Tick. Tick. Tick. I watched the muscle jump in his jaw with nervous fascination. Christian’s anger was a rolling wave, slow and insidious as it swallowed everything in its wake. But when he spoke again, his tone was as smooth and placid as a summer lake.
“Noted.”
Noted? That was the vaguest answer he could’ve given, but I was too apprehensive to ask for clarification.
We didn’t speak again for the rest of the meal.
That afternoon, while Christian worked in his home office and the movers hauled the rest of my belongings up from my apartment, I explored the eight thousand square feet of bachelor luxury that would be my home for God knew how long.
I came here every week to take care of his plants, but I left immediately after. I never took the time to study my surroundings.
Christian’s penthouse took up the entire eleventh floor of the Mirage, which was as high as buildings got in D.C. due to the city’s height limit.
Light gray marble floors, black leather furniture, floor-to-ceiling windows offering a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the city. The house reflected the man: sleek, exquisitely decorated, and beautiful in a way that was cold but impersonal.
He had the lavish touches one would expect from someone of his wealth, such as a private rooftop pool and a state-of-the-art gym down the hall from the den, but my favorite room was the library.
Piles of cushions turned the deep windowsills into sunny reading nooks while modern orange couches added an unexpected pop of color. Hundreds of books lined the customized black shelves, and I could tell by their worn spines that Christian actually read them instead of using them as props.
That was where I chose to bite the bullet and call my friends. I’d been putting it off all day, but I couldn’t stall much longer.
I called Ava first. Bridget lived in Eldorra with plenty of protection, and Jules already knew about the stalker, so it wouldn’t take long to update her.
“Hey!” Despite my less-than-ideal circumstances, Ava’s bright voice made me smile. “What’s up?”
A lot. “Not much. Are you home?” I wanted to make sure she wasn’t in transit when I dropped the bombshell.
“Yep, just got back.” I heard the closing of a door and a faint masculine voice in the background. I assumed it was her fiancé Alex.
I felt better knowing Ava had Alex by her side.
Alex Volkov was a force of his own, and while he made me a bit uneasy—I was almost certain he harbored psychopathic tendencies—he would put his life on the line to protect Ava.
“Great.” I twisted the bottom of my shirt. I should’ve scripted how I would break the news to her, but it was too late now. “How was work?”
“Fun, but beyond busy. We have our annual Best Of feature coming up, and…”
I half listened as she told me about her latest photography assignment, her upcoming wedding, and my Delamonte deal.
I needed to discuss the contract with Brady, but with everything that’d happened over the past twenty-four hours, it’d completely slipped my mind.
Closing the Delamonte deal had consumed me for months. Now that I finally had it, it was barely a blip on my radar.
The universe had a messed-up sense of timing.
“What else is going on besides Delamonte? How are things with Christian?” Ava asked. “You haven’t posted about him since the art gallery photo. That was super cute, by the way.”
There it was. The opening I’d been looking for.
My phone slipped against my palm as I forced my next words past the lump in my throat.
“About that. I, uh…” I coughed. “I moved in with him yesterday.’
There was a beat of silence before a disbelieving “What?” boomed over the line.
I winced and held my phone away from my ear. For someone so small, Ava had a powerful voice.
“You moved in with him? I thought you were…” She dropped her voice to a whisper. Alex must be nearby. “Only fake dating. Why are you suddenly living with him?”
“That’s the other thing.” My chest expanded with a deep, fortifying breath. “I…”
I have a stalker.
The words sat on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t get them out.
I’d been keeping my secret for so long, the idea of sharing it with my friends made my heart kick like a trapped animal against its cage.
Christian and Jules knew the truth, but only out of necessity—Christian because he found me the night I discovered the note, Jules because we’d lived together when the stalker made his first appearance. And she didn’t know the stalker was back.
“I, um…” Just say it. I stood and paced the room, too restless to sit. “I moved in because I…I have a stalker. And he broke into my apartment yesterday.”
The words finally spilled out and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. The force of it reverberated through my bones, but the ensuing silence was so thick I could taste it over the line.
“What?” Ava breathed. Softer this time, and dizzy with shock.
I stopped next to the potted fern. The earthy smells of soil and greenery worked their way into my lungs, grounding me and giving me the fortitude to explain the situation. I started with the notes from two years ago and ended with my discovery yesterday.