Two for Joy - Louise Collins Page 0,20
killing the perfect victim had somehow confirmed there was some good in him. There had been so many failed attempts, all different reasons why he didn’t kill. They frustrated him, but in the end, it added to the build-up, made the kill even more satisfying when he finally got it.
“Romeo?”
“Sorry, what?”
Holly pressed her lips in a grim smile, then gathered her papers together. “You’ve been distracted today.”
“Maybe because you’re not listening to a word I’m saying.”
“I don’t think it’s that.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“I think it’s to do with Chad. I heard about what happened.”
“How did you hear?”
Holly glanced behind him, so quick if Romeo wasn’t concentrating, he would’ve missed it. She’d looked at Paul.
“Do you think he’s going to stop visiting you?”
“It’s up to him.”
“How would you feel if he stopped?”
Romeo looked away. He’d feel like there wasn’t any point anymore. Coldness seeped into his veins, and he shivered.
“If you ask me, they should’ve stepped in and stopped the visits months ago.”
“Why do you say that?”
“What Chad’s doing is cruel. He openly mocks your failure, and now, when you’ve become reliant on him, he’s ended your visits.”
“He hasn’t ended them.”
“He’s cancelled Wednesday.”
The words were like a physical blow, and the coldness in his blood turned to ice, freezing everything, crystallizing his heart.
“What?”
“Oh, didn’t they tell you.” Holly said. “I thought you knew.”
Romeo could tell by the tone of voice she was lying. She knew he didn’t know, and she was drinking in his reaction. Her eyes were wide, taking it all in with excitement.
Bitch.
Romeo turned back to Fred and Paul. Paul grinned, but Fred had the decency to close his eyes, and look regretful.
“I was gonna tell you later,” Fred said. “Chad phoned up and cancelled Wednesday’s visit.”
“Did—did he say why?”
Fred shook his head.
“Don’t worry,” Holly said. “I’m not gonna end our visits. I’m not like Chad.”
“You got that right.” Romeo growled.
Holly ignored the tone of his voice and heard what she wanted to hear.
She gave him a dazzling smile. “I’ll be here, same time next week.”
****
“I had a threesome once.”
Romeo closed his eyes, trying to shut out Will’s cheerful voice. Chad had cancelled his visit. There was nothing to look forward to, and all Romeo wanted to do was curl up in bed moping to the picture of him on the wall, but Will wasn’t having it.
“Me, can you believe it, a threesome…”
“I feel sorry for them.”
“What was that?”
Romeo got out of bed and went over to the bars. “I said I feel sorry for them.”
“You’re a nasty piece of work, you know that.”
“Oh, I know.”
“But good looking, handsome.”
“I didn’t know you swung that way.”
Will laughed. “I don’t, but even so, I’m not blind. I can see it. You must have some stories to tell.”
“Stories?”
“Of the threesome variety.”
Romeo shrugged. “Maybe…”
“Don’t leave me in suspense, tell me one. A memorable one.”
Romeo turned his back to the bars, then slid down to sit on the ground. He heard Will do the same in his cell. There was nothing else to do, the news was trivial, the cartoons horribly repetitive, that left reminiscing.
“When I was at university, I got a lot of interest, girls, boys. They all kinda blurred together. Sex was a physical release, nothing more.”
“What else is it supposed to be?”
“I dunno, I was looking for something I guess.”
Will tutted. “Love is so overrated.”
“I’m not talking about love. My lecturer saw me getting all this attention, and I knew she liked me more than her other students—
“No way…”
“Yes way. She’d flirt, be very suggestive, wear revealing clothes, short skirts.”
For weeks she’d been dropping hints, winking at him, bending over in front of his desk. But to him, it would be no different having it with her, than the other girls in his class. He couldn’t see any advantage to acting on her lust. Sex was sex, enjoyable, but it didn’t satisfy the monster in his head. It didn’t force him to shut up for a while.
“Your lecturer seduced you. That’s hot, seriously hot.”
“She asked me to stay behind to look over my paper. Everyone left, and I followed her into the office. As soon as she closed the door, she was on me.”
Will banged the bars making Romeo jump. “Christ, Romeo! What was her name?”
“Elena.”
“Eager Elena.”
“She was very experienced, knew what she was doing, how she wanted it. She took my pants off, got me hard, then pulled me towards her desk. She sat down, spread her legs—she had no underwear on, then guided me into her.”
She’d moaned, and panted,