Chapter 19
I want my phone to notify when I block them. Like : Blocked at 3:26 pm.
— Text from Keely to Dima
KEELY
The cats got a clean bill of health, and thanks to Shasha’s computer guru, since Apollo was currently very busy with his son, we got all their microchips changed over to match me as their original owner.
Four of them were a handful, but since I wasn’t working anymore, I saw no reason to not keep them.
And Dima hadn’t complained once.
He’d only given the four of them in bed with me a quick glance before he’d pushed them all to the side and climbed into the bed.
When I’d woken this morning, all of them were locked out of the room, and Dima’s mouth was doing amazing things to my clit.
My first stop of the day was the pet store where I would be grabbing some cat food—apparently cats, especially male cats, needed wet food in their diet to prevent them from getting ureter crystals, who knew?—and then to Dima’s place where I would be dropping them off for the day.
That morning as Dima was showering, he’d called out to me and told me that we were staying at his place.
He’d also told me to move in as he was leaving, with a quick “because I’m fuckin’ in love with you” before slamming the door behind him and hauling ass to his bike so he didn’t have to hear my reply.
I sent him a text after he’d left that read: coward.
He hadn’t responded, but I hadn’t needed him to.
Instead , I’d called some movers and then pulled Dima’s credit card out of the kitchen drawer and used it to pay for them.
All of my shit would be packed up and moved for me by the end of the week.
All in all, by the time I hit the pet store, I was feeling accomplished.
I left the cats in the car with it running as I headed inside, my gaze instantly finding all the cat toys and collars.
I thought about getting them a collar, but then decided against it since I’d watched a video on social media last week on cats that pretty much pronounced that cats hated to be ‘heard’ when they were going places. And it was annoying to them to have bells and jingling collars around their throats.
Skipping the collars, I headed for the wet food and found a huge box of it on sale for an “ Easter special.”
I grabbed one in each hand and headed for the checkout, startling slightly when I saw the same man from the sleep center that’d given me the creeps not too long ago.
I dropped my gaze and kept walking, heading straight for the checkout.
When I got there, I placed both boxes on the counter and called out, “ Hello .”
The bored looking teen smiled at me, but didn’t otherwise comment as she checked me out.
I used my phone to pay, then surreptitiously glanced behind me to see if the weirdo from the sleep center was still there.
He was.
Right behind me, looking at the engraving machine.
I got a weird sense of unease and asked, “ Hey , do you mind if I leave these boxes here? I want to keep looking.”
The teen nodded and pulled both boxes behind the counter and stacked them on the ground by her feet.
I headed back to the cat aisle and pulled out my phone.
Me :
Hey , where are you?
Dima :
sends location.
I clicked on it and it pulled up my Find My app on my phone.
It went straight to Dima’s location and I breathed a sigh of relief.
He was close.
Me :
Will you come to the pet store on Newton ? I see that you’re about ten minutes away.
Dima :
I’m in a meeting…but yeah. You’re gonna have to tell Shasha why I left, though. He’s glaring hard at me right now.
I grinned and switched text messages to the thread that I ’ d been added to just this morning between Maven , Nastya , Dima , Shasha and all of their significant others.
Me :
Strange man is following me around the store and making me feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry that I made Dima leave.
My phone immediately started to vibrate and I answered Dima’s call.
“ What’s going on?” he questioned in a deathly calm voice.
I explained quietly, knowing the man wasn’t far from earshot.
Dima’s growl was ferocious as he said, “ I’ll be there in five.”
“ I thought you said that you were ten minutes away?” I asked.
“ I’ll be there in five,” he promised as his engine revved. “ It’s gonna switch to my helmet and may sound weird, but don’t hang up.”
I didn’t, and then I heard the sound of his bike going full throttle.
My phone continued to vibrate the five minutes it took Dima to get there.
“ Where are you?” he asked.
I swallowed hard and said, “ I’m gonna meet you in the parking lot.”
Before he could reply, I stuffed my phone, still connected, into my purse and headed to the counter.
I smiled at the teen and said, “ Thanks !”
She didn’t reply, already checking out another customer.
I glanced over my shoulder to see the man following me, but the nerves didn’t hit me as they did earlier because I could hear the whine of the bike heading toward me.
It was coming fast, and the smile couldn’t be helped as I started into the parking lot.
The bike came up from my left and then pulled in directly behind me.
I kept walking, even though I knew that the bike had stopped.
I put the cans of food into the trunk and only then looked over my shoulder to see Dima off his bike, helmet still in place, poking the man in the chest.
I got into my car to wait.
It took ten whole minutes, but then Dima joined me at my car.
I got out and looked around, then practically buried my face into Dima’s chest.
His very hard, very broad, very yummy chest.
He wrapped his arms around me and said, “ You know who that guy was?”
“ Actually , I have no idea,” I admitted. “ Other than I know that he was a patient at the sleep center a few weeks ago.”
He stilled. “ What ?”
I explained everything, ending with, “ That’s the first time I’ve seen him outside of the sleep center, though.”
“ That’s the same guy that cleaned your windows that one time we…” he hesitated, but he didn’t need to say. “ You told me his name was Cornelius Stone , though.”
I understood without him needing to go into detail.
“ Oh ,” I breathed. “ Do you think that he knows that was me?”
“ Probably not all that hard to figure out. He counted the windows. Knew the floor. Probably looked at your mailbox in the foyer,” he explained. “ It’s right by the office where he would’ve gone to get paid.”
I shivered. “ I hope it’s all just a coincidence.”
“ Him seeing you practically naked, then you seeing him out and about? Maybe . But him coming to your place of work? I don’t believe in that many coincidences,” he growled.
I shivered at the way his words made excitement dance across my skin.
“ What now?” I asked.
“ Now ,” he said, “ I figure out where that fucker lives and see what he knows.”
I nodded, deciding it was best not to question him and his methods. I might find out something that I didn’t like.
“ Think maybe we should get married,” I teased. “ That way I can’t be forced to be a tattletale against you.”
His eyes gleamed and he pulled me in close using the top of his helmet.
“ That can be arranged.”
I smiled. “ I have to get to CE .”
“ Then go,” he said. “ But don’t forget to drop the cats off first.”
I looked back at the cats that were practically begging to be let out of their carrier.
“ The entire drive to the vet,” I sighed. “ They cried. It was awful.”
“ I’ll bet,” he agreed.
He went to step back, but I caught him by the t-shirt and pulled him toward me. “ About what you said earlier…”
His eyes flashed with excitement, but his face remained bored. “ Yeah ?”
“ I might be even more head over heels for you than I thought.”
He laughed and then opened my door for me. “ It’s not too soon?”
“ No ,” I dropped down into my car seat and blew him a kiss. “ It’s not.”
He eyed me, then checked out my car. “ I think we need to get you something newer.”
I rolled my eyes and slammed the door.
He watched me go, and only when I was well on my way did he head back to his bike that was still parked in the middle of the parking lot.
I didn’t see the man, Cornelius Stone , but I had a feeling that I didn’t want to.
“ Come on, Copper ,” I moaned. “ I’m starving, and we’re accomplishing nothing here right now.”
Copper groaned, scrubbing his hands down his face. “ This place is a mess. I can’t believe you didn’t catch any of the stuff they were doing.”
The ‘stuff’ they were doing was embezzling money, and lots of it.
“ I can’t say that accounting is my best subject,” I admitted as we gathered our trash and headed for the door.
I dropped my load into the trash in the hall, and he followed suit, before heading back to lock the office door.
“ You’re going to have to get a forensic accountant in here to figure out what all was done,” I said. “ And then we’re going to have to file charges.”
“ I have a slightly better idea,” he said. “ Though probably not better for them.”
The way he said it made me think that he was about to do something highly illegal.
“ This could all be figured out legally,” I pointed out.
“ The time for that has passed,” he said. “ If we want to see that money again, we’re going to have to get it by other means.”
I nodded and headed for the elevator. “ Hey , I was going to ask, do you want to move into my apartment?”
He frowned. “ The one we just got for you for the next year?”
I shrugged. “ Dima asked me to move in, and I said yes.”
He studied me for a long moment before he said, “ You know he’s very dangerous, right?”
I smiled and got into the elevator. “ I know.”
“ You know that he’s slightly crazy, too?” he asked.
I shrugged. “ I know that a little bit crazy is okay, as long as it’s the crazy protecting you.”
“ You’re right,” he agreed. “ Do you love him?”
He wasn’t asking me this because he was questioning me. He was asking me because he genuinely wanted to know.
“ I’m so in love with him that I don’t even know how to begin to explain it,” I admitted.
He was silent for a while, and the floors ticked by on the elevator before he said, “ I want that one day.”
My brows rose. “ You had that, brother.”
He remained silent, and I knew that we wouldn’t be having the discussion on his ‘once’ love.
I smiled, though, because I knew a secret.
The girl that I’d suggested we hire was none other than his ‘one true love.’
The woman that he pushed away when he’d gone into prison and hadn’t called since.
He might hate me after he figured it out, but only a little bit.
A secret smile stayed on my lips as I headed through the lobby and out the employee entrance.
In the last few days, a lot had changed with the security.
Now we had a guard all the time, and there were multiple of them.
The nightshift guard greeted us as we exited the building.
He’d been making a round of the building, and had his flashlight out.
“ Hey , Horace .” I smiled. “ Have a nice night.”
He dipped his chin and kept walking.
“ He’s so talkative,” I teased.
Copper threw his arm around me and said, “ I’ll take your apartment.”
I grinned. “ Awesome .”
But secretly, I had another reason for grinning.
Because Reign Lee Lake lived in my building, two floors beneath me.
Copper would have no choice but to face his past, whether he liked it or not.
Dima came out of the shadows, and Copper tensed before releasing a relieved breath. “ You shouldn’t do that.”
“ Wanted to see if your night guard would notice me.” He shrugged, uncaring that he’d scared my brother. “ He did. Good guy. Made me show him my ID and everything and called in to the security office to verify that I should be here.”
“ Good ,” Copper said. “ He came highly recommended by a friend.”
“ I like him.” Dima nodded. “ You ready to go home?”
“ What about my car?”
Dima curled his lip. “ I’m sure it’ll be fine in the parking lot. Horace is very good at his job.”
I smiled. “ You just want it to be stolen.”
“ It’s in desperate need of an upgrade.” He chuckled.
“ I’ll take that, too,” Copper said. “ Runs great. I’ve kept that thing running since I was a kid along with my grandfather. Buy her a good SUV . Cars nowadays are useless.”
Dima and him talked shop for a few more minutes, then they parted.
I gave Copper my keys before he left, both to the house and the car.
“ I’m moving out Sunday completely. But I’ll probably not be back. Can you let them in? Oh , and keep whatever you want. You can tell them what they can take,” I suggested.
Copper rolled his eyes. “ You just don’t want to deal with the movers.”
“ Maybe ,” I admitted.
Dima snaked his arm around my waist and didn’t interrupt, even though I could practically feel his excitement.
The moment Copper was on his Harley , Dima pulled me completely into his chest, then placed both of his large palms on my face before saying, “ You’re moving in?”
“ I love you, Dima . Of course I’m moving in.”
“ You don’t think it’s too soon?” he teased.
“ I know what I want.” I shrugged. “ And what I want is you.”