Page 19 of The Bad Boy Next Door (Dangerous Desire 1)

Locked and latched. From the inside.

My stomach churned.

Standing—or more to the point, still half crouching—I listened to the house’s silence.

It was just that. Silent.

Not a sound.

Mouth dry, eyes burning, I scanned the room. Nothing was out of place. Well, apart from Lucas, that was. Even the Glock Doctor Winchester had insisted I keep was still on the table where I’d placed it.

Shit.

Straightening, I slowly made my way to the kitchen. Slower still, I withdrew the biggest knife in the knife block on the counter.

I couldn’t shoot my foot off with a knife.

Grip tight enough on the hilt my knuckles ached, I climbed the stairs.

Every molecule in my body thrummed and sparked and quivered with fear. As much as I wanted to run, I needed to find Lucas first. I couldn’t leave him. He was defenseless. Vulnerable.

The first bedroom was empty.

So was the second.

Which left the master suite.

I paused at the closed door, pressed my ear to its surface.

Not a sound from the other side.

Adjusting my grip on the knife, I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob and turned it. Slowly. Slowly.

I pushed open the door, knife ready.

And froze at the sound that greeted me.

A low nasally buzzing sound.

Snoring.

I blinked. What the—

Pushing the door wide, I stepped into the room. Lucas lay stretched out on the middle of the bed, on his stomach, legs splayed, cheek mushed against the mattress, eyes closed.

Snoring.

I gaped at him.

“Are you serious?” I muttered.

The adrenaline that had been flooding my system left me in a rush. The trembles kicked in, hard and fast and violent.

I stared at my naked neighbor. Listened to his soft snores. And threw up my hands, knife and all. “Fuck this. I’m having a shower.”

I stomped past the bed, past Lucas, into the master suite’s opulent bathroom.

The shakes and trembles made stripping tricky, but I finally shucked off my clothes, turned on the water and stepped under the warm stream.