Page 12 of Havoc

I looked over my shoulder at him and he was frowning down at my legs. I glanced backward but couldn’t see anything. “What?” I craned my neck and tried to see what he was looking at. He reached over and trailed the pad of his finger down the back side of my thigh.

“You have a smear of blood right there,” he said and those calculating brown eyes met mine.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.I knew it was Pérez’s blood and somehow it had gotten on me and I hadn’t seen it to wash it off. Obviously, I couldn’t tell him that, but he was waiting for some kind of explanation, so my panicked brain said the first thing that popped into it. “I started my period.” As soon as the last word came out my jaw audibly clicked closed and humiliation heated my face. The horror that crossed his features might have been hilarious if I didn’t feel like sinking through the floor myself.Why did I say that?

We refused to look at each other, both basking in the aftermath of stunned, uncomfortable silence. Finally, I flung my door open and escaped inside my apartment without another word.

Chapter 9

Havoc

Aknock on the door the next morning woke me up, and I glanced at the clock on my bedside table in shock. It was nine a.m. I never slept in. Last night was the first night my sleep wasn’t disturbed by dreams, though, and my tired body had taken advantage.

Hurrying to the front door, I peeked through the peephole and sighed. I was still dressed in my pajama bottoms and sleep tank, but opened the door anyway. Dante’s smile could blind a girl. I couldn’t help but return it, though. He was charming, I’d give him that.

“Morning!”

“Hi,” I replied. When he just stood there grinning, I arched a brow at him. “Something I can help you with?”

“Right, uh…” He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans and looked a little embarrassed. “We have breakfast next door and thought maybe you’d want to join us?”

I stared at him, trying to comprehend what he’d just said. He was inviting me over for breakfast? I didn’t want to be arrogant, but unless these two guys did this with all their neighbors, I was pretty sure he was hitting on me. That was just not acceptable. He was a cop and I... was a criminal. The realization smacked me upside the head. I wasn’t a law-abiding citizen anymore. I wasn’t the same woman who’d once shared a profession with this man. I was a criminal. Worse, a murderer, and yet I couldn’t find it within myself to feel badly for taking two lives. Not anymore. Something had changed after Pérez.

He ducked his head and caught my gaze, which had wandered down as I was lost in my own thoughts. I realized I was taking too long to answer him. “Sorry, I-”

“Come on, give us a chance. We’re nice guys. One breakfast. If we drive you nuts, after that I’ll leave you alone.”

I opened my mouth to refuse him, but the hope shining in his eyes was hard to squash. Plus, I realized something else suddenly. I wasn’t completely numb when I was around him. I felt annoyed, amused, irritated—never happy—I wasn’t sure I had the capacity for that emotion anymore. The feeling was too hard to ignore, or maybe I was in a slightly better mood than normal because another name was scratched off my list and I’d slept like a baby.

“Alright, let me just-”

He interrupted me again and grabbed my arm, tugging me out into the hallway. “You’re fine like that. Come on.”

I stared at his back as he strode toward his door. I looked between him and my door, undecided about whether I should go change first. Once he realized I wasn’t behind him he tossed me a look over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about locking it. Everyone who lives here is really decent.” He opened his own door and gave me a pointed look.

With a small chuckle at his insistence, I went into his apartment. I instantly froze just inside the door as five sets of eyes zeroed in on me.Shit.I stopped so suddenly that Dante bumped into me from behind as he continued moving forward. He steadied me with a hand on my waist, but my attention was focused on the men sitting around their living room. Half of them were in wrinkled police uniforms, the others in jeans and t-shirts, but they were all cops. And I was standing here in my pajamas.

“Hey everyone, this is our new neighbor, Havoc,” Ciro said with a grin in my direction.

Everyone greeted me while Dante nudged me further into the room. I shot him a glare over my shoulder. He just gave me a lazy smile.

“Havoc? What, did your mom hate you?” One of the guys chuckled. A couple of them rolled their eyes and Ciro glared at him.

“Shut the fuck up, Sikes,” Dante said. It was clear from his tone that the guy had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth.

Sikes blushed slightly and tried to make it better. “It’s a weird name,” he mumbled in explanation. The look on everyone’s faces told him he’d made it worse. “Like those universal stripper names, you know not to name your kid. Cherry, Candy, Diamond…” He trailed off as the scowls turned into death glares.

Luckily, I was used to cops and their humor. A little razzing didn’t bother me. I had thick skin. There always seemed to be one that was socially awkward, though, and I’d definitely found him. “I’m pretty sure if Mom had known what a terror I’d be she’d have named me something else.” I wasn’t about to admit to these guys that it wasn’t my given name.

Cops were curious by nature and I didn’t want them paying any more attention to me than they already were. In fact, my need to feel something again, and maybe have a friend, had already landed me in deeper water than I wanted.

They all laughed at my response and Sikes happily dug back into his breakfast. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing when I saw their ‘breakfast’. “Do you usually eat pizza this early?” I asked following Dante into the kitchen.

He had the grace to look embarrassed as he pulled paper plates out of the cabinet above a neglected stove. “Yeah, actually.” They lived like total bachelors.

“We have donuts, too.” One of the other guys sitting in the living room held up a box.