Unmask (Adrenaline Series (Stand Alone) Book 4) (15 page)

Drew

Waking up with Melody just in the house is better than most things I've experienced in my life. As pussy whipped as that sounds it's fucking true. Just knowing I can roll out of bed and see her face within minutes of being awake is amazing, which makes it equally as fucking hard when she's not here.

I head across the living room for the kitchen passing a snoring Rex. Unhappy to see he's still here, I grunt.

Honestly, I'm not surprised. I waited up as long as I could last night for Melody to get home. What? Can you blame me? Fuck, I would've snuck into her room and recreated that magic moment she did for me.

Seeing the two tablets and glass of water for me on the counter causes my heart to sink.

She was here and left already. Fuck
.

“Take your pills prisoner,” Rex says on a yawn.

Add him to the list of people I wanna shoot. What! He shot me first!

After swallowing them, thankful she knew I would probably still be sore, I turn around. “Is Melody the only person that's pleasant?”

“Don't get attached to her,” he bites. “You're lifespan is much shorter than you wanna believe it is.”

I bite my tongue.

“You can't possibly be dumb enough to think you're gonna make it out of this job alive.” When I don't answer he laughs, shakes his head, and closes his eyes. “Pathetic. Almost as pathetic as thinking you'll get to runaway into the sunset with the princess. Grow the fuck up. Even if you had a shot of making it out of this alive, she'd rather kill herself than end up with pathetic street trash like you McCoy.”

Resisting the urge to throw the glass at him, I place it on the counter, and grab an apple to crunch on.

Oh his time is coming. Stay cool. We'll handle that motherfucker together.

The morning seems to fly by quicker than I predicted. I spend most of it working on the custom features for the person we are supposed to be impersonating.

This dude has some of the thickest fucking eyebrows I've ever seen in my life. It's ridiculous. All together the dude is really fucking hairy. I mean, I wanna buy him a goddamn razor myself.

My brush carefully fills in another line next to the actual hair as the front door opens. I glance up to see my girl walking in, the sight of her in jeans and a white t-shirt almost as fucking sexy as her in those scrubs.

I say almost because now I know she doesn't wear fucking panties under that shit. What? No. Eyes up. Don't worry about my hard on
.

She folds her arms at the sight of Rex. “Comfy?”

His feet fall off the table. “Babysitting is boring.”

“Well good thing you have a delivery to make,” Melody announces.

Her eyes don't move my direction. The action makes my body tense. Wanting her attention, but knowing it's not something I should flip out about, I drop my eyes back to painting.

The sound of them shuffling around causes me to glance up again to see them disappear into her room.

I really fucking hate that he's in there. I haven't even been in there.

Uncomfortable with the idea of him alone with her, the idea of rape gnawing at the back of my throat, causes me to shift in my seat in a sad attempt to see inside. Thankfully she strolls out in a hurry straight for the fridge. Casually I let my eyes fall before they notice me watching them.

“To Nina.” Her announcement grabs my attention unconsciously.

Nina is the chick that's babysitting Daniel. Is it wrong I hope he's getting to experience at least a little of what I am right now?

“Straight there, Rex. She needs to give that to him today. Immediately. Do you understand?”

“Why do you talk to me like I'm slow?” Rex whines.

She folds her arms across her chest. “Your shoes are untied.”

He looks down. “Really?”

“They're Velcro,” she sighs.

I chuckle under my breath.

Point proven. He's an idiot.

“Go,” she rushes him out. “Bag to Nina. Brief case to JJ. Nina first.”

“I heard you,” he snaps and then looks over at me. “Why aren't you fucking working?”

“Why aren't you?” I poke back.

Rex makes a move for me and Mel sharply snaps her fingers. She points like she's talking to a dog that's misbehaving. “Now.”

He mutters something and stalks out of the cottage. After he slams the door shut I say, “You should get him neutered.” When she snickers a little my world seems to align just right again. “I've missed that sound.”

Melody leans her back against the closed fridge door. “Oh yeah?”

“Fuck yeah,” I confirm, placing the paint brush down, but not moving.

“Miss anything else?”

“Other than the sight of you prancing around this place in scrubs-”

“I don't prance,” she interrupts on another giggle.

“You prance.”

“I do not.”

With a wide smile I state, “It would be easier to ask me what I didn't miss about you being here.”

“Which is?”

“Nothing.”

A small swoon comes out of her. “I've missed you too.”

“Good.” Pushing the piece away from me to dry, I ask, “What time did you get in?”

“This morning,” she answers. “It all ran fairly late and Omar figured I could crash at his apartment. I got in early this morning with a long list of things to fix and deliver, so I didn't get to make you breakfast.”

“You can make it up to me later,” I assure. “Dinner?”

Mel nods. “Definitely dinner.”

Relieved she will be around for that I ask, “Speaking of...how was last night?”

Doing her best to pretend whatever she witnessed didn't frighten her as much as it did, she clears her throat. “Turns out The Devil had the prince you're impersonating kidnapped last night. I um...delivered the Mind Erasers for it.”

“Mind Erasers?”

“It's basically a combination of drugs that erases your short term memory. It's mixed with a hallucinogen, so that you're not certain if what you've experienced is real or not,
if
you even remember at all.”  My jaw drops but I'm not sure how to respond. “Typically it's what I give if we kidnap someone and plan to set them free. The Devil doesn't kill as often as you would think. Hell until recently it was only when necessary.”

“And now?”

“I think it's a combination of spite, frustration, and fear.”

“The Devil afraid?” I chortle. “Of what?”

“Losing everything. His empire is falling and he can't find the brick causing it to collapse.” She briefly looks away. “Last night...last night he poisoned another cop insisting desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Preaching to the choir on that one.

“He knows it's not you McCoys, which just pisses him off more.”

“How does he know that?”

“Video footage,” she sighs.

There's a long quiet pause before I cautiously ask, “Nina is the one taking care of my brother, right?”

Melody tries to hide her nervousness. “Yes.”

“Is he okay?”

Her eyes flash the temptation to lie.

“Tell me the truth.”

“He....he could be doing better.” Quickly she adds, “He will. As soon as she gets that package.” Before I can ask any more questions, she heads towards the back door. “I have to take care of a few things, but I'll see you for dinner, alright?”

I wiggle my eyebrows. “And dessert.”

Melody rolls her eyes before disappearing. Once she's gone panic tries to settle in my chest.

What do you think is wrong with Daniel? Do you know? Do you think he's suffering from weird aches and pains like me? I swear it's just the mattresses or maybe the stress of all this, but that look in her eyes reminds me of the one I see when Omar is around. The dark side of the moon. Just...just do me a favor and if you know something let me in on it? We're family. That's what we do.

**

My forehead hits the glass door with a frown. The rain continues to pour violently, beating up the patio and erasing the corner of privacy we've found.

Fucking. Rain.

“No matter how hard you pout, it's not going anywhere,” Melody announces from behind me. “Now come eat.”

On a sigh, I turn to see her placing two plates down on the coffee table. “I really wanted to have dinner where prying eyes couldn't catch us.”

“Shit happens.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “Just be grateful we get to eat together at all tonight.”

“True.” I sit down across from her on the floor. Glancing over the BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes makes me smile.

Reminds me a little of home. We're almost out of here. Just hold on a little longer. And a little tighter.

My fork damn near jumps in my hand. “Looks better than frozen pizza.”

She snickers. “You act like you've never eaten frozen pizza before?”

“I've eaten more of that shit than could possibly be healthy for a person.” When she giggles again I declare, “However nothing compares to having a home cooked meal by the hottest chick you've ever seen in your life.”

Instead of rolling her eyes like I expect, she bites her bottom lip. A groan comes from me. I adjust my crotch.

Could you stop looking down there? It's not polite to stare.

Dinner conversation progresses the way it normally does. She asks questions about life out from under The Devil's thumb and I tell tales of the crazy stunts me and my brothers have completed on and off our bikes. Memories from all the McCoys, dead and alive, flow from my mouth to her ears at such a rate, she stops eating to get lost in the stories. For once instead of feeling like just another part of the McCoy clan, I feel like the most important member. I feel like I'm king of the world and top shit.

Strange considering I'm being held hostage, but let's just let that go.

“Knox sounds amazing,” Melody giggles and pushes her plate away. “Except...”

“Except what?”