DexterI don’t even want to know what the authorities are doing here.I just want to slip away so that they don’t recognize my car. I watch Vanessa walk away first, though. For some reason, I find myself wishing that things had gone differently last night. I won’t say I regret paying her for sex, but I do wish she’d been more into it. I wouldn’t have had this bitter taste in my mouth if she were. I drive away. It’s still very early but I know that I won’t be able to go back to sleep. I’ll go to my hotel room, shower, and then I’ll switch on my phone. I’m not looking forward to dealing with Mr. King but it has to happen at some point, right? I can’t hide forever. I don’t even want to. I’ll just deal with this and then get the freedom I need. Once I reach my hotel room, I jump in the shower. I can’t stop thinking about Red, and it’s especially hard when I can still taste her in my mouth and smell her all around me. I know that after today, officially, I won’t have anything to do wi

Lara I gulp and close the door behind me. His eyes are on me as I walk toward him. Honestly, this rarely happens. I don’t usually have clients that make me feel so uncomfortable. I remind myself that I can’t be scared as long as I’m in control. I use my professional voice. “Why don’t you sit down, then?”“Sure,” he says before doing as he’s told. I get on stage. I go to the music player and sure enough, there’s a gun there. The sight of it, all black and oily looking, makes me shudder. But I’m glad we’ve been given something. This is better than nothing at all. I turn the music on and then move to the center of the stage. My client sits back and stretches his arms out. He’s watching me curiously and with a hunger that makes my skin crawl. I start to dance next to the pole. I ask him, “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”“Yeah,” he answers, distracted by my swaying hips. His eyes are a vibrant green, and dark lashes are framing his eyes, making them stand out even more. His ski

Dexter “Well, first of all, I came here because I thought that we should find you. You’re our kin, and you deserve to know that we exist. That you have a family.”I nod, and then ask, “Where are you from?”“All the way in Baywood,” he states. “Yeah, a long way away. A whole week to get here. We never thought she got so far, you know? We started looking in the nearby towns and cities. Nobody ever heard of her. We thought that maybe she changed her name. My mother got sick afterward and stopped looking. Then, she asked me to take over as soon as I turned eighteen.”“And you’re how old now?”He’s clearly younger than me. He says, “I’m twenty-one.”“I see,” I say. “You came a long way.”“I’m glad it wasn’t for nothing,” he says. “I’m glad we found you. But I’m sad that things turned out so badly. I really hoped that she had that happy ever after, you know? I grew up listening to stories about her.”I sniffle and nod. “Yeah. It’s a shame, too.”“I was told by Jim about what happened,” he

DexterI meet up with Damson for a late breakfast at a nearby diner that I think serves really great food. Naturally, he comes with all the guys from what he calls his ‘squad’. There are five of them, and the leader is pretty clearly identifiable. He’s the big guy with even more eyeliner around his eyes, and I have to admit that I don’t like him. I’ve worked alongside the authorities for a very long time, and so, it’s easy for me to identify a crook. And this guy—this Jules—is a fucking crook. He also likes to intimidate people. We sit in a booth, all six of us. Damson is the one talking the most. The rest of us are just sizing each other up. My cousin is clearly the youngest of the group. The rest seem to be around my age. It’s incredible how I’ve known Damson only for a few hours and yet I already feel overprotective of him. I hope he’s respected in this group and that nobody takes advantage of him. Because I don’t like Jules. Not one bit. By the looks of it, he doesn’t like me

LaraI walk into the private room, way ahead of Dexter, and he closes the door.Tingles spread all the way to the tips of my fingers at the thought of us being alone in the same room. To think that we'll be alone in this room for two hours is...I just have to find a way to see this through and not lose my cool. I have to remind myself that I'm doing this to survive. Nothing more, nothing less. I take a deep breath and try to remember to stick to my professionalism. Although I hate him, I have to treat him the same way I treat all my other clients. On top of that, he has his additional requests. He wants me to be more verbal."So, are you ready to have a mind-blowing evening?" I ask him, trying not to cringe. I hear him let out a short, humorless chuckle. "Vanessa, come on."I close my eyes and force myself to calm down. He's not looking at my face so it's easy for me to make these little facial expressions of annoyance. I tell him, "I'd appreciate it if you would let me do my job,