Lincoln Hospital

Chapter Fifteen

After their date, Cian and Athena didn't see much of each other for a few days due to busy schedules on both their parts. He'd snuck out in the wee hours of the night, after making love to her three more times and binging on reheated pasta with her in bed. Her laugh, her smile, every tiny thing about her was starting to affect him. When she'd finally fallen asleep, he'd slipped from her bed and left a note saying he didn't want to wake her. It was the cowards way out and he knew it, but it needed to be done. If she'd awoken, he feared he'd never want to leave her side, an idea that was unconscionable to a man like him. On top of that, he had somewhere more important to be.

On the drive, guilt started to set in as he thought back over what they'd done. What would Hannah think? How could he allow such intimacy with Athena? Something he'd last shared with only his wife. Shame and self-loathing washed over him. What kind of man was he? Enjoying life with another woman while his wife rotted in the ground due to his failure to protect her. As much as he knew it was going to hurt Athena, he needed to minimize all contact with her to be strictly professional. He'd let his emotions get in the way after Bianca's death and that was on him. Athena was a pure soul who deserved someone that would be able to walk with her in the light, not lurk in the dark like him.

He didn't have time to mull over how he was going to break her heart. He rolled his car to a stop at a gas station a few miles away from the hospital and took a deep breath. Athena was no longer a priority, he needed to push her from his mind and turn his thoughts to the matter at hand. His next target emerged from the gas station and the familiar dark pleasure started to form in his belly. It was time to prepare for the kill. He mentally reviewed the information he'd collected on her in his portfolio:

Marian Seely, age 41

752 Main Street, Queens

Accused of child pornography, child molestation, accessary to sexual assault of a minor,

suspected in the death of at least one child

Case was brought to trial, but thrown out due to evidence being lost and/or tampered

with.

A mistrial was filed and Marian was set free

The information of the mistrial boiled Cian's blood. Someone screwed up at the lab and all physical evidence was mistakenly discarded, leaving them with nothing to tie her to the crimes. She was guilty as fucking sin and everyone knew it, but without a conviction, she walked free as a bird.

Marion got in her car signalling Cian to make his move. Approaching her vehicle, he tapped on her window, making sure to keep the needle in his hand hidden.

She rolled down the window and let her brown eyes travel down his body. "Well, hello, handsome. What can I do for you?" Her attempt to flirt with him churned his stomach. She was attractive, but given what she did for her extra-curricular activities, he'd rather bite his own cock off than let it near a cunt like her.

"Hi, yourself. Listen, my GPS quit in my Jag—" he motioned to his sleek silver car parked at the pump behind him, disgusted when her eyes lit up at the sight of it. "Any way you can give me directions? I'm not from around here." He flashed her a dazzling grin to back up his lie.

"Those foreign cars aren't all they're cracked up to be, huh?" She smirked at him and it took everything in him not to smash her face off the steering wheel. "Let me get my phone and I'll see if I can look up directions to where you need to be. Maybe you'll have time for a cup of coffee before you get back on the road?" She raised a brow at him, letting him know coffee was not what she was interested in.