Chapter 5
5
WIZARD
I had a lot of work to do when I returned to the clubhouse, so I dove into it, looking for a distraction. Otherwise, I would have spent the rest of the day and tomorrow morning obsessively watching Thea.
A few hours later, there was a knock on my office door, and I frowned at the interruption. “What?” I called out, quickly minimizing the files I was studying since they were confidential.
The door opened, and Echo walked inside, shutting it behind him. “Just talked to Violet,” he told me as he dropped onto the couch I had across from my desk and wall of computer screens. I’d dragged it in there after falling asleep in my chair a few times while waiting for a ping on something I was searching for.
My eyes narrowed. “Wouldn’t be here to talk to me about your old lady unless it has to do with Thea,” I surmised.
He ran his hands through his hair and blew out a breath. “Just keep your shit together while I tell you everything.”
Not a good sign . “Then spit it the fuck out,” I snapped.
“Violet was on the phone with Thea when she got home today. Seems there were flowers and a note on her doorstep.”
My hands balled into fists, and the green monster clawed at my chest. “From who?” I demanded in a lethal tone.
“Don’t know. It was the first Violet had heard about the situation, and she came right to me when she found out.”
“A stalker?”
Echo nodded. “That’s the conclusion Thea came to, as well. Mostly because this note was an escalation.”
“A fucking escalation from what?” I bellowed, jumping to my feet.
“Like I said, Violet was in the dark, so she didn’t know much. But she’s worried, so she asked me to tell you.”
I couldn’t talk through the fury engulfing me, so I gave him a chin lift before grabbing my shit and stalking out to my truck. Thea was coming back with me whether she wanted to or not, so I needed a vehicle that could bring some of her stuff.
On the drive to her house, I tried to talk myself down into a calmer state. I needed to convince Thea to leave with me and let me protect her. A logical argument and firm request were probably the best way to go. But by the time I arrived, I was still fuming and ready to just throw her over my shoulder and take her somewhere safe. Even if she kicked and screamed the whole way.
“Thea!” I shouted as I pounded on her door.
When she opened it a minute later, I scowled. “Never answer the fucking door without finding out who it is first!” I growled.
She pointed at her doorbell and muttered, “I have a camera.”
Not in the mood to be soothed, I just grunted in response. Placing a hand on her stomach, I urged her to move backward until I was able to step inside.
She backed up a few feet more and crossed her arms over her chest, sighing, “Violet tattled, didn’t she?”
I closed the distance between us and glared down at her. “She shouldn’t have had to, Thea. You should have told me yourself.”
“Why would I tell you?” she argued. “It’s not like you’re my boyfriend. I just agreed to a first date last night!”
If I hadn’t been so monumentally pissed, I would have taken a second to appreciate that she wasn’t intimidated by our size difference, especially with my gritty personality and exterior.
“Last night mighta been our first real date, baby, but if you think you haven’t been mine since the day we met, you’re lying to yourself.”
She remained stubbornly silent, and I nodded. “That’s what I thought.”
After a slow, deep breath, she spoke. “It wasn’t a big deal before. Just some flowers and poetic notes. It seemed harmless enough.”
My brow rose to my hairline. “Ignoring the fact that those actions were signs that this fucker was a stalker. They were being delivered to your fucking house, Thea. That alone should’ve sent you to Echo or the police.”
She frowned and jammed her hands onto her hips. “They won’t deliver flowers to a PO Box, Baylor. I have a service that delivers those kinds of things so I don’t have to give out my real address.”
It was a solid explanation, but it didn’t sit right with me. “Let me see the note,” I muttered, stalking past her into her bright, open living room. My computer bag was slung over my shoulder, so I set it on the coffee table before taking a seat in a comfortable armchair.
She stared at me in confusion, and I canted my head. “The note, baby,” I urged again, trying not to sound quite as gruff. I must have succeeded because she dropped her arms to her sides and walked toward the kitchen.
The two rooms were separated by a bar with two stools tucked in from the living room side.
As I opened my laptop, I heard a drawer opening and papers rustling. Then I glanced up when her footsteps headed in my direction. She held out a notecard and a printed sheet of paper.
“Thanks, baby.” I set the items down next to my computer, noting the name of the nursery where the flowers had been ordered from. “This is the one from today?”
“Yes.”
Glancing up at her, I asked, “Where are the rest?”
“The rest?” she echoed.
“Might think I don’t know you, baby, but you’re very wrong. Even though you didn’t want to believe it, somewhere deep down, you knew the person sending you shit could be a stalker. Where are the other letters?”
Thea blinked at me, obviously startled by my accuracy. Finally, she mumbled, “In the drawer.” She turned and hurried back to the kitchen while I did some unethical shit and broke a couple of laws to get the information I needed.
She handed me a manila envelope when she returned, and I set it next to the other note. Then I gave her a pointed look. “None of the deliveries were sent to your PO Box, Thea. They were sent directly to your address from the store.”
“How could you possibly know that?” she asked, her tone skeptical. “Besides, they didn’t all come from the same shop.”
I’d hacked what I needed to make an intuitive leap to the other nurseries and checked all the deliveries sent to her address. “I’ll explain it later, but for now, I just need you to trust me.”
“Okay,” she whispered as she sank into the chair next to mine.
I smiled in approval and picked up the note she’d received after lunch. As I read, my expression turned into a dark, murderous scowl.
The stalker warned her that he was watching and had been waiting for the right moment. Now that she was “whoring” herself out to another man, he threatened to harm her if she didn’t break it off. Then he ended it by softening his language and telling her about all the sex scenes she’d written that he couldn’t wait to do in person rather than just dreaming about it. Some of the shit he wrote was explicit, and the paper nearly crumpled in my hand from my tight grip.
“Gonna kill this motherfucker,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.
Thea’s voice was hesitant when she commented, “Somehow, I don’t think you’re bluffing.”
I turned my gaze to her face, shuttering some of my homicidal rage so I didn’t scare the hell out of her. “Never bluffing when it comes to your safety, baby.”
She sighed and pushed up to her feet. “I guess it’s time to take this to the police.”
“Not going to the cops,” I informed her as I snapped my laptop closed and slipped it into my satchel. “Go pack a bag, baby. Make sure you have enough shit for a couple of weeks.” I added the most recent letter to the envelope with the others and stuffed it next to my computer.
“Excuse me?” she uttered in a bewildered tone.
I stood to my full height, and once again, I moved close enough that she had to drop her head nearly all the way back to meet my gaze. “You heard me.”
She shook her head. “Why do I need to pack a bag? And why aren’t we going to the police?”
“Taking you back to the Hounds of Hellfire compound. Nowhere safer, and we’ll do a hell of a lot better at catching this asshole.” My smile was wicked when I added, “And we’ll be the ones meting out his punishment.”
Her eyes were heated and her cheeks ruddy when she hummed, “Ummm…I don’t think…that’s not…”
I grinned. Seemed my girl liked it when I was tough and growly. Something to keep in mind .
“Don’t worry about it, baby. Now go pack a bag before I drag your sexy ass outta here without any of your shit. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”
She opened her mouth, most likely to argue with me, so I covered her lips with my own. The kiss was insistent, drugging, and I was close to losing control when I finally pulled back.
“Do as you're told, baby,” I muttered, then I turned her around by her shoulders and patted her ass to get her moving.
Dazed, she slowly walked away, her hips swaying. I kept my eyes glued to her ass. Damn, my woman was hot as fuck.
Ten minutes later, she hadn’t come out of the bedroom, so I stalked down the hall to see what was taking her so long.
She was sitting on the bed, a medium-sized suitcase open beside her. Noting that it was filled to the brim, I decided we could talk about whatever was on her mind later. Right now, I wanted her in my room at the clubhouse where I knew she was safe. And I was done trying to talk her into the plan.
I closed her bag and zipped it up, then set it on the floor.
Bracing my feet apart, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at her. “Your ten minutes are up, baby.”
“Baylor…I think—” She yelped when I bent down and picked her up, gently tossing her over my shoulder.
I grabbed her suitcase and marched out to the front door.
“What the heck?” she squawked.
“Gave you plenty of warning, baby,” I growled. “Doing things my way now.”
Once we were outside, I locked and shut her door. “Need a fucking alarm system,” I grumbled as I made my way to the truck. Although she didn’t need one in this place anymore. Now that she was living with me, I wasn’t about to let her go.
When we reached the truck, I opened the back door and tossed her bag onto the bench seat in the extended cab. After slamming it shut, I opened the front passenger door and gently set Thea in the seat. She still seemed to be in a state of shock because she didn’t speak or try to stop me from buckling her in.
The sound of the belt clicking into place resonated in the quiet of the truck. I was about to move away but stopped and grasped her chin, making sure we were eye to eye when I spoke again. “No more pushing me away, Thea,” I told her. “You’ve got no choice but to have me in your life now. And not just because of the stalker. I’m done being patient. We are happening. End of story.”