chapter twenty-one

The second I got an alert that someone had entered Vanessa’s house, I jumped on my laptop because, according to my tracker on my tablet, she wasn’t home. To my surprise, it was a blond fucker. I had never seen this asshole before, so I knew he didn’t have a standing invitation to enter her home. Not that I would’ve allowed it to manifest that way, anyway. Vanessa was mine, after all.

He moved from room to room, and I waited with bated breath as I watched him enter the basement that housed her newest toy. Her latest target on social media became her most recent target, and I took great pleasure watching her track him down, immobilize him, and ultimately bring him back to her house.

I relished watching his desperate pleas for help, and the sound of his cries fell on deaf ears in the soundproof basement. It served him right for being such a fucking creep, preying on the innocence of who he thought was my Vanessa. Her primal act always made me fall more and more in love with her.

Now that Vanessa liked to play with her merchandise, I started to call them her toys. So when this blond, pretty boy strolled into her playground and started to touch her toys, my stomach dropped. I didn’t know who he was, so I didn’t know how fucked we were, but I would do anything in my power to make sure she was safe. I had favors in the government and on the streets alike, so it shouldn’t be hard to pull the right strings to make sure she remained okay.

He started talking, but his voice was so low I didn’t catch most of it, so I jammed the volume to catch as much as possible.

“…appeal you are delicious. If I wasn’t so sure that every ounce of your blood was being counted, I would take a cup for myself.” His voice was as smooth as his skin.

Blood? Was he eating his blood? Oh, fuck that. I was not going to let this motherfucking cannibal be around my Vanessa. Especially since she was finally settled into her home. She finally discovered her true calling, enjoying her hunting grounds and basking in the reasons behind her passion. The fire in her was so bright now compared to when I first met her. It was almost as if she was an entirely different person.

I couldn’t take much credit, only that I allowed my connections to be used for her, but I would not allow our hard work to be stunted by someone who liked to suck on blood like a fucking vampire.

What a creep.

I took as many pictures of his face as possible and ran them through every database I had. I had numerous matches by the time he reached the top of the stairs.

Orpheus Laurent.

Orpheus Wagner.

Olli Valentini.

Olli Olson.

Orpheus Evans.

He must have had some strong genes passed down the family tree because they all looked alike, yet they must have had a family tradition of naming their boys because they all had a similar first name.

Orpheus Evans was the most recent person, and he was studying at the same university as my Vanessa, which made sense based on where they found each other. He must have picked her out of the crowd for her beauty. I didn’t think he was expecting the kind of toys she played with. Now that he had witnessed her lab, I didn’t know if this made him more interested in her or if he viewed her more as a threat. Regardless of how he now viewed her, he was a threat to me. I would never allow him to be any closer than he already was.

He needed to be taken out immediately before it was too late.