Slice (The Elledge Family #1)

by L Johnson

  “I want to…” I grinned jokingly.

  “Are you mad? I would like my dick to stay attached to my body love.”

  I snickered and realized his absurd humor was part of the reason that I was in love with him madly. I could only hope that he felt more than the same about me. “Oh my god Lucas,” I blushed and climbed onto the bed with him.

  “I love you, dear,” he kissed me lightly on the lips.

  For the first time I actually wanted to say it. “I love you more.” And with that, we fell into a peaceful slumber.

  Chapter Seven

  Lucas

  Cypress was a control freak in her own way. She always wanted to be in charge of dinner and what time the movie started and when we would visit family. I had not yet introduced her to anyone but Mark and Lydia. Lydia loved her. Mark tolerated her.

  “Okay Mark, look we should make sure you get the math,” she said smiling.

  She didn't quite get that Mark was careless and was borderline sleep. “I don't care how you want it Cypress. I agree with you fully.” He winked at her and nodded his head. “She is just like Lydia.”

  Lydia giggled in satisfaction. She shared some similarities to my sister, but she was totally different in the same breath. “So we have to get matching dresses.”

  “I like that idea. It's for your graduation party?”

  “It's like ten months away.” Mark mumbled.

  “It's the first major event of her life.”

  “We don't even know if you will be here next year Cypress.”

  “I’m not going anywhere asshole.”

  God, I loved that about her. Lydia high fived her and they continued to walk through the store.

  “Why in the hell did I come?” Mark mumbled.

  “I was wondering the same thing.”

  “Asshole. She acts just like Lydia. Mom is going to love her.”

  “Pump your brakes.”

  “Brother you are head over heels for this feisty piece of work. I haven't seen Shia since that night. She was not a perfect fit.”

  “Mom has a bad habit of falling for someone before I can.”

  “I don't think you will have this problem.”

  “Yeah mate, I'll see.”

  “Are you staying for Christmas?”

  “I haven't got that far, Thanksgiving is around the corner. I figure we get through that first.” Thanksgiving at my parents’ house was always dramatic. It was never about the actual holiday. It was about the food. Of course it was an American holiday either way. I never celebrated it.

  “Exactly,” I grinned. “I can't miss Nadine this year, she would fly over her and have a swing at me. Then the rest of my crazy family misses me too.”

  “Must be hereditary.” Mark sat down on the bench in front of the store the girls had disappeared in. They had made friends with one another which was great.

  “Who are you telling?” I chuckled and joined him on the cold metal bench.

  Mark laughed and then leaned closer to me. “You have to be more careful brother.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Did you kill Summer?” It was less of a question and more of a statement. He exhaled. “Jesus, Lucas.”

  “Ugh bloody hell mate, can the badgering wait?” I rolled my eyes.

  “I’m telling you that a string of your ex-girlfriends being murdered is a bad look. I care for you. I want you to be wise and leave the exes alone.” He leaned in. “I would look at you and think you were guilty if I was looking into them. You are the common factor.”

  “I understand.” I said.

  “You should try to find another way to funnel your anger.” Mark was the only person in the world who understood me because he was more like me than anyone else knew. He was a killer that had never actually experienced the kill. He was lucky, I sometimes feared that I was unstoppable. Their lives meant shit to me, but my life, well, I kind of enjoyed it.

  The news had not yet made it back to her yet. It had been a full week since he bled out the floor of his home. His heart beat completely stopped under my knife and the thrill of it still had its effects on me. I knew the moment she found out I could not be around her because I tended to look careless when people died. My mother and father were the only ones that had ever brought me to tears. And even then I tried to remain numb.

  “I see what you are saying. But how in the hell do I channel it?

  “Well, I thought that Cypress was a good start.” He smirked.

  “I'll try.”

  “Thank you,” he sat back.

  The mall had ended without anyone getting hurt and with no trunk space. Cypress bought up random items to fill her apartment. We had started working on her new project at the library. She wanted to do some psychology research and I knew what she needed to know. Thank God she hadn't mentioned Asher; he was lucky the need to kill him had dissolved once I ended her ex. She scanned through the books, writing down little things while I text my brother about some upcoming event he wanted to do.

  “Hey,” a too familiar voice said from above us.

  We both looked up and seen Asher. Cypress did wear a shocked look on her face, she was flushed like she enjoyed seeing him again. This fucker would not disappear. “What the fuck do you want?” I whispered.

  “I wanted to apologize, to you both. I had a bad day. My father gave some bad news that day and I wasn't taking it well. I usually don't act out of character.” Asher stared at Cypress and the small smile appeared across her face. “I really am sorry.”

  “You think you can harass her and just apologize.” I leaned forward and touched Cypress' hand breaking her trance to him. “Not bloody likely?”

  “Calm down, he really must have been hurt.” She said. Cypress looked at me with some concern. “Is everything good?”

  “I don't care.” I seethed.

  “I just wanted to say that and I hope you don't think bad of me. You have a good day.” He walked away from the table and I clenched my fist.

  “You have an anger problem. He made a mistake. Most people would not have apologized at all. He didn't have to apologize. He could have just never said anything. I appreciate it Asher.” She said loud enough for him to hear it.

  “Okay, yes, thank you Asher for apologizing for shoving your tongue down her throat. You are a marvelous chap! Tea sometime?”

  Asher walked off, nodding his head and through his hand up. Was this some kind of game to the fucker? I would ruin him. She hit my hand playfully. “Quit it damn it. You should calm down.”

  “I will tomorrow.” I exhaled. That fucking urge had nudged its way back in. “Let's, um goes to your apartment. I have a better way to express my anger.”

  A smile emerged on her face. “Are you sure?”

  “I have never been more certain in my life.”

  Asher

  My research had been more than productive over the past week. I was looking out for Mark every damn second of the day. I was sure he had a tail on me. A black SUV with horrible blending skills. As far as Lucas I was more than sure that he would kill me at some point. Mark said he would not let it happen, but there was no comfort still for me. Lucas was a selfish guy and the open apology route I had just tried crashed and burned in front of me. I felt like I made him even more mad. But Cypress was okay, so maybe she could hold back the hounds. I sat down at the table and started to take more notes in notebook. Who the fuck was I kidding? She oblivious that he was even, a killer. There would be no way that she would ever care if I died.

  Perhaps it would be easier for him to forgive me if he saw that I had a girlfriend, but from what I had discovered this campus crawled with women in committed relationships. Even just the thought of getting laid was a distant one. I had not gotten much sleep in the past few days. There was still so much that rambled in mind during the quiet of the night.

  “Whatever you are going through could not be that bad?” Whitney’s voice chimed from behind me.

  “I think you are
wrong this time Whit,” I mumbled.

  “Life sucks.” She smiled. “What are you mad about or should I say what are you depressed about?”

  “First, I’m a dumb ass. Second, I’m a dumbass and third, I’m a dumbass.”

  “You are twenty-five and you are about to have a PhD. I am sure more than one or two mistakes won't kill you. But most men are dumbasses so I won’t disagree with you completely.” She laughed cheerfully as she pulled a chair up to my table.

  I pushed my hands through my disheveled hair. If she only knew how incredibly wrong that statement was she would hug me and tell me to get the fuck out of town. I had considered it. I had considered just moving back with my father and being his assistant, but I wanted this study to go through. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Dinner and movie tonight?”

  Great, she had friend zoned me and now she wanted to do best friend shit. “I would love to.” I answered, perhaps too quickly.

  “Perfect,” She grabbed my hand. “And perhaps something more?”

  My eyebrow shot up. “Uhm... are you sure? I wouldn’t want to step on any toes.”

  “I positive. I decided that I should follow my heart and not my mind. My mind likes to fuck shit up for my heart.”

  “When did you get such a potty mouth woman?”

  “I don't know.” Whitney shrugged and flashed her crooked smile.

  “Don't lose it. I like it.” I touched her hip softly. “Come on, I haven't eaten today, so what are you cooking?”

  “Ordering pizza, I don’t cook well when I’m tired.”

  “Perfect,” I made sure we walked passed the table where they sat. I had no idea if it would make a difference, but I prayed it would. I waved and Lucas watched us the entire way out, and swear I heard the word fucker escape his mouth. I would stay clear now for at least a little while. My dissertation might be made up. Fuck this shit. Poor Cypress might be on her own.

  We found ourselves in my apartment. I had not taken the time to tidy up the place. There were notes and crime scene photos scattered all over the place. I unlocked the door and scooped up all of the photos before she seen them.

  Whitney placed the pizza on the table and grabbed her a slice. “Your place is nice. Who decorated?”

  I was finally all unpacked and I agreed with her. “Thank you. I did actually. My mom registered everything at a few stores and told me to put it out. I have no sense of style. But you know that already don’t you?”

  “Your mom still spoils the mess out of you, huh?”

  “You know it.” My mom, Margot only had me. And because of that I was fortunate enough to get anything I wanted. Especially after my parents divorced. My father sent checks and she just dropped them in my account and it worked that way still. My father always sent me money because he said that as long as I continued my education I shouldn’t have to work. Yes, I was spoiled and I had enough saved that I didn’t have to spend with a leash. I could get what I wanted when I wanted for the most part. I grabbed the remote from the couch and smiled at her. “I only have the basic channels and Netflix babe.”

  “Fret not,” she said. Whitney smiled at me and nodded her head. “You still are not into TV are you?”

  “I have been busting my ass to make sure I get everything done for this research paper. My whole career will be judged off of it. I have some fans in the psychology department. I would love to keep it that way.”

  “I’m happy you are into something that you love.” Whitney traced her fingers over the papers on the desk. “So this research paper means that much to you?”

  “Dissertation,” I corrected. “Yes, it means everything in every sense. I have to be successful. I have to go in front of the Doctoral Committee in the next month or so. They want to question me about my research.”

  “So, tell me about it Asher? What is this research that is so important about?”

  “It’s about the psychopath I told you about.”

  “About the killer?”

  “About the subject.”

  “Well, I want to know about it. Tell me about it.”

  “He,” I nodded my head. “I'd rather not. I would rather we cuddle on the couch and dive into some Sherlock. I know you like the show.”

  “We can do that after you tell me about him.”

  There was nothing that I really wanted to delve into with her. She would not understand my fascination with him or his condition. She would see him as normal people would, a killer. But there was so much in the way that he thought that could draw someone like me in. Lucas defied everything that normal people done. The most normal thing in his social life was Cypress. He was even distant with his family, but that was because he has pretty much seen himself as being alone in the world. It was not so much a lie though. His only existing family was in Europe. “Well, I can tell you that he is normal and he has not done anything dangerous. He just thinks and acts differently.” She felt warm beside me. He can be intense at times. I laid off his trail a little. I just really need to document. But I don’t want to talk about this all day. I would rather talk about something else.” I clicked the television on. “Let's just relax...”

  “Tonight a gruesome murder, the second in three months of its kind. The local police are paired with other police departments to figure if this a pattern of any kind. I have Robert Day at the scene. Robert what has happened.?”

  “The news came unexpectedly to the parents of twenty-three-year-old Phillip Langford. After not hearing from him in over a week his parents and fiancé reported him missing to the local authorities. After further investigation of the home he was discovered dead in his home of knife wounds. The coroner has declared his death a murder and from the forensics report he was murdered over a week ago. We have been informed that the County Sheriff and Local police departments are questioning suspects about his murder and that they will get to the bottom of this. The camera cuts to the mother, her face red and filled with tears and her sobbing in front of the home as he was brought out of the house.

  “The victim suffered two fatal wounds that lead to his death. The police do not have a suspect, but if you have any leads you are urged to contact authorities at once. There is a tip hotline number below.”

  My heart thudded. It was his M.O. He always let them bleed out and he had been out of town last week. I ran over to the notebook. Fuck, he killed again. My hands moved faster than I could pace.

  “What are you writing?”

  “Notes babe,” I continued to write until my wrist pained.

  “He was not behind it, was he?”

  “No, sweetheart,” I lied. “I was writing something down for class.”

  “If he was you have to tell someone. You can't allow him to murder.” Whitney stared at me and I nodded my head. “Asher,” she mumbled.

  “I said no, Whit. Come on, let's play some games or something. This is the reason that I don’t watch TV.” I turned the TV off and stood up. “I have Twister.”

  Whitney chuckled. “Yeah, alright, be careful. I would hate to get what I wanted for forever and lose it to a document that does not mean more than your life.”

  “Yeah, I know babe.”

  Cypress

  “Can you tell me about your mom?” I played in his curls. These were the moments I loved. He was all mine in his loft. And it was private, no nosy neighbors anything like that.

  “My mum was a wonderful woman.” He paused. “Her name was Luna; I know you know that, but it was something about the night that brought out her real self. The moon light was her friend. We sat out for hours, sometimes recanting poetry or better yet short stories. The short stories were my favorite.”

  “What did she look like?”

  “She was remarkable. She had wavy hair like mine but it was a blond color. Her eyes were stark blue. She always wore a smile even when she wanted to kill me she was smiling.” He inhaled. “Then she started crippling and not being able to do what she normally could and it was hard for me to witness. She we
nt to school with my adopted mum. They were friends once upon a time. They made an agreement that no matter what when she started crippling I would be formally adopted by her, her name is Tracy. She’s an angel and her and mum had some bad times, but she never punished me for whatever she and my mum had against each other.”

  “Why haven't I met Tracy?”

  “Because I have never brought a woman home, and it makes me nervous,” He said honestly.

  “I am not just any woman Lucas.”

  “I never said that you were Cypress. It's hard for me to be open about anyone or anything with them.”

  “Okay,” There was no escaping him on the couch. I flicked through the television channels. “Stop pouting. I will take you there tomorrow morning okay. You can join me for Sunday Brunch. She'll love it.”

  “I don't want you to take me because you have to. Forget it.”

  “Oh come on,” He looked at me. “Are you mad?”

  “You can get mad about Asher but I can't get mad over you not introducing me to your only living parents.”

  “Don't bring him up.” He snapped. “Especially not while you are lying half naked on my couch.”

  “Asher, Asher, Asher. I have told you numerous times that I don't want him, but you insist on making life a living hell for him.”

  “Fuck that Cypress. That guy fucking had his hand up your skirt. Get mad at that shit.”

  “Don't curse at me.” I yelled.

  He growled. “Fuck!” Lucas walked away from the couch, sending a draft under the covers. “You are maddening.”

  I blocked him out as he paced the floor pacing like a mad man. He paced for five minutes. “Keep walking… It doesn't bother me.”

  Lucas picked me up from the couch scooping me in his arms. His lips crashed into mine and I fell into him as if it was a routine. Lucas walked so lightly up the stairs it felt as if I floated and tossed me into the bed. His hands made their way up my skirt and they traced the absence of my underwear. “Damn it woman, you will be the death of me.”

  I smiled as he pressed one finger deep into me and added another. My hips bucked off of the bed and Lucas' thumb ran over my clit in circles that drove me crazy. He was a genius with those fingers. His bed was soft and plush. The covers had swallowed me whole but he still found a way to make sure I was buckling off of the bed. I grabbed his shoulders with my hands as his mouth joined the party. I couldn't take another moment. My legs weakened and my mind numbed. I screamed and he continued driving me mad until I had to get away, I scooted forward on the bed away from him and he smiled.