Chapter Sixteen #2
I nod thoughtfully. “I’ll talk to Whizz, see what he can come up with.
” I step closer, and she watches through mistrusting eyes.
It’s another reminder that I’ve hurt her.
“Are you okay, after The Woodthorpe?” She nods, her eyes fixed to my hand as I move it closer and brush her hair away from her face.
Her eyes flutter closed, and she leans into the touch like she’s missing me just as much as I’m missing her.
“Please avoid him until I have an answer for you. If he’s stalking you, who knows what he’s planning. ”
“If security is letting people up, how am I going to stay safe?”
“I’ll speak to them.” I lean down swiftly, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead and head for the door.
“You’re not demanding I come back to the clubhouse?”
I glance back and almost smile at the confusion on her face.
“It’s another fight that neither of us need.
I love you, Liv, but I know I’ve messed everything up.
I respect your need to be here, away from me.
But you know the club is your home, and you’re welcome there anytime.
There’s a safehouse,” I shrug, “you just need to ask.”
Olivia
I stare after him with a mixture of confusion.
If he’d demanded I go to the clubhouse, I would have refused.
I’d have fought him every step. But secretly, I would have felt safer there.
He’s giving me space, respecting my boundaries.
But, fuck, Bully, it’s the one time I need you to pull your alpha bullshit.
I get back into bed and fall into a restless sleep.
It’s Bria who wakes me a few hours later, shaking me hard. “You were sleeping heavy,” she whispers, smiling when I open my eyes.
I roll onto my back. “What time is it?”
“Ten. Bully’s here.”
I sit up quickly. “What?”
There’s a smile pulling at her lips, and I sense she’s pleased he’s here. “Don’t get no ideas,” I say, grabbing some joggers and pulling them on. I fasten the top few buttons of his shirt that I took when I left. “He’s here about Dagger.”
We step into the living room, and my stomach knots when I see Bully by the window, arms tense, eyes locked on something outside. Whizz is crouched beside him, setting up a strange-looking device, wires snaking across the table like nerves.
“What’s going on?” I ask, the words sharp enough to bring Bully’s attention to me.
“Whizz is checking for bugs,” he says flatly.
“Dagger hasn’t been here.”
“To your knowledge,” he mutters, eyes narrowing.
Beside me, Bria goes still. Her body tenses like she’s bracing for an earthquake. “What did I miss?”
“I’ll explain later,” I whisper, but I’m not sure how I’ll even begin.
Bully crosses his arms, muscles coiled. “Your sister deserves to know a psycho is stalking you.”
Bria’s head whips around, eyes wide and searching mine. I exhale slowly, my lungs tight. “I don’t know for sure.” But I do. Deep down, I do.
She gasps. “That’s how he knows where you are all the time.”
“I’m gonna scan the rooms,” Whizz says. “And I need your mobile.”
I hand it over, palms clammy. He plugs it into his laptop and starts moving through the room, scanning light fittings, behind frames, every crevice.
Bria disappears to get dressed, leaving me alone with Bully.
He gestures to a paper bag on the table. “Breakfast.”
I blink. “Thanks.” It’s the first time he’s brought me anything like that. When I peek inside and see two vanilla croissants, something in my chest squeezes. “I love these,” I murmur.
His gaze flickers. “I know.”
Whizz moves into the kitchen, and Bully sits down. “Sit with me,” he says firmly, and I lower onto the couch. I pull off a piece of pastry, chewing slowly. I’m too on-edge to enjoy it. “I gave Whizz your old phone,” he says. “There was an app installed. It was listening in to you.”
I freeze. “What kind of app?”
“Something to monitor your mic. We think he put it there.”
“But . . . he never had my phone,” I say, heart pounding.
“Not that you knew of,” he says cautiously. “But he could’ve come in here while you were asleep.”
My blood runs cold. The croissant drops from my hand and back into the bag. My appetite vanishes. “Is that what you really think?” My voice cracks. He nods, just once. I gasp and cover my mouth, bile rising in my throat. “He was in my home?”
“It was installed a week before I got out of prison. That’s how he knew.”
“No. No, it’s public. Anyone could’ve found that information out,” I argue, but even I can hear the weakness in my voice.
“We kept it off the radar. Even my solicitor made sure no one knew.”
A low groan escapes me. “He came into my house,” I whisper. My voice barely exists. The tears I’ve been holding back burn at the corners of my eyes.
“I’ve spoken to security. They understand now. Dagger won’t get in again.”
I scoff bitterly. “Don’t pretend that means anything. Not with him.”
I glance up and see Bria in the doorway. Her ghostly expression tells me she heard every word. “We can go to the clubhouse, right?” she says. “It makes sense.”
She’s not wrong. Of course, it makes sense.
“No.” My voice is firmer than I feel. “We have to stand on our own two feet.”
“Bria’s right,” Bully says. “You’ll be safer at the club until this is over.”
I shoot to my feet. “And how exactly do you plan to end it?”
He rises too, his expression unreadable. “The details don’t matter. It will be handled.”
But his calm doesn’t settle me. It terrifies me more.