44. TRUTHS AND LIES

44

TRUTHS AND LIES

RYDEN

“ I ’ve been hunting him.” Hunting him? Words were coming out of her sexy as fuck lips, but I didn’t understand at first, and when I did, my ears rang. My heart was becoming black with rage. The need to burn everything down until only she and I remained was almost a physical ache. It took so much out of me to not lose it.

I took her phone, and everything in me went still when I read the first message and then another. There were a lot of them.

That sick fuck. How dare he play with my woman?

My fingers trembled. I wanted to find this bastard, and I wanted my knife against his skin until he was no more. Until he couldn’t be a threat to Yara. Every inch of my body burned, and the only need in me was to kill. This kill would be personal. This kill would be for my woman.

“You’re hunting him? What kind of insanity is that?” I asked, glaring at her.

I always knew she was insane, but this was more than insanity. This was a death wish.

“Why? Why would you do something like that? He’s a fucking serial killer.” I had this intense urge to shake her, but I couldn’t even move. She looked so pale in the overhead light and my heart—that stupid, problematic thing—became a mess.

“Because he killed my best friend.” Her voice was ice cold, and her eyes were empty. There was no trace of life in them, no feelings. I had seen that look quite a few times. In my own eyes.

“Yara?” She was playing with the edge of her sleeves, fatigue evident on her face. I ran my fingers down her back before pressing a kiss to her head. She shuddered. “Tell me, please.”

“I lied when I said it was a professional curiosity. It wasn’t. It was… it’s personal.”

“Personal how?”

“Katelyn Ricci. My best friend. She was my only family.”

She didn’t have to say more. I remembered the conversation we had. Katelyn Ricci was The Strangler’s fifth victim.

Oh.

“Yara? Baby?”

She nodded, her lips flat.

“I’m sorry for that, so fucking sorry, but what are you planning to do when you find him?” I asked, but I didn’t have to. I could see it, the murderous intentions in her eyes.

“Kill him.” There was not even a hint of hesitation in her voice as she stood up and walked to the sink, as if what she said was completely normal. She washed her plate and put it in the drying rack before she turned to look at me. “What? You’re burning a hole in my back.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You sound…”

“I know. Insane.” She took in a deep breath, leaning against the counter, a frown creasing her forehead. “But I want to find him and kill him, Ryden. It’s as simple as that.” Her voice was so clear against the silence of the night. So determined.

“You—you can’t. We need to go to the cops. You’re not a killer, Yara.”

She scoffed.

“No cops, Ryden. I have to do this by myself. I told you only because I wanted to. Don’t make me regret that.” She sounded so angry.

“You can’t, Yara. He’s dangerous. For fuck’s sake, you’re a smart woman, Yara, and you know men like The Strangler are…”

“Then help me, Ryden,” she said, putting another plate down on the drying rack. “Help me.”

“Help you?” I asked. My head spun. She had just pushed me down a roller coaster, and now she was asking me to help her. “Help you how?”

I had no idea whether this was the weariness of today’s event, the rage talking, or she was really considering it. She couldn’t be, could she?

I always knew Yara was strange, and I loved that strangeness. But…

“Help me find The Strangler,” she said, her voice ringing with finality. “You told me to let you be my backup. To let you fight with me. I’m asking you now. I don’t want to fight alone. Be my first mate.”

Fuck. She was using my own words against me, and how could I say no to that when she looked at me like that? I wanted to say yes, but… that would mean putting Yara in the path of danger.

“And give you to him on a silver platter? I can’t do that.” I can’t lose you.

For the longest time, I believed I wasn’t capable of feelings, of loving another. Love was a strange concept that was meant for others but not for me. I wasn’t made for simple, everyday pleasures that other normal men enjoyed. Then Yara West came into my life, and everything became chaotic.

I tried so hard not to let her change me, my life. I resisted. I told myself I was immune to such trivial vulnerabilities. But she was like a fucking hurricane, slowly wearing down my defenses.

I don’t just love Yara West; I’m consumed by her.

“I want you to help me, but if you can’t…” she stopped, drying her hand with the towel, a nonchalant look taking over her fierceness. “I want you to not tell anyone about this. I’ve got to do this myself, Ryden. That’s the only way for me to live without carrying this guilt forever. It’s so fucking heavy.”

I understood how she felt. I understood her pain, her need, her logic, but I couldn’t let her get hurt.

The stubborn press of her lips let me know that there was no way she was going to stop this. With or without my help, she would do this—even if the cops were involved, she wouldn’t stop. And there was no other way for me except to do it with her. The only way to keep her safe was to become her first mate.

It was hard not to pull her to me and then disappear into a place where The Strangler couldn’t corrupt her, but I had no other options.

“Yes. I’ll help you find him.”

Her smile, quick and dazzling, made my stupid heart falter. I loved it when she smiled like that—as if everything in the world had finally aligned perfectly, and there were no mismatched pieces to worry about.

“But we’ll do it on my terms,” I said with a grimace. She shot me a look that made it clear she had no intention of doing that, but she gave me a reluctant nod anyway. “Fucking liar,” I said, and her eyes gleamed. She looked once again like herself. Like the Yara I knew and loved.

Loved.

It still felt strange, to even just think that, but my life was over the moment when she told me to shut the fuck up and indirectly called me a fool.

“There’s one more thing. From now on, you’ll never go anywhere by yourself.”

“What do you mean?” she almost squeaked. “I’m not going to change my life for that fucking asshole.”

“Well, you aren’t going to change it for him. You’re going to change it for me. I’ll stay with you. We can stay at my house or yours. I don’t care. And I’ll drive you to work and pick you up from work. I’ll be around, always. That’s my condition to help you find him.” She looked at me like I had lost my fucking brain. “That’s the only way. If you want my help…”

A long pause followed an even longer sigh. “Okay. My house, but don’t you have to go to work or things like that?” Her smile was sarcastic. “I mean, no one’s going to pay you for being my bodyguard.”

“Well, nothing is more important than you, but… also, what’s my work? Chasing stories. I’ll tell them I’m chasing The Strangler,” I said as I walked closer to her, pulling her to my body. The need to always touch and hold her was a persistent itch, and I couldn’t get away. “Also… you’re rich. If I was fired, won’t you just pay me for all the trouble and take care of me?”

She snorted. “We’ll see.”

“I just want to keep you safe.”

She looked like she wanted to say something against what I said, and then she took in a breath, her eyes resigned.

“Thank you, Ryden.”

“Come on, let’s pack a suitcase for me and get you home.”

The cold wind was heavy on my skin, and the night was dank and dark when I parked the car in Yara’s driveway. We walked toward her house, and Yara opened the door. I was grabbing my suitcase when a scream came from inside the house. I ran toward Yara and pulled her behind me, quickly drawing a knife from my pocket

“Don’t kill me.” The woman standing in the middle of the living room jumped back, her hands raised in surrender.

“Irene, what the fuck are you doing here?” Yara shouted, moving toward the switches. She flicked on every switch, filling the room with a flood of light. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. “God, Re-Re, my heart just jumped out of my throat.”

The girl rolled her eyes, running her fingers through her curly hair, looking at Yara and then at me. In the flood of light, I could clearly see she was no threat.

“I’ve been waiting for you for hours, damn near fell asleep, and then I heard the door,” She yawned and gave me a once over, and she definitely didn’t look impressed. “What’s he doing here? Did he finally take the bait?”

“Who is she?” I asked, looking at Yara.

“Should we tell him? He’s here, anyway,” Irene said, rubbing her hands together.

“This is Irene Ricci.”

“Katelyn Ricci’s sister.”

“Ryden, this is Irene. Irene, Ryden.”

“Nice to meet you,” Irene took my hand in hers and shook it twice, her eyes mocking.

“Yeah, same.”

“Now tell me what the hell you are…” Yara started and then stopped, her face pale. She took Irene’s hand in hers. “You know about it?”

“Of course. I know about it. You—are you alright, Yara? I was so worried,” Irene said, pulling Yara into a hug. They both stood there for a few minutes in silence before they pulled back. Irene’s eyes were gleaming with unshed tears, and Yara’s eyes were full of malice.

“Don’t worry about me. He’s finally here, and this time, I won’t let him slip by. Ryden promised that he’d help me.”

“Help you?” Irene asked and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but then stopped when Yara subtly shook her head.

“Yes. Go back to sleep. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow,” Yara said, and Irene walked back to the couch and stopped when Yara shook her head. “In your room, Re-Re.” Irene grunted but walked to her room.

“Come on,” Yara said, and we walked toward her room on the second floor. She opened the door, and my body instantly became rigid. “Fuck.”

“Don’t go in.” I grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving forward. She pulled away from me.

“He isn’t here anymore,” she said with a frown.

There were five smiley faces drawn on her wall with five different shades of red. The fucker was inside her house, her safe space. He desecrated her home, and that was a sin I would not forgive. If Yara didn’t want to kill him, I would.

“Irene… she was here. What if he came when she was here?” Yara’s body trembled.

“He didn’t.”

“But what if he did?” She rubbed her face. “This is why I never wanted her to be a part of my life, but she wouldn’t go.” Yara blinked. “What am I going to do now, Ryden?”

“Find him and kill him before he hurts someone else who’s important to you.”

“Yes. That,” she said as we studied the faces on the wall. Yara’s face twisted with anger as she rushed toward her dressing table. She pulled open the drawer and cursed.

“He took them.”

“What? What did he take?” I growled out, rushing closer to her.

“Scarlet Rouge,” she said, pointing to the first sad face drawn on the wall. “This is Ruby Rush. Crimson Noir. Cherry Lush. The last one is Casablanca.”

“Your lipsticks?” I asked, walking closer to her.

“Yes. Daphne Morgan was wearing Scarlet Rouge.” She glared at the leering faces on her wall. “I thought he just knew about my favorite brand, but no… Daphne must be wearing my lipstick . It’s mine. He took it from my drawer. He fucking broke… into my home and took them.” She rubbed her lips as if it was hurting her. Yara growled, kicking the chair with a scream. “He just crossed a line he shouldn’t have.”

“The faces weren’t there yesterday,” I said with a wince, and she nodded.

“He drew them today.”

The darkness in her eyes…. the fierce need for blood and murder… I felt everything. I wanted what she wanted.

“He walked into my house twice, Ryden. He… he fucking stole my things. I’ll not rest until I kill that fucking coward.”

“We will. I promise.”