Deadly Infatuation

Chapter 31

Max

As my car turns onto the street, I question whether I'm doing the right thing by keeping Lily in the dark about confronting Sarah. I don't want to keep any secrets from her, but I need to know for sure if Sarah is behind all of this and get her to stop.

I park a few feet away from her rented house and kill the engine. I quickly scope the surrounding area to see if the police are watching as I know they'll stop me in my tracks before being able to speak to Sarah yet the street looks relatively empty and unless there's an undercover car watching her house, there's no sign of law enforcement. On the one hand, this is good for me, but on the other, it's frustrating as Officer Danes said they'd be watching Sarah closely and I was relying on this. At least I was right about keeping Johnson with Lily.

Drawing a breath, I exit my vehicle and head straight to Sarah's house. I can tell that she's home as the bottom window is slightly open and a low humming sound of a television or radio escapes through it. Bulking my hands into fists, I climb the two steps to her door and pound hard on it, making sure that she's aware of my presence. It's not long before I hear the noise from inside cuts out and then hear approaching footsteps behind the door. When my hard eyes meet hers, I feel my anger building up more inside of me.

Her long black hair is tied up into a messy knot and she's in crumpled clothes, probably the ones she wore in her cell last night. I can see she has dark circles under her eyes and if the circumstances behind her tired look weren't because of being in jail for hurting Lily, I would feel sorry for her, but looking at her right now, all I feel is hatred.

"Max. How nice of you to show up," she says, dripping with sarcasm. I'm a little surprised to see you here considering the police gave me paperwork of a fucking restraining order you and that bitch have against me."

"Did you do it?" I ask, wanting to get straight to the point so I can get my answer and leave.

The right side of her lip curls up and she slowly takes a sip of her coffee, knowing that she's tormenting me by keeping me waiting. "Did I do what?"

"You know what I mean, Sarah. Did you attack Lily?"

"Oh, that. You know, I was wondering why I had to spend the night in a cell. It's not the comfiest of places to sleep, but it'll be a fun anecdote to tell at parties." She leans forward and smirks. "Though, maybe I'll change the story to just being drunk and the sweet cop didn't want me on the street all alone."

"Stop playing fucking games, Sarah, and just tell me."

"Wow," she laughs, clasping her hand over her mouth. "You must really care for that piece of trash to come down here and ask me whether I took a swing to the back of her head. It's kind of pathetic, in a way. What? Is she too scared to come and ask me herself?"

"Believe me, Lily can hold her own," I growl. "I just don't want her to be tainted by your poison any longer."

She licks her lower lip and looks up through her lashes. "Yeah, well, there was a time when you used to love it."

"No Sarah, I didn't," I say bluntly. "You only showed that side of your ugly personality after I put a ring on your finger. I'm only sorry I didn't see through your mask sooner. And if you will not answer my question, then there's no point in being here."

I will not stand here for her own sadistic pleasure when it's clear that I'm not going to an answer from her. I start to descend the steps to head back to my car, when Sarah chuckles darkly behind me.

"You know, I warned her not to piss off anyone again. And it seems like Karma keeps on biting her in the ass for it."

"Lily has done nothing to deserve this. She's innocent."

"Hmm. If you ask me, that slut deserves everything that's coming to her." She casually takes another sip of her drink and then taps her nail against the cup in a steady rhythm. "It's really too bad that the police are so crap at their job that they can't nail one person." She pauses and tilts her to the side in thought. "Or maybe you and the police have seriously underestimated who you're dealing with and if I were you, I'd sleep with one eye open."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because Max, I like the thought of you and that bitch being scared, not knowing if today will be the day that something bad happens."

"You make me sick," I spit. "I won't let you get to Lily. Don't underestimate the lengths I will go to to protect her."

"Well, good luck in trying to protect her, Max." She smirks and puts her hand on the door. "You've been doing a grand job so far." She then slams the door shut in my face.

"Sarah," I shout, pounding on the door, though after a minute of trying to get her to come back and talk to me, I finally give in and rest my forehead on the door, knowing that she won't open up again.