Locke 2 (Blackwater Boys #4)

Twenty-Six

Kali

H e didn’t speak. Not for a few moments. My eyes were already on him. Dressed in that black suit, his hair was still in disarray and needed to be combed back, and his cheeks were on the brink of stubbled, but it suited him. Clashed with the scary suited man in black that he was. It hinted at his chaos. That he could look so entirely presentable and yet not have tended to his hair or cleanly shaved. I wanted to be guarded and not show any emotion, but the simple sight of him stole my breath and replaced my cold bones with heat.

Still.

He fucked with my morning in the most brutal way.

“How could you?” I didn’t deliver it with malice or anger. I sounded too quiet and helpless.

He didn’t look at me. He hadn’t glimpsed at me at all in fact. “You stated you wanted to be part of finding the boy.”

I let his words sink in, and then I nodded. “I did state that, and I meant it.”

“Then you’re done with work.”

“I could have put in my notice, Locke. You didn’t have to humiliate me.”

Locke slowed in front of a red light. “What did Jem do?”

I eyed him. His expression was clear. There was no amusement. I realised then that he didn’t know. That my humiliating exit was entirely Jem. Of course it was. I shut my eyes and swallowed my annoyance. “Doesn’t matter. What are we doing?”

“We’re going to your home, and you’re going to pack your things.” He looked at me now, as if waiting for me to argue, but I said nothing. He’d already explained how dangerous this could be. If Lenny was in bad hands, those very people were in this town, unpredictable and dangerous.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he repeated, suspiciously.

“I’m going along with your plan.”

“You’re not usually so agreeable.”

“Savour it then.”

His usually flat expression shattered like broken glass. He smirked, his gaze returning to the road as he drove. I watched him discreetly, my gaze lingering on his large hand around the steering wheel, at the watch with the broken face, at his ridiculously gorgeous profile. When his tongue poked out to run along his bottom lip, his gaze buried in thought, I felt a little lightheaded at his oblivious sexual aura.

How could I have ever spent time regretting being dicked down by this savage walking sex of a man? But then I remembered all the complicated strings that came with him, with me, with us, and I felt my being grow heavy.

Within minutes, we were parked out front of my tiny cottage style home. I sat up straighter. The front door was open, and a familiar older man was out front, talking to Hal.

“What’s going on?” I asked Locke, feeling nervous that Hal was back here again. “Why is my landlord out front?”

“Your place is in need of urgent repair,” Locke simply stated. “Quickly gather your things and come back.”

I eyed him dryly. Urgent repair?

I closed my parted mouth and hurried out of the car. He’d parked across the street, so I had to jog to my little home. Holding Dahlia in his arms, Hal appeared distressed. When he saw me, he perked up and ditched our landlord.

“The place flooded,” he rushed out. “We’re being removed so they can repair the leak and assess the water damage. I’m freaking out. I can’t handle this stress.”

I glanced at our landlord Harry. His meaty arms were folded over his big gut, his body leaning against the wall beside the front door. He didn’t appear upset in the slightest. He yawned and fished for a smoke. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Locke would have paid him off nicely.

“That’s awful,” I managed out, hoping I sounded dramatic enough. “Where are we supposed to go?”

“He’s putting us in a motel, all paid for.” Hal rolled his eyes. “The cheapskate has deeper pockets than we realised.”

Yeah, I bet he did now. “Hopefully the motel has a hotter shower system.”

Hal let out a laugh. “Yeah, I doubt I’ll even be there. I’ve got a Plan B in case shit like this happens.”

I smirked. “Do you now? I bet it has something to do with you disappearing on me for days at a time.”

He smiled in that secretive way. “Maybe, but that’s not important. Are you going to be okay? I don’t want to leave you at a crappy motel all alone. I can ask some friends if they have room to take you in.”

I waved his concern off. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He looked concerned as he studied me. Then he glanced behind me, at the car parked across the street. His gaze was filled with questions, and I waited for him to shoot them at me, but he didn’t.

He smiled gently and handed me Dahlia. “We have to quickly pack our things before the repair crew gets here. I hope nothing I own is damaged, but Harry sounded a bit vague when he called me.”

“Did he say how he knew something was wrong?”

“The water detection system alarm went off.”

It took everything not to roll my eyes again. Harry was a cheapskate, and the place was so old. I doubted even the fire alarms worked.

Hal shot him a dirty look and whispered, “He didn’t say the same thing to you?”

“Oh, he said something like that, but I was in the middle of class, and it was so loud…”

“Yeah, he could have just texted it. I was in the middle of a meeting, and I had to leave. I bet I looked so careless.”

His panic filled his face as I followed after him into the house, unable to meet the landlord’s eye as they latched on me. Did he know I was part of this? Of course he did. He must have.

Hal was being sort of dramatic as we entered the house. The floors were bone dry in most places, but Hal let out a few yelps when we passed the bathroom where there was a pool of water on the tile floor. He acted like we were waist deep in water and at risk of drowning. I rolled with it, walking on my tip toes with a hand to my chest and everything.

I didn’t have much to pack. I barely owned anything except the clothes on my back and a couple nice shoes. I stuffed them in a bag, placed Dahlia in her crate and carried her out. Hal and I exchanged a few words and then I was back inside Locke’s car.

“A flood?” I asked him as he began to drive. “Hal is barely home these days. I could have just not been at home, too, Locke. Or do you like removing all options for me when it comes to work and shelter?”

“I’m not giving you a way out of my sight,” he returned.

I gaped at him. “You have a thing for making me homeless?”

“Not this time.” He looked at me quickly. “I need to know you’re safe.”

I was about to tell him I knew how to take care of myself, but I was beginning to learn to swallow down my words in the heat of the moment. Locke knew I could hold my own, but he also knew more than me about the world Lenny might be trapped in.

I thought about the picture he drew on his bedroom wall and swallowed thickly.

“Can I see Lenny’s room?” I asked. “It doesn’t have to be now. I know you like to be all spooky and do it at night, but…I’d like to see it for myself.”

“I’ve got a date with his landlord this evening.”

I raised a brow. “How did you manage that?”

It was his turn to look at me wryly. “Take a guess.”

Money.

Lots and lots of money.

“After you drop the dog and stuff off at the house, pull yourself together and we’ll head back out.”

“Pull myself together?” I repeated, questionably.

Locke was still driving, but he risked a quick glance in my direction. Solemn, he quietly said, “It will get dark, Kali. Very dark.”

I forced my body tense so that it wouldn’t tremble, but a shiver shot down my spine. He looked away, and I stroked Dahlia’s head, my eyes barely registering on the town as it blazed by.

◆◆◆

The home he took me to wasn’t fancy or new, but it was big and on a bit of forest land, far enough away to drive out nosey neighbours. We were only a few minutes from the main road, but it was silent as Locke drove through a large gate and up the driveway.

He parked behind a massive white truck, its surface caked in dirt. I knew straight away it belonged to Jem. I’d been in that truck before. The conversation may have been forever ago, but I’d revisited it many times since I’d left Blackwater. The words recycled through me, though it felt entirely different now that I was sitting beside Locke.

“Let me ask you something. Do you want to be back in that apartment with him? Do you want to be subjected to more of his wild sex marathons? And when you’re not fucking him black and blue, do you want him as he is? Because I’m gonna be honest with you, sweetheart, the rumours aren’t false. In fact, they’re quite fucking tame. That man is the definition of bad, and he is not capable of love or anything long-lasting. He is destructive, and he is broken, and no fucking girl from Hawthorne with the same crybaby background is gonna be able to change that. But if that’s what you want to do—if you want to try and be that girl with the magic pussy and healing touch, I’ll turn this truck right around and take you back to him. But prepare yourself for a world you will never fucking get out of. Because once you’ve seen that side, there’s no turning back.”

I shivered. Jem had not been wrong. I had probably done what he expected of me, but it wasn’t for the reasons he thought.

By the end, I hadn’t been scared of Locke’s darkness. I still wasn’t. I was scared for another reason entirely, and it was harder to hide it now that I was sitting with this man, studying his glances, his face, his dark eyes. Every second I was around him, I was in danger of losing myself to him.

Mostly, I kept thinking that Jem had said Locke wasn’t capable of love. That was a heavy statement to make. I wanted Jem to be wrong about that, especially when I’d caught the feverishly wanting looks Locke had shot me since returning to my life, but I had to be cautious. I couldn’t afford to hope like that just because I was lonely and Locke was the only man that was capable of making me feel my damn pulse. And anyway, was I even capable of it? To open myself whole and trust another being with my heart and soul? It didn’t seem possible, especially if it was coming from a serial killer who hunted predators down for sport.

How in the blazing hell would we make it work? There would be no pretty house, white picket fence and 2.5 kids in some posh neighbourly suburb.

But I had to imagine that for a fleeting moment.

Of Locke in shorts and a polo shirt, firing up the barbecue as he chatted sports to our neighbour called Dave. I swallowed back a laugh, the thought so preposterous and wrong. I didn’t even want Locke to be like that, and I didn’t want to be some soccer mom, either. Fuck that, we were way too kinky, and why was I still imagining what life would be like with the man? He didn’t want me in that wife-like, future-mother-to-his-kids sort of way. He wanted the girl he abducted and fucked, and if I had to choose, I was pretty sure the latter was simpler and less messy.

Locke, oblivious of my disturbing thoughts, turned the car off. “I’ll take the dog, and you take the bag.”

I avoided his eyes, paranoid he might detect my thoughts. Staring intensely at Dahlia, I nodded, and he stepped out. With his back to me, I watched his every move as he came around and opened my side. He took the cage and raised it high enough to look at Dahlia. She let out an excited whine that took me by surprise. A subtle smirk played at the corners of his lips as he turned away and trudged to the house. I wondered about that look as I followed him. Just how much time had he truly spent with my dog while I was sleeping?

I glanced around the front yard. It wasn’t manicured and there were no gardens. It felt rather rough. No one would look twice at it. A perfect little hiding spot for Locke.

The aged front porch groaned under our weight as we ascended. As he unlocked the door, I glanced back. The dense trees and overcast skies cast an eerie feeling that settled into my bones. I wasn’t used to the stillness.I inched closer to Locke, knowing that he would protect me should anything happen.

The second the door opened, I practically flew inside, unaware of the leaves I’d invited inside, crunching beneath my shoes. The front room was invitingly warm. I’d barely kicked my shoes off when heavy footsteps cut through the air followed by an angry growl.

“Locke, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

My blood drained as I gaped up at the large figure standing before us, arms crossed, his eyes narrowed on Locke.

Conor Thames was here, and behind him was a grinning Jem.