He’s angry, I get it. I’ve been angry for ten fucking years. But taking it out on me isn’t helping anyone.
I turn the volume up in the hope of drowning everything out as I make my way out of town. It helps to a point but it’s never going to be what I need.
What you need is her.
Slamming my palms down on the wheel, I force that little voice of reason from my head. It might be the truth but like fuck am I going down that road when everything I’ve waited for is finally within reach.
I got what I needed from her. More actually.
Never in a million years did I think she’d be a virgin. That I’d be able to leave that kind of impression on her.
She’ll never be able to forget me now. Ten years ago maybe. But now? Never.
I’ll be a part of her for the rest of her life. Under her skin, seared into her memory until her dying day.
A wicked smile curls at my lips at just the thought.
Innocent little Macie Fletcher. Ruined by the big bad football player.
She must be fucking livid.
I punch in the address I was given into the GPS when I’m slowed down by some traffic in town before following it over the border to Harrow Creek.
I’ve never spent any time over here. Even after becoming friends with Letty and asking her to take me with her when we were kids because I was curious, she always refused, saying it wasn’t a place she wanted me to be.
But now I’ve got an excuse, although I soon discover that I don’t really get to see any of the delights the run-down town has to offer because when the GPS tells me that I’m almost at my destination, I haven’t seen anything aside from trees and countryside which makes the place look much more peaceful than I know it is.
I don’t need stories from Letty, and now Kane, to know the darkness that surrounds this place, all I need to do is turn on the TV and look at the news. There’s always some kind of gang fight, drug bust or unsolved murder. The place really is the pits of hell, yet there’s a huge part of me that craves to be right in the middle of it.
“Whoa,” I mutter out loud after I turn left into what I thought was no more than a dirt road to discover that it opens up to a hidden set of gates. “What the hell is this place?”
As if by magic, the gates begin to open before me, revealing the rolling countryside. As I drive through, my eyes are as wide as dish plates as I take it all in, and then the most incredible building emerges in the distance.
It’s huge. It’s also kind of terrifying. I can’t help but laugh because it suits its owner to a tee.
The dark gothic building stands out from its surroundings with the sun shining down on it today, but I can only imagine that when it’s dark and we’re in the middle of a storm that it just vanishes as if it never even existed.
A shudder runs down my spine as I pull to a stop out in front of the house. I know the man who lives here. I’ve been invited as a friend, but even still, a little unease trickles through me.
The moment I kill the engine, one of the double front doors opens and the man of the house appears.
He’s smiling, and while to everyone else that might be a good thing as you’re welcomed into his house, on Reid, it just makes him look even more dangerous than he usually does.
“Quite some place you’ve got here,” I say walking up to him.
“Welcome to my manor, Lee.”
Reid steps aside and allows me inside.
My eyes scan all around me looking at my surroundings as I trail behind him when he leads me down a long, wide hallway. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it’s… normal.
If it weren’t for the impressive security gates, the ominous building, or the man himself, I’d think this could be just your average family home.
“Drink?” he asks, gesturing for me to take a seat at one of the huge couches that are angled to look over his land through spotless floor to ceiling windows.
“Coffee would be great.”
I watch him move effortlessly around his kitchen. I’ve only met him a couple of times but he seems different, relaxed… less, well… scary.
“You’re staring,” he mutters without looking up.
“S-sorry. You’re just different.”
“Yeah, well, there are things under this roof that do that to me.”
“Things?”
He looks up at me and winks, clearly wanting to keep his secrets.
“Yep. You want cream?”
“No, thank you.”
I keep my eyes on him as he walks over with two mugs in hand as I try to work him out.
I thought I was good at putting on a mask and acting in a way people expect of me, but it seems that Reid might just be the master at it.
“So what can I do for you? It’s not often I get a call requesting a home visit.”
“You were the one who suggested I come here.”
He thinks for a moment. “That’s right, I did. Clearly I wasn’t thinking.”
I narrow my eyes on him. I can’t imagine Reid anything other than completely in control at all times.
He stares at me for a beat before I remember what I came here for.
“I need a favor,” I blurt out.
“Another one?” A wicked smile tugs at his lips as a crash from somewhere inside the vast house sounds out before I hear a scream, although I’ve got no idea if it’s in horror or from pleasure.
There’s no way he doesn’t hear it, but he doesn’t react so I push it aside.
“Y-yeah,” I stutter knowing that I’m going to owe this man big time if he’s able to help me out with this.
“For your sake, I hope it’s fun for me. I don’t hand out favors for just anyone.”
He sits back, taking his steaming mug of coffee with him and takes a sip. It has to burn but he doesn’t so much as flinch as he swallows.
Sitting forward, I rest my elbows on my knees and suck in a large breath as I tell him exactly what I need from him.
“You’re going to owe me, you know that right?” He mutters, looking entirely too happy about the situation.
“I figure that I already do, so adding a little more isn’t a big deal,” I say as if owing the devil himself isn’t terrifying.
I have no idea why he agreed to help with the Brett situation but he did. He has every right to tell me no this time and show me where the door is, although from the bloodlust I recognize in his eyes, I don’t think he will.
“I guess that all depends on your payment terms.”
“I guess it does. But I need this man wiped off the face of the Earth for what he’s done so whatever it is, will be worth it.”
“Why? What did he do?”
I swallow down my apprehension before giving him the very basics.
“He used to be my football coach.”
Reid’s eyes hold mine, searching as if he can read the truth in their depths.
Suddenly his body tenses and the mug in his hand goes flying across the room, shattering against the wall behind my head.
My eyes widen in shock as my heart rate picks up.
His jaw ticks, the muscle down his neck pulsating.
I almost expect him to come at me, but his anger isn’t directed at me.
“Consider it done,” he forces out, his voice deep and raspy.
The relaxed Reid from before is gone.