***

An unplanned trip to Massachusetts haltedVictor’s plans to plot out his course of action and stalk hisfavorite yet mouthy and unpredictable Chapter. The phone call hadcome immediately after her abrupt dismissal. Another body wasdiscovered near Cambridge and everyone involved suspected it wasthe same perpetrator that had already taken the lives of threeyoung women in the area.

During the plane ride, he had no time to goover the upsetting scene that played out between him and Eight.Instead of dwelling on the harsh words they threw at each other, hestudied his case file yet again, willing his eyes to see somethinghe might have missed.

In the spare moments during his endlessmeetings and forensic evidence recaps, he jotted notes down onEight’s new rules. Of course, the old rules would still be ineffect, but there were several new ones he was adding to the mix.If he guessed correctly, Elsa was coming undone at not having heardfrom him. At least he could hope she was.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye andhe pushed Eight to the back of his mind, though her accusingstatement and inquisitive eyes kept piercing through his thoughts.Everyone’s eyes were on him as he tried to establish a profile forthe killer and they all hoped he could shed some kind of light onwho they were looking for. It was exasperating. What did theyexpect from him? He wasn’t a miracle worker or a mind-reader. Hewas merely a man. A man who was not only failing the community, butwho had failed Eight by letting Mr. Black out over an innocentquestion.

His mother thought he was a failure,too.

Who the hell did Elsa think she was to evenspeak to him in such a manner? Had he been too lenient or given herreason to believe he would put up with that sort of behavior anddisrespect? Let there be blood? She had no idea what she wassaying. If he weren’t afraid of the end consequences of letting hisdemons out, he would’ve taken her up on her offer and bloodied hermouth for being such a brash little bitch.

No, Eight was no bitch, she was just toofucking meddlesome for her own good. It was natural for her to wantto know more about him considering the physical interaction theywere engaging in. All the other Chapters were curious, too, thoughthey already knew who he was and his reputation. Eight wasclueless. And hotheaded. He had dealt with temperamental Chaptersbefore, but Eight… she was something else. She truly didn’t knowwhen to keep her mouth shut.

Despite this annoying character trait, he wasgrowing fond of her, but not more so than the others. At leastthat’s what he was trying to convince himself of – that she wasjust another Chapter. He wouldn’t allow her to be anything else. Hecouldn’t. Not after what happened before.

Yes, he had been too lenient with her. Heknew that, but she was responding so well to gentleness, how couldhe deny her? She was blossoming under his tutelage, even if itwasn’t his usual modus operandi. If not for Mr. Black’s need tocontrol every damned thing in his environment, he would be contentto continue down this path. But Mr. Black had needs and compassionand sympathy weren’t encompassed in those requirements. Mr. Blackjust needed to learn to control his temper is all and remember thateveryone is allowed a mistake or two.

What the hell was he thinking? He was Mr.Black. There was no personality split like Elsa was joking about,though it might seem that way to her with his explosivebehavior.

He had no time to think about this nonsense.More pressing matters were calling.

***

Seated at the same smallcafé where Victor had made his now infamous proposition, it was asif karma had finally shown Elsa favor when she saw his face on thetelevision over the counter. She asked the cashier to turn up thevolume and listened with shocked interest to find out he was inCambridge, Massachusetts, working on a murder case – a case sheremembered hearing about it when she lived in Boston.

Victor was standing behindseveral other men during a press conference, looking stoic andprofessional as ever in a black business suit.And damned handsome. Even on the small monitor it was hard to miss hisspellbinding green eyes. And thatmouth… it had been on her only daysbefore and the delicious memory worked its way down her body andsettled in her lower belly. So he was real and not just a figmentof her imagination.

As the news story ended,she was hit with a nefarious idea, one that could possibly land herin jail if she were caught. Or worse – put on her Mr. Black’spermanent shit list. She reached into her backpack and pulled outVictor’s home address. She eyed it for several minutes beforedeciding to throw caution and common sense to the wind. She rushedto her car and dug into her hatchback to find an old, black hoodiethat she kept there for cold nights and slipped it on. She wasreally doing this. She had to know where Victor called home. Shehad to know everything about him. Absolutely everything.

The drive took her nearlyforty minutes to get to the edge of Richmond. She wasn’t familiarwith the area and she drove around in circles for another twentyminutes before she finally located his house which was set back ina thickly wooded area. The home was larger than she had imaginedconsidering he was single. It was a one-story architectural pieceof beauty. For a man who is so secretive, she found it odd that hewould live in a house where every room could be seen through itsceiling-to-floor windows. What was the saying about people who livein glass houses throwing stones?

Parking a quarter-mile upthe street, she decided to walk the distance back to his house tostay out of view. She scanned her surroundings for any signs ofsecurity cameras and was astonished to see not one single camera.Then again, maybe they were hidden like they were at 2500 EastGrace Street. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and slippedthe hood over her head. Keeping her head down, she approached thedarkened front entrance when motion sensor lights flicked on,nearly causing her to piss her pants. She rolled her eyes atherself. How apropos considering what he had put herthrough.

She peered into the glassfront door. On the wall next to the door was a blinking securitybox. Now what? She stood there like a moron not knowing what to donext. What the hell did she expect for a man whose job it was tocatch killers? An open door or a welcoming party? Feeling like ajackass, she turned to walk away when she noticed several largerocks and neatly hedged bushes lining the walkway. Could it be thatVictor was a man of habit? She kicked several of the rocks over andreplaced them when nothing was revealed, but then counted the thirdbush to her right and bent down. She couldn’t believe what shefound – a spare key tucked neatly under a fake rock just like theone he had hidden for her at the Grace Street brownstone. With theheavy, electronic-looking key in her hand, she froze. Once shestepped foot inside, there was no going back.

Telling her inner voice ofreason to fuck off, she pushed forward and shoved the key into thelock. She turned it and when she did, the security system chimedand deactivated, but the loud click startled her and her heart ratespiked. Every one of her senses became heightened as she turned thedoor knob. Her eyes darted around and she craned her neck to lookbehind her, positive that Mr. Black was going to assail her at anymoment. Slowly and with the stealth of a cat, she tip-toed into thehouse and quietly shut the door behind her.

The entrance was pitchblack and the silence was eerie, but the smell was overwhelming –Victor. His expensive cologne assaulted her senses and she gulpedloudly. Damn, she missed histouch. The one scent missing:cigarette. She hadn’t smelled it outside either. Was this nasty yetsexy little habit strictly confined to the Grace Streetresidence?

She reached for a nearbywall and felt around until she touched a light switch. Flipping iton, she was greeted to a small foyer that opened up to the one ofthe largest and most stark white living rooms she had ever set hereyes on. Despite the lack of color, it was gorgeous with sparsecontemporary furnishings. The floor was concrete and covered withcolorless area rugs. What was Victor’s fascination withwhite?