Truly Yours (Mason & Sophie 2, Roommate Duet 4)

Dacia, protective Dacia. She was always so intelligent and observant. I cry for her. I cry for her mother, who already lost one child. I cry because I will have the same fate as her by the same man.

“Aww, are you sad for her?” he taunts. “Boo-fuckin’-hoo.”

I squeeze my eyes tight as he continues to ramble, giving me details I don’t want to hear.

“I waited outside her house, knowing she’d be leaving for work soon. When she walked to her car, I snuck up behind her. She put up a good fight, but she was too weak for me. Overpowering her was easy. Almost as easy as my wife, though Dacia didn’t beg me to stop like my wife did.”

“You…” I swallow, shocked that the part of him being married was true. “Killed your wife?”

He nods, proudly. “Threats, Sophie darling. No one threatens me.” He emphasizes his words. “She threatened to leave me after she found out she was pregnant with another man’s baby, and after the whore cheated on me, I wasn’t going to allow her to do that. She was mine. Now she’ll always only be mine.”

His sentiments echo Weston’s. More tears well in my eyes, and he cracks his knuckles. He’s killed two women with those hands. I’ll be his third.

The phone vibrates, and he laughs when he reads the message, loving every minute of this. “Oh, looks like your sister Maddie is texting you now. What should we tell her?” He taps the knife against his lips. “I should’ve taken her too, but I don’t know if I could’ve dealt with two of you feisty cunts at once. Maybe after I’ve killed you and Mason, I’ll go after her too. Seems like a good fuck. Bet she’d give good head with her arms and legs tied up.”

The thought of him being anywhere near Maddie makes my heart race, and I’m internally panicking because he knows where she lives now. All I’ve ever wanted was to protect my sisters and not bring people like Dalton into their lives. I become more frantic and uneasy, knowing he could’ve easily taken her too. Take me, hurt me, even kill me, but leave my sisters out of it.

“What do you want from me?” I ask, not wanting to play any more games, but he’s living for this.

“I’ve got what I want for now—you. You’re what’s going to bring Mason to me, and then I’ll be able to make him feel the same way I felt when I learned my brother was shot. After I knock out his teeth and tie him up, I’m going to make him watch me strangle the life from you. Maybe I’ll fuck your ass first. He can witness it all before he takes his last breath.”

His words are terrifying, and what’s worse is that he’s convinced he’s capable of doing this. Mason won’t go down without a fight, and most likely, he won’t come alone. I twist my arms, seeing if I can loosen the tape enough to wiggle free.

“Ooh look, speaking of the motherfucking devil.” He turns the phone around, and I see Mason calling. “Should I answer?”

He presses the button before I reply, then puts the phone up to my ear.

“I’m looking for you, Dalton, and when I find you…”

“Mason,” I breathe out, tears falling.

His tone instantly changes, and he speaks softly. “Sophie. Oh my God. Are you okay?”

Before I can respond, he rips the phone away and laughs.

“Hurt her? Nah, she’s fine. She’s tough. Can take a kick to the gut like a man. Right?” He turns and flashes me a wink, which has me swallowing bile.

My heart races as he nonchalantly walks around the kitchen listening to Mason. “You don’t want to threaten me,” he warns. “You’ll be sorry if you do. Trust me. Just ask your little sweet Sophie.” He chuckles darkly.

To anyone else, it would seem he’s chatting with an old friend. Dalton is hot one minute and cold the next. Laughing, then shouting. He’s unstable and the most frightening part of it all—unpredictable.

“Touch her, you say?” His eyes bore into me. “Actually, I was thinking of fucking her first. I’d like to know what my brother had and find out what’s so special about her that made you kill him.” He pauses to listen to Mason, then laughs again. “Oh, foul language, Mason. No, no. Don’t worry…I saw the way she looked at me the first day we met…” He continues talking shit, but I tune him out, unable to hear any more as Mason yells on the other end.

I remember the day we met like yesterday because I thought he was hitting on me. Instead of listening to my gut, I chalked it up to being jaded because of Weston. He invaded my personal space and acted too friendly. However, thinking about it now, I should’ve recognized the signs.