Chapter 7 Rook
ROOK
From across the street, I watched Asha walk into the bar. Her friends were already inside. I’d seen them arrive fifteen minutes ago. Sunshine blonde and dark-haired Goth Barbie, the same women she met with every week.
Asha was more dressed up than usual. Short black dress, high heels, red lips.
Fuck me, she was gorgeous.
And all the bastards inside knew it, too.
The bartender glanced up mid-pour. Two arseholes at the bar pretended not to stare while practically undressing her with their eyes. One leaned over to whisper something to his mate, and they both turned to watch her walk by.
A muscle ticced in my jaw. I gripped the lamppost beside me to keep from storming in and putting someone’s head through a wall.
Asha didn’t even notice. She was busy smiling at her friends, oblivious to the male attention on her. Oblivious to me.
Jealousy curled low and hot in my gut. I hated that those men got to see her like this. Hated that they got to be close to her. Some prick probably thought he stood a chance of taking Asha home.
Over my dead fucking body.
I was supposed to stay outside and watch from a distance, like always, but…what harm would it do to step inside the bar and see her up close, happy and carefree, before everything changed?
Because tomorrow, I wouldn’t be Asha’s stalker any longer. Tomorrow, I’d be a menace far harder to shake, and she’d become mine in every sense that mattered. By law and by name.
I rolled up the sleeves of my black shirt, checked that the kid I’d paid to keep an eye on my Ducati was still doing his job, then crossed the street.
Soon, there’d be no more space between us.