Chapter 21
Conner
Conner looked for Sasha after he grabbed them drinks. He had decided to stop fighting his feelings for her, and man, once he gave himself permission, it had hit him like a Mac truck. He was in love with Sasha Maloof. He didn”t know when it had happened, it may have even been love at first sight. He remembered everything about the first time he saw her sitting on that bench. That would also explain the level of emotion he felt when he was around her. He just confused that emotion for anger and a million other things. While there was lust, there was also something else, something deeper. He knew that now and he couldn”t wait to get her back into his arms.
He continued scanning the room but couldn’t find her. And he would be able to spot her in that red dress in a room of a million people. She was a beacon to him. Only right now he didn”t see her.
“Are ye lookin” for someone, lad?” asked Bridget, who appeared out of nowhere.
“I am. I can”t seem to find her,” he said, his eyes still scanning the room.
“Are you looking for the beauty in the red dress you were dancin” with?”
“I am. Have you seen her?” he asked, turning towards her.
“Aye, I saw her a few moments ago slipping away down that hallway. She seemed upset, the poor thing.”
“Thanks, here,” he said, giving the woman the drinks as he made his way down the hallway. If Sasha was upset, he was going to find her and make whatever upset her right.
He looked around but he didn”t see her. He set off further down the hallway to find her. The further he got away the quieter it got, the music from the dance floor getting further away. Then he heard it. It sounded like someone was crying behind the door next to him.
As he opened the door he heard her, sniffling somewhere in the storeroom.
“Sasha?”
“Conner?” she whimpered back to him.
He turned and saw her tear-stained face. Her red sparkling dress pooled around her on the floor. He rushed over to her.
“Sasha, what”s the matter?” he asked as he pulled her into his arms.
She clung to him and cried. It broke his heart. What had happened to make her this upset? He needed to make it right. He held her close and rubbed her back as she cried on his shoulder.
“What happened?”
“Conner, I”m so scared,” is all she managed to get out.
He held her tighter. Scared? What the fuck? “Sasha, you’re safe. I”m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She held him tighter, trembling. This activated some caveman part of his brain that only existed on the ice, but he would not let anything happen to her. He knew that for damn sure.
“He”s here. He found me.” She managed to get out between sobs.
He pulled her away and cupped her face. ”Who”s here? Is it an ex? I assure you there is a room full of hockey players out there who all have your back and won”t let anything happen to you.” She took a shuddering breath and wiped away her tears. ”Can you tell me what happened?”
“It”s kind of a long story,” she said weakly.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Before I came here, I was an influencer. I had millions of followers and I made good money. I had my fair share of creeps, but that”s just life online for anyone, especially women. But there was this one person who kept following me and being creepy, I would block him, but he would just follow me under other names.”
He wiped her face, carefully cleaning up under eyes in hopes of saving whatever mascara she had left.
“Then I started getting packages,” she continued. “I had a PO Box for my followers and the businesses I worked with to send me things, but packages started showing up at my doorstep. Then one night when I came home a single rose with a handwritten note was in front of my door. After that I went straight to my sisters and stayed there for a while and stopped posting.”
The anger was rising in him, he knew he would do anything to protect this woman.
“Two weeks ago, Hillary shared a post with my name and face online and it was on the homepage of the website until I got Bill to take it down. After that I started getting weird interactions online. He reached out to me in a DM the other day, that’s why I was so freaked out the day you helped me with my car.” She stopped and took a breath, preparing herself for what came next.
“And then when you went to get us drinks, I checked my phone. There were a lot of weird comments on the posts about the gala. Someone posting things that only a person here would know.” She closed her eyes, and another tear ran down her cheek. Conner wiped it away. Keeping her eyes closed she continued. “Then I check my DM”s and there was a comment about me and what I was wearing tonight.”
Conner was frozen in time. She had a stalker, and he was here. He just held her cupping her face. She finally opened her eyes, and more tears ran down her perfect cheeks. “I don”t want to run again, Conner. I don”t know what to do.”
She collapsed back onto him crying and he held her tight and smoothed her hair, kissing the top of her head.
Sliding his hands to her shoulders he pulled her away from him. She looked up at him with eyes full of tears and fear. He was ready to march into battle for this woman. Nothing would happen to her. Period. He would make sure of that.
“Sasha, baby, nothing is going to happen to you. You’re safe and I’ll make sure you stay that way.”
She gave him a weak smile, and he wasn”t sure what came over him, but he leaned his head and kissed her. He quickly pulled back. “I’m sorry, I don”t know what came over me.”
But then she surged up on her toes and kissed him right back. He slid his arms around her and held her to him. She felt good here, she felt like home. She opened to him, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, and she moaned, it was everything. No one would hurt this woman. Ever.
“Sasha, do you have anything out there you need?”
She shook her head.
“Okay, here”s what we are going to do. Tonight, we’re going to go home, we’ll slip out the back and I’ll take you.”
“Conner, what if he follows us to my apartment?”
“We aren”t going to your apartment. You’re coming home with me. You can stay the night in my guest room. Then we’ll figure out what to do tomorrow. Right now, let”s get you out of here and somewhere you can feel safe.”
She nodded and he dropped another kiss on her lips. He held her hand tightly as they made their way down the hallway. They followed the hallway away from the ballroom until they came to an exit. Keeping tight hold of her hand, they slipped out the back door and made their way to his car.
He knew his life was forever changed. He would do anything for her. She was the center of his world. That center had always been hockey, but not anymore. He belonged to Sasha Maloof, heart and soul, and he would keep her safe.