Edge (Parker Reed #2) (4 page)

“She needs him.”

“Parker is dead.”

“Is he really?”

My head snapped around at Troy’s question. How would he know any different? As much as it killed me, I never told anyone that Parker and I had faked his death. Memories of that conversation tried to force their way to the forefront of my mind but I stopped them. I had to. For now.

“What do you mean?” Patrick asked, shock dripping from his voice.

“Well I might just be losing my fucking mind but I hear Keely talking to someone sometimes. In her room. She spends hours in the basement, keeping the door locked. I’ve almost broken my hand from banging on the door so hard when she wakes up screaming from her nightmares.”

My stomach clenched. As much as the nightmares tried to destroy me, I couldn’t let Troy into that room. It belonged to me and Parker. Call it unfair, but I didn’t think Troy would understand anyways if he saw what lay behind those closed doors. The BDSM lifestyle that I shared with Parker was private. Although my submission to him was always made known. I just never realized it at first.

“Maybe she’s talking to Liz or Aidan or…”

Troy laughed nervously. “The sounds that come from the room clearly mean she’s not talking to those two.”

My cheeks heated.

“Do you think she’s moved on?”

Refusing to listen anymore, I grabbed the box off the table. I left the dining room and stepped out onto the patio, the cool breeze whipping through my shoulder-length blond hair. Although it was early in the summer, I welcomed the chill in the air.

Sitting on the patio couch, I took a deep breath, my gaze dancing around the backyard of Parker’s cottage. My home. If only I could live with him.
Be
with him. Talking on the phone every couple of weeks didn’t do us any good and clearly it was going to get us caught by Troy. 

They thought I moved on. After being with Devin for so long, I never once thought that I would find someone new. But Parker wasn’t just anyone. He was my love. My heart. My Dom and eventually my Master. A flutter ran through my belly at the idea of him controlling me completely, even just for a couple of minutes at a time.

My gaze fell back on the box that sat on top of the patio table. “Alright, Keely. Let’s do this.”

My fingers grazed the dark wood before pulling the deep burgundy ribbon off of the lid. My stomach twisted with anxiety that was never ending lately as I took another cleansing breath. In and out. In. And. Out. Inhale. Exhale. “I got this.” Those words didn’t register any ounce of strength, unfortunately. My hands shook; a cold sweat crept along my skin like cool clammy fingers of death.

The darkness that had settled on my soul was enough to bring anyone down. Getting a package from my ex-husband was even worse.

I recalled a time when I was happy. Truly and utterly happy. Playing in the backyard of my childhood home, I remembered the scents and sounds that had surrounded me. The musky smell of the pine trees, the cool fresh air, the pollen of the daisies that I liked to sniff constantly. So much so that I would always end up in a sneezing fit.

“Baby, you’re allergic to those flowers. Stop sticking your nose in them,” my mom had told me.

“But mama, they smell so good,” I would whine.

I could almost hear my mother’s full belly laugh as if she were only a few feet away from me. My chest tightened, a slight twinge of pain soaring through me. “Oh, mama,” I whispered, tears welling in my eyes.

I missed my parents. So damn much. If only I had gone to them sooner. If only I had never met Devin. If only…I let out a huff. But I couldn’t live life on if only’s.

Letting out a slow exhale, I braced myself and lifted the lid off of the box. A laugh escaped my lips at the sight before me. Black, long-stemmed roses stared up at me with a red substance dripping from the petals. Was it paint? Blood? I had no fucking idea but leave it to Devin to be all morbid and disgusting. I didn’t care anymore. Not at all. And when I didn’t care? That was when he should be worried. 

Picking up my phone, I dialed a number I had memorized since the first time he gave me his card. Since the first time he had forced his way into my life much like Parker had. 

“Cross,” came the deep reply.

“I received something that you might be interested in,” I ground out. I was not in the mood to talk to him but I needed him to leave me alone.

“Keely?” 

“I’ll stop by in an hour.”

“I can come to you.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Just be there,” I said and hung up the phone. I put the lid on the box and brought it back inside just as Patrick and Troy were heading out into the living room. The sweet scent of cookie dough wafted into my nostrils and if the nerves weren’t eating at my stomach, I’d probably be hungry. “I’m heading out again.”

“Where are you going?” Troy asked me, frowning.

I stopped in my tracks but didn’t turn around. “I got picked up by the FBI this morning. You’ll come to know an Agent Steven Cross. I’m going to meet him and bring this package to him.” I looked at Troy over my shoulder, meeting his shocked gaze. “He’s not easy to get along with and he doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“Keely,” Troy whispered. “What’s going on?”

I turned back around and headed to the basement. “I’ll tell you everything in time. Right now, I don’t even know what’s going on.” What I did know was that I refused to play the victim any longer. I would be strong. For Parker. And for me. But as I made my way into the ensuite bathroom, the contents that left my stomach said differently. 

AS JONES drove me back to the FBI station, my phone rang. I didn’t think it would so soon.

“Hello princess.”

My back stiffened. I glanced at Jones but he only kept his eyes locked on the road ahead of us. If he noticed my discomfort, he never said anything. “What do you want, Devin?” I mumbled, curling my feet under me.

“To talk.”

“About what?”

“Parker. Us. The usual,” he said, nonchalantly.

“Parker is dead. There is no us. I’ve moved on. You don’t need me anymore.”

Devin chuckled. “Oh, Keely. My beautiful ex-wife. You and I both know that he’s not dead and…you and I? We’ll never be over.”

“How the hell do you know if Parker is dead or not?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as possible.

He laughed again. “Oh sweet, naïve, Keely. You really think that you can keep something like that from me?”

I sat forward. “I’ve kept everything from you. My heart. My soul. The only thing you got was my body. Everything else? It fucking belongs to Parker,” I said through gritted teeth.

There was a pause before Devin spoke again. “You don’t belong to shit now that he’s dead.”

I rolled my eyes. “I thought you said that he was alive?”

“Oh, baby. I know he is. I’m just waiting for you to admit it.”

Like hell I would.

“Did you get the package I sent you?”

“Yes, I got your package. The blood was a little dramatic though, don’t you think?” I felt Jones shift in his seat beside me but he still remained silent.

Devin chuckled. “It would be more dramatic if I used my own blood but alas, I did not.”

“Whose blood is it?” I asked, sitting up straighter.

“What would you say if I told you it was Parker’s?”

“What?” I croaked out.

“You heard me.”

I shook my head. “No. You’re lying.”

“Am I?”

“Devin, he’s dead. He—”

“Listen, you little bitch. I know that Parker is alive. Do not fucking lie to me.”

“You don’t know shit!” I screamed.

“I know that he came to see you a couple of weeks ago. I know he gave you a heart pendant. I also know that he loves you and that it will cost you both in the end.”

“What the hell do you want, Devin?” I asked softly, fingering the gold pendant on the chain around my neck.

“You’ll see.”

I let out a yell of frustration when the line was disconnected. “Jones, drive faster. Please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped his hat, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

We drove in silence but my mind continued playing everything over and over that had happened over the past few weeks. Meeting Parker months before. Being with him in ways I never even knew existed. My body ached. For him. His touch. God, I needed him to just hold me. To tell me that everything would be okay.

“He misses you,” Jones said, breaking the nerve-wracking silence.

“I miss
him
,” I responded, my voice thick.

“I can’t see him staying away much longer.”

“He can’t come to me. No one knows that he’s alive, Jones.”

“Devin does,” he mumbled.

“Yeah,” I scoffed. “I don’t know how.”

“I’ve been with Parker since the beginning. He’s like a little brother to me, Keely.”

I swallowed hard and met his warm gaze.

“He’s doing this for you.”

I nodded. “I know and I’m doing this for him.”

“Both of you are strong but together?” He smirked. “You’ll fucking bring Devin down.”

My eyes widened. To my knowledge, Jones didn’t swear; it was a bit of a shock, to say the least. “Well, that won’t happen if I never see Parker again.” My chest tightened at that thought. To never see the man that I loved...we hadn’t been together for long but I knew that I wasn’t strong enough to deal with that.

I MADE my way up the steps towards the FBI building, before I was stopped by Agent Cross once I rounded the corner.

His jet-black hair was messy like he had been finger combing it all day. “Checking me out, Miss Price?”

My jaw clenched. Under normal circumstances, he and Parker would get along well. “I came to deliver this to you,” I said, ignoring his question.

His sparkling brown eyes glanced at the large box in my hands.

“It’s from Devin.” I handed him the package.

Cross frowned. “He knows where you’re living?”

“Yes.”

“And you still live there because...”

“Because it’s my home. Devin won’t show up,” I explained, crossing my arms under my chest.

“How can you be so sure of that? Look at what he’s done already.”

“Because I know him. Devin Tate is a sadistic fuck, but he won’t come back to me until he wants something.”

“Doesn’t he always want something?”

I searched Cross’ face. “
You
asked
me
who Devin is. By the questions you’re asking, it sounds like you already know.”

He kept a straight face. “I was waiting for you to tell me more.”

“So not going to happen.”

“Miss Price.”

“Goodbye, Agent Cross,” I said, spinning on my heel.

“Keely.” Cross grabbed my arm.

I looked at his fingers on my arm before meeting his gaze.

He cleared his throat, releasing me. “Listen. I want to help you but I can’t if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

“
I
don’t even know what’s going on,” I cried, startling a few pedestrians as they walked by us.

Cross’ eyes softened. “We can grab lunch and chat in my office.”

I held back an eye roll. “Isn’t that a little unprofessional?”

“It’s just lunch.”

“Sorry. I’m taken.”

“Parker is dead.”

I glared up at him. “Not in my heart.” I turned and headed back to the limo, parked a block away.

Seeing Parker’s name and the tributes to him in the tabloids and newspaper made my heart clench.
I
knew he wasn’t dead. Jones and Colin Vain, Parker’s security guard, knew that he was very much alive. But no one else knew. It broke my heart seeing his friends and staff mourn their loss and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.