Ruin Me (Savage Bosses)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

M adison

“That’s the place.” I pointed toward a house that had seen better days.

“You’re sure?” Kent slowed the car to a crawl.

We were in a lower middle-class neighborhood. Modest homes with better upkeep lined the streets. Most of the neighbors took pride in their houses with recent paint or siding and landscaping featuring neat lawns. Nothing I saw warranted Kent’s caution.

“It’s the address Mr. Edelman gave me.”

“Remind me, why are we the ones asking him instead of forwarding his information to the police?” He parked by the curb in front of the address I’d jotted down.

I glared at Kent. My ass was still tender after this morning’s punishment, but that wasn’t why I gave him the sink eye. “If you think I’m going to entrust your future to those inept detectives, you don’t know me. They don’t like you because you’re an entitled asshole?—”

“Come again?”

“Kent, I have deep feelings for you but I’m not blind. You were an asshole to me, your employees have talked about it on the BBD site, and you were almost insufferable to the detectives at the hospital. Now, I’m not saying your behavior isn’t always warranted, but don’t think I don’t see you for who you are, flaws and all.”

Kent stared at me from the corner of his eye. “Are my flaws a deal breaker?”

“For years I wished they were. Wished and begged for my heart to come to terms with the darkness inside you.” I rested my head against the headrest and watched the empty street before us. “But then I’d remember how you were with Ife and Oyinlola, and me before I revealed my feelings for you. If I haven’t been able to rip you out of my heart by now, I don’t think I ever will.”

Kent took my hand and pressed his lips against my palm. “Thank you for not trying to change me, but if I go to that dark place, know it will be to protect you, not hurt you.” He kissed my palm again and closed his eyes.

I brushed his hair behind his ear and cradled his cheek in my free hand, savoring the way his beard tickled my palm. “I?—”

A loud knock on my window scared me into pulling away. I shrieked and held my hand against my rapidly beating heart.

“Are you the woman I spoke to last night?” Fred Edelman, the man I found with a connection to four of the dead women, said with an impatient frown. “I got a call from my cafe manager about an emergency. So I’ll have to cancel on you.”

I rolled down the window and offered Fred an understanding smile. “I understand. Your time is not your own when you run a business as popular as yours.”

“Thanks.” He glanced toward his house, his frown morphing into a contemplative one. “If you want, you can follow me and ask your questions there. At least then I won’t feel bad about wasting your time.”

“Not a problem. We’ll follow you.” Kent reached across me and out my window to shake Fred’s hand. “I’m Kent.”

“Yeah, Fred. See you in a bit,” Fred distractedly said and quickly shook Kent’s hand before hurrying to the waiting car in his open garage.

We followed him for the forty-minute drive to an up-and-coming restaurant district in downtown Douglas. When we arrived at the cafe, Brewfully Yours, Fred sat us at an outdoor table and had his servers wait on us. The service was as good if not better than I’d read about.

“How’d you find this guy? His name never came up as a potential witness in any of the police reports you compiled or from what my people could find.” Kent took a sip of his cappuccino and his body relaxed into his chair.

“That good?”

“Try it.” He handed me his cup.

I licked my lips, less interested in the coffee. I turned the cup until the drop he’d left behind on the rim aligned with my mouth and sipped with my eyes closed. “Mmm.”

“Madison, behave. We’re in public and if you don’t want me explaining to passersby why I have my cock in your mouth, save those sounds for when we’re alone.” Kent growled, his eyes glowed with lust as his vision narrowed on my lips.

I smirked, not afraid of his warning. I’ve had too many nights of wanting to know how he felt in my mouth to be intimidated by a bunch of strangers.

“Sorry, it took so long.” Fred slumped into a chair beside me. “I might have five minutes before they need me again.” He glanced between Kent and me, but returned to Kent time and again. “What questions do you have?”

I pulled a picture of the first murdered woman from her Instagram profile. She was with her friends, dressed in activewear after attending her gym. In the background, Fred stood talking to people at the table beside hers. From my research, I learned Fred made a habit of getting to know his customers.

“Fred, do you know this woman?”

He took the picture and studied it. “Yes, but I thought I saw on the news she died.” He peeked at Kent, his face closing up.

“She did. I hope you can help us with some other clues. Her death is still unsolved and there have been others since,” I said, bringing his attention back to me.

I retrieved the other photos I collected from the other murder victims. All from Instagram. All in various clothes from brunch chic to executive on a break. All with various friends.

“Shouldn’t you be asking him?” Fred nodded at Kent.

“I have, but he hadn’t seen any of the women the months leading up to their murders. So I looked at things they had in common and found your shop.”

Fred narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you suggesting I had something to do with their deaths?”

“Not at all. I’m hoping you remembered something from when they were here that could help with the investigation. The police are stalled, and a friend of mine almost became another victim to whoever’s targeting the women he’s”—I nodded toward Kent—“been seen with.”

“I don’t know how much help I can be.”

His manager came to the table and whispered in his ear.

“Sorry, I have to handle this. Leave the pictures and I’ll try to jog my memory.”

I handed him the photos and watched him head toward the back of the cafe.

“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot if it means clearing your name.” I reached over the tabletop to hold his hand.

He squeezed my hand then laced our fingers together. “Well, what’s next?”

“I want to stick around a while longer. From how busy he is, he’ll likely forget about us.”

“Fine by me. I’ve been eyeing a pastry I wanted to try.” Kent raised his arm and ordered a white chocolate raspberry shortcake.

When it arrived, he pulled my chair next to him, cut into the pastry, and raised it to my lips. I opened my mouth without thought and hummed as the perfectly balanced dessert hit my tastebuds.

“Madison approved, I see. Now, let’s discover if it’s Kent approved.”

Instead of cutting another portion, Kent gripped my nape and angled my face toward his. The blue of his eyes glowed with a feral light as he homed in on my lips.

“Open for me Madison. Let me taste how good the dessert is.”

I did his bidding. Of course I did. Ever since Kent and I cleared up our issues, Kent treated me as too delicate to overwhelm with his need. His kisses were too few for my liking, and he cut short whenever I initiated, always teasing me with what could happen.

Dammit, I wanted what could happen and I wanted this kiss now. As soon as his lips touched mine, I was a goner. I always was. This time, I didn’t have to fight myself. Didn’t have to pretend I wasn’t kissing the man who no other could come close to replacing. And that was before I knew his taste.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, uncaring of any random person with an issue about public displays of affection. I was greedy for Kent. Would always be. And there wasn’t a person who could stop me from giving him all I am whenever he asked.

His thumb rubbed circles on my cheek. The innocent flutter against my skin while he devastated my mouth with his plundering tongue, set off new fireworks in my blood.

“Kent,” I moaned, needing more.

He tugged on my arms until I reluctantly freed him. When we parted, his stare was wilder than before, but he reigned himself in whereas I had trouble recovering from our embrace.

“Definitely Kent approved.” He pulled away and was about to feed me another mouthful when Fred reappeared.

“Good, you’re still here. I felt bad leaving the way I did, but it looks like everything is under control now.” He eyed the nonexistent distance between Kent and me. “Do you still want me to answer questions?” He placed the photos I’d given him earlier on the tabletop.

“Yes,” I slurred, then shook my head to refocus on the matter. “Can you think back to any time these women were here if there was another person who looked suspicious? Maybe someone who showed them more interest. Came when they came and left when they left? Man or woman?”

“That’s hard. I have a good memory, but not that good. You’re asking me to recall something from over a half a year ago.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin as he tried to remember anything to help us.

I reshuffled the photographs, trying to identify familiar faces.

Kent, who’d been quiet until now, leaned forward to inspect the pictures as well. He pulled one from the group.

“Do you recognize someone?” I asked.

“Not sure.” He stared at a corner in the image before shaking his head. “I can’t be positive.”

“But there’s a person who reminds you of somebody?” I pushed because we had nothing.

Kent returned the photo before snagging Fred’s attention. “Is Paulina Finch a regular?”

“Paulina?” Fred broke into a smile. “She’s a guest of honor whenever she comes around. She did me a huge favor and sped up my permits and licenses before I opened. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing and was looking at delaying my opening and losing a ton of money. We call her Brewfully Yours’ fairy godmother. She’s always been flattered by the moniker and stops by two to three times a week.”

“Is she significant somehow?” I retrieved the discarded photo.

Behind the now deceased woman, the photographer captured a partial profile of a woman seated with a blonde. Unfortunately, the other woman was facing away from the camera and only her hair and the back of her shirt was captured. I made a note to myself to forward the image to my team to enhance the corner. Even if I couldn’t identify the second lady, maybe a clearer picture would provide another lead, however of a long shot it might be.

“I can’t think how. She’s the Director of Boards and Commissions. Unless these women were trying to open a business, they wouldn’t have a reason to know her. And given this place’s popularity, if the woman in the photo is her, she’s there by coincidence.”

Fred handed me the rest of the pictures. “Listen, I wish I could think of something, but I can’t. Every interaction I recall having with them was normal and nothing from those days pop out as being memorable.”

“Thanks anyway. I knew it was a long shot.” I packed the pictures away and retrieved my business card. “But if something comes up, please call me. Clearing Kent’s name is important, but not as important as giving these women’s families the answers they need.”

We departed from the cafe in contemplative silence, hand in hand.

“This morning when I found you in the office, I thought you were working so hard because Elsie had been hurt. I didn’t realize I was the one driving you to these lengths.”

I pulled out of his hold and waited until he turned to look at me. “I like and respect Elsie, but…” I took a deep breath. “As horrible as this will make me sound, it’s your safety that drives me. I can’t help but fear that whoever is targeting these women will turn their violence on you because you haven’t given them something they wanted. And I couldn’t live knowing I hadn’t done enough to help stop them before they went too far.”

“And I don’t want you painting a target on your back because we’re together now.”

“But no one knows about us.”

“Yet, and not because I want to hide you from the world.”

I swallowed because he was right. I was the one hiding what we were becoming, although I had a lapse with the kiss we shared. I looked from left to right, wondering if anyone was watching us. If I’d exposed our secret because I was desperate for a kiss.

I cleared my throat. “How about a compromise?”