No One Has to Know (Deal with the Devil)

by Carin Hart

It’s all that fucking daisy’s fault. Not like I need something to blame for my obsession. I don’t. I know what I am, and I accept that I would’ve locked on my angel with or without the flower eventually. Something put her in my path, the perfect prey to my predator. The daisy just sealed the deal.

People see the uniform first. The gun next. Sometimes the cuffs, or the badge. Rarely do they pay attention to the man instead of the symbol, and that’s exactly how I like it. I’m the one who gets to watch. To observe. To judge.

From the moment she shyly flagged me down months ago, offering me a single daisy to brighten my day, I’ve only ever cared about keeping one soul safe. Of watching her, of learning all her secrets, of obsessing over the moment I could find a way to make her mine. My angel.

I find peace in her snuffling snores, and rage in her frequent nightmares. She’s been hurt. My innocent flower has scars she carries deep that only come out when she’s sleeping. Her whimpers have me reaching for my gun every goddamn time.

I have to keep close because, given how sweet and innocent yet broken she is deep down, the wrong sort of man is attracted to a woman like her. Ask me how I fucking know.

She’s as much of a loner as I am, another point that proves she’s meant for me. I’m drawn to her, like a moth to a flame, addicted to the sight of her light brown hair, her luscious curves, and those wary, guarded hazel eyes.

“Owen ‘Brick’ Mathison. Yup. Got him right here.” I hold out my hand. Kelly doesn’t even think to ask me why I want the folder. He just passes it over. Unlike Brick, Kelly’s a smart kid. He’ll go far in the SPD. “Thanks. I’ll take care of it.” “Aw, Mace. You’re the fucking best.” I am, aren’t I?

I know dark. I know violence. I know the desire to hurt—and to have done so. For fuck’s sake, any time I peer in the mirror, I see it staring back at me. So when the prick’s eyes narrow, a shadow glancing over his long face… I’m not sure who he wants to pay more: me or my angel. He’s pissed. I don’t buy the sorry, nervous act. He’s pissed he got caught. He got arrested.

I keep seeing Brick lurking outside, only he’s not really there when I pay attention. Almost like he’s a ghost haunting me. Ridiculous, right? It is, but it helps to have a little bit of company.

Officer Burns. He’s the local beat cop, and the same officer who saved me from Brick.

Something about him screams that he’s the type of guy you can trust. The type of guy who’ll keep you safe. Who’ll do anything to protect you. A good guy. I wave at him.

Lately, I dream of a cozy little place far from the crowds and the danger and the people.

“What are you doing?” I ask when I finally find my voice. “I… I thought you were a good guy.” “I’m the best, angel,” he tells me. “That’s why you made me do this.” Angel? Made him do what?

“You wanted my attention, angel. Well, now you have it.”

Pity patience has never been one of my strong points.

But that’s not today. I have to wait. For my angel, I will.

I’m a bad man. I do bad things. I always have a reason, though. A justification. Even if only to myself, there’s a method to my madness. And, in time, my angel will understand that.

It’s a regular, ordinary day. No one knows that my whole world has changed, and that none of them will ever see Angela again. She’s mine. No matter what I have to do, no matter how I have to convince her… she’s mine, and the sooner she accepts that, the better.

So what if I wasn’t the first? Being the last is all I give a shit about. And that starts tonight.”

He dips his head, leaving no question about what exactly he plans on eating for dessert. Me.

“Since you gave me the daisy.”

How many future victims did I save? That’s the way I keep looking at it. If the number is even one, I can’t bring myself to feel bad about what happened to him.

Before, when he asked me that, it was in that emotionless voice he uses sometimes when he’s not sure what kind of reaction he’ll get from me. Now? That seductive warmth, the same cajoling tone he often uses when he wants me to fall apart in his arms… it’s back in his voice. Burns is back. My Burns.

“Carter was my problem.” “He was. But your problems are my problems, angel. Haven’t you figured that out yet? You’re mine, and I take care of what’s mine.

Ah. There’s the Burns I know and⁠— Know.

One thing for sure, I’m learning things about myself in his cabin in the hills that I’ve never known before, either.

Burns isn’t just his name, I’ve decided. It’s what he does to me.

It was inevitable. We were inevitable. I always thought that one of us would break first. Turns out, it was me.

“Once I get inside of you, forget any ideas of ever escaping me. You’re mine. You’ll always be mine. Understand?” He says that like I have a choice. With him, there isn’t any. I don’t think there ever was. Inevitable…

My forever didn’t start until the moment I had my angel here with me, and I’m looking forward to every day that will follow.

No one can come between us. Nothing can come between us. We’re one. We always will be.

I left my window open on purpose to tempt him. I accepted Dean’s date for the same reason. Before that, I even gave Brick fifty bucks to pretend to rob me when I knew that Burns was doing a nighttime patrol. All I wanted was for the good cop to save me, to see me.

Of course, Brick had no idea that was my plan. Dumb kid just saw the dollar signs, not the aftermath. Then again, neither did I.

The rain was a nice touch. So was the trap that let me think I was close to getting away, even when I desperately wanted to stay…

“If I wasn’t already in your room, how would I have found it? If I wasn’t already obsessed, sneaking up the fire escape to watch you sleep, wishing you weren’t too good… too much of an angel for a man like me… why would I do this?” “I don’t know.” “I did this for you. I gave you what you wanted because I love you, and if this is the man you want as yours, I’ll be it. I’ll be whatever the fuck you want because you’re not going anywhere. Neither am I. We’re it. You understand me?”

“Love can fade. I love you desperately, but sometimes that’s not enough. But obsession? You’re all I think about it. I close my eyes, I see your face. I lick my lips, I taste you. If I thought you’d let me, I’d fucking chain you to my side so that I would never have a heartbeat when I wasn’t experiencing you.”

Maybe I am his angel, but he’s my devil. More than that, he’s mine.

I could draw this out. I could make him wait a little longer… but if I did that, I’d only be torturing myself. I want him. I can have him. I’m going to take him.

He groans, eyes darkening as he meets mine. “That’s it. I’m dreaming. No way… tell me this is all a dream because no fucking way this is real.”

Besides, if this is a dream, it belongs to me—just like this magnificent male does. I completely own Mason Burns, his body—his heart, his soul, too—forever mine to do whatever I want with. And I’ve been waiting a long fucking time for this.

Who manipulated the whole situation so that would be the outcome? Turns out the answer is me.

My suave, cool, collected cop actually fumbles the catch. He does recover quickly, snapping the lid open, plucking the ring from the box.

So maybe he is a bad man. He’s still mine.