and live a better life. I was never strong enough to let her go and I’m still not. There was no me without her, life would cease to exist. Nothing made sense without her there to figure it out for us. She was created for me and as cruel as that was to give such a shining light to a dark soul with even darker ones haunting him, she was still given to me and she was mine to keep and heal. I’d do what I’ve always done. I’ll reassemble all those fragmented pieces and love her so hard that she can’t help but accept that I love her more than life itself. We belong together and can get past anything.

“I need time, Blake. I can’t even freaking look at you right now. This hurts too much. Leave.”

She’s risen to her feet and all I can do is look up at her from my knees and plead with my eyes that she knows I didn’t do this to deceive her, I just didn’t think she could handle what Cereus was.

“I’ll stay here. Take Max home, you two shouldn’t be staying somewhere like this.”

“Ryan knows where we live and is here Blake. There is no way I’m going back there. It’s never going to be over is it?”

“He won’t hurt you, baby.”

Her hand comes down hard against my cheek, causing my tooth to pierce it and the copper twang of blood to ignite on my tongue. The anger in her eye has almost swallowed all of the green circling the pupil. Her brows are crashed together. “Don’t you ever say those words to me again. All that man knows is hurt Blake. All he has ever brought me is pain. You let him go free with our daughter and turn her into him.”

I stand and grab her cheeks swiping the tears from under her eyes. “She was a killer Mel, she fucking killed a girl at her college. Ryan left so she could have a normal life but normal was never in her. She’s sick, Mel. Our baby girl is a murderer and I couldn’t face her being where he was, so he took her away to protect her from that.”

Her gasp and step back from my grasp makes the hole growing in my stomach expand. I’ve never felt more hopeless in my life. “What?” Her strangled whisper causes tears to build in my own eyes.

“I’m sorry, baby. Fuck, I’m so damn sorry. I felt so fucking powerless to help her, I didn’t know what to do and acted on impulse.”

A tear falls free, dropping to my cheek. I feel broken, lost and deserted and betrayed by life. How much more were we supposed to deal with? How much more could it take from me? I can’t lose her.

“I have to live with this now, how it ended up. I can’t lose you too, we need each other. I need you Mel.” I break like I’m that eighteen year old boy again and instead of hardening and becoming what I thought I needed to, I weakened and I cried. I cried for my younger self, for not having a mother and father who I could rely on. I cried for my damaged, soulless brother who didn’t stand a chance at normal. I should have taken notice of the signs and got him help when he was a kid. I cried for the lives I stole, and the lives that were left behind to mourn them. I cried for the lives of Mel’s parents that Ryan brutally robbed from her, from Cereus before she was even here and from Max. I cried for not being able to stop Cereus from becoming like him. I cried for my wife who was the strongest person I knew and had been tested further than anyone should be. She survived some of life’s darkest trials and came out the other side, and yet she still managed to love, still managed to see the good in the world - and in me. She made me a father, a husband, she made me human again.

I manage to bring my breathing under control and swipe at the tears dampening my cheeks. That’s when I notice that warm arms encompass me and Mel’s scent fused with fresh rain soaks into me, wrapping me in a blanket of security.

“I love you so much, you can’t leave me Mel. You can’t… you can’t.”

“I won’t … I won’t.”

My arms tightened on hers anchoring myself to her. We stay like that for a while, just holding each other, just breathing each other.

“Let’s take these clothes off and shut the door, the carpet is soaked.” Her soft croaky voice penetrated the silence.

We moved together, pushing the door closed and peeling each other’s clothes free from our bodies. Max was sleeping on the bed. I hate that she came to a crappy motel.

“Let’s get you in the shower, you’re freezing,” she murmurs, pulling me towards the bathroom. Turning the shower on hot, she pulls me under the spray. I feel so drained. I’ve never felt like this before. Her warm embrace offers me the comfort I need but I seek more, pushing my body into her, exhaling a relieved breath when every inch of her skin touches mine. Her legs wind around me, her body reacting to mine, knowing we need to be connected. I aid her, lifting her and holding her body against mine as I push straight inside her, swallowing her gasp with my mouth.

The water cascades over us, creating a cocoon, a small piece of solace. Just for a short while we are just Blake and Mel, a man and woman beaten down by life, frayed and battered souls clinging to each other for comfort.

I push deep and savor the heat of her walls contracting over my shaft, squeezing and demanding more. Her heavy tits push into my chest, her nipples peaking from the friction of our bodies gliding over each other’s. My lips devour hers, our tongues dancing together. I would never get my fill of her, she was still the girl who captivated and captured the man in me with just a look. Those green eyes, heavy lidded and staring at me ignites a fire so wild inside me only she can tame it.

“I love you,” I implore, thrusting harder and harder, the pleasure building, tightening my balls. Heat builds and grows with every plunge into her wet heat. Her sweet pussy pulls me in, massaging my length. Her nails dig into my shoulders and I know she’s almost there. I slip my hand between our bodies and pinch her clit between my thumb and forefinger for a few seconds before releasing it and rubbing vigorously over the hood of her clit. Her pussy clamps onto me, demanding my release as her cum heats and slickens my dick. I follow her over with a growl. My legs almost buckle so I take us down to the floor, pulling her onto my lap.

“We need to let them help her, Blake. It kills me to think of her in a place like that but what’s the alternative? Let her keep killing people? It’s selfish of us to ignore what’s she’s done. Those people have mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who will never see them again because of our daughter. I love her no matter what she’s done and I want to save her. I want to tell you to get her out of there somehow and let her run but you did that before and look what happened.” A shiver races through her body. “How many people has she killed, Blake?”

I shake my head and pull her head down so she can bury herself in the crook of my neck. “I don’t know, baby, a lot.”

A sob racks through her body, vibrating every part of her frame. I hold her and hope the water can wash away some of her sorrow.

“Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.”

“Nothing.” Her head comes up and her palms grip either side of my face. “I want you to do nothing. She’s where she needs to be and we can make sure she gets the help that she needs, that she’s well taken care of in there. It’s all we can do now.”

“They don’t know who she is, they only know her as the last I.D I created of her.”

Her eyes probe mine and I can almost feel the skin sting from phantom hits I know she wants to shower down on me. “How many I.Ds has she had?”

“None of that matters now.”

“It all matters but not right now. But you are going to tell me everything Blake, you need to. To repair us I need to know everything.”

“Okay. Okay I’ll tell you everything.”