• Twenty •
· Twenty ·
But that man, he was dangerous.
Briar
“There is a vehicle outside, changing the tires on our car,” Dovie signed.
I set the brush in my hand down on the bathroom counter and walked out to see what she was talking about.
After I had taken a shower in the locker room—allowing a few tears, but not a full-blown pity party—and dressed myself, I made my way back to the apartment, and luckily, I was able to wake Dovie up easily enough. She came after my third attempt at knocking, looking sleepy and confused. I told her I’d thought I heard something, then accidentally locked myself out. She went back to bed without questions.
I hadn’t gone to the window to see if Storm’s black Jeep was out there since coming out of the locker room. I hadn’t wanted to know. Seeing it out there now, as he stood in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest, watching the men who were changing my tires, made my chest ache. Dammit. My chest needed to stay out of this. I couldn’t help my vagina betraying me, but not my heart. I didn’t ever allow a man close to that.
Scowling, I turned away from the window.
Dovie was watching me closely. Too closely.
“What’s wrong?” she signed.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Just glad they got here.”
Although I hadn’t known they were coming. She didn’t need to know that though. I didn’t work tonight, but I could go get Dovie and me groceries. We could go have our beach day. Anything to get away from Storm.
But there was someone tracking me. The car was wired. Crap!
I glared back at the window. I didn’t want to talk to him. He wanted to protect me, but after last night, it was him I needed protecting from. I couldn’t trust myself around the man, and I did not need to be feeling things in my chest about him. That was bad. Very bad. Leaving would be best even if I loved working at Pepper’s bar. If I could find the trackers and wire, I could take them both off. Or I could go trade that one in and get another car without Storm knowing, and then we’d take off again. Get out of Florida. Go north, like I should have done. Leave the South behind.
I wanted a new identity for Dovie, and she deserved it, but did I have time to wait? Probably not if my tires had been sliced and there was a tracker on my car. We had to get out of here. I’d send Pepper a text and hope she didn’t hate me. I didn’t get to have friends, and letting myself think I could had been a weakness. I always needed to be free to run.
“Someone put a tracker on our car, and the tires were sliced. We are gonna have to leave,” I told her.
She didn’t look surprised. Maybe she’d already figured it out.
“Who is the hottie with the Jeep?” she signed.
Of course she’d noticed him. He was impossible not to notice.
“No one,” I replied.
She gave me a look that said she knew I was full of shit.
“Okay, fine. He’s a guy who … who thinks he is helping me but hates me. I don’t know, honestly. It’s … he’s complicated.”
Dovie walked back over to the window, now more curious.
“Don’t let anyone see you,” I warned, now worrying that Storm might have noticed her looking out earlier.
She turned back to me. “He just paid them in cash.”
“Maybe he will leave,” I said.
Dovie backed up farther from the window. Had he seen her? Shit.
“I think he’s coming inside the building,” she signed.
Double shit.
“Go hide in your closet.”
She hurried in that direction without arguing with me.
Why couldn’t he just leave like he had earlier? I was easy enough to cover in cum, then walk away. My chest tightened, and I realized I was grinding my teeth.
Forcing myself to relax my jaw, I scanned the room for any sign of Dovie and saw nothing that couldn’t be mine. Swinging my attention back to the door, I waited for him to knock.
If I could convince him to leave the parking lot, then Dovie and I could pack up and go. I’d only agreed to pay an extra three hundred a month in rent not to sign a lease so we could go quickly if needed. Most of our things were still in boxes. We could get out of here in three hours, maybe even two. New England was sounding good. The Southern Mafia sure as hell wouldn’t be there.
Three sharp raps on the door snapped my attention back to the first hurdle. Getting rid of Storm Kingston. At least with Dovie in earshot, I wouldn’t do anything stupid, like allow him to touch me. Again.
Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to the door and unlocked the three separate locks before steeling myself and opening it up. Flashing a smile, I looked at Storm as if I didn’t want to slap him across the face and call him names.
“Storm, what a surprise,” I drawled, leaning against the door casually.
He shot me an annoyed glance, then walked past me, barely grazing my arm as he stepped inside my apartment.
“Entering uninvited. Guess you’re not a vampire then. I’ll have to scratch that villain off my list.”
There was no amusement on his face as he took in the living room as if the secrets to my life could be found here.
Sorry, buddy. I’m smarter than that. No mantel photographs for me.
“Your tires are fixed. When do you work again?”
“I’m off the next two days.”
He turned his attention to me then. “I need to handle some things in Ocala. I want you to go stay with Pepper.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You want me to?” I let out a laugh. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember when I started taking orders from you.”
His eyes darkened. “I can think of when you took orders without that fucking sassy mouth only a couple of hours ago.”
Shut up!I’d walked into that one. Please don’t let Dovie have heard that. Change of subject. Just agree and get him out of here.
“Whatever, fine. I’ll go to Pepper’s.”
That was too agreeable. I could see the way his eyes narrowed. Dammit, I was better at lying than this. I needed to get it together.
“Fine. Get your things, and I’ll take you.”
Shit. Of course he was going to make this difficult.
“I need to do some laundry, clean the toilets, and get my things together. I can take myself to Pepper’s. My tires are fixed, remember? Besides, I need to call Pepper and ask if I can stay there.”
“You can stay. I’ve already spoken to her. Get your things. The rest can wait.”
I was real close to hitting him. I swear to God, this man was driving me crazy.
“I will go when I am done here.”
“Get your shit. Last chance before I throw you over my shoulder and take you out of here.”
UGH! What was I supposed to do now?
“Okay, listen. You have a tracker on my car. I can’t go anywhere without you knowing. Please, I just need to do some things here before I go. This is my day off, and I have a list of things I want to do here.”
Storm’s scowl meant he was as annoyed with me as I was with him. I wasn’t hiding Roger! Why couldn’t they leave me alone? The man was dead, and I was going to relive the moment my bullet had gone into his head and he fell to the ground for the rest of my life. He’d deserved it, but killing someone changed you. It left a mark on your soul. I would do it again, but damn if I’d lie about something like that.
“If you weren’t lying to me right now, then I might believe you. But you’re hiding something. I’m real fucking hard to lie to, Briar.”
My heart beat fast against my chest. Panic. I was starting to panic. He was too close to this. I’d let him get too close. Entirely too close.
Placing my hands on my hips, I tried to think of anything to get him to leave.
“What I am not hiding is Roger. IF I am hiding something else, it isn’t your business. It doesn’t affect you. So, leave me alone!”
He took a step toward me. “You’re working for Pepper. She’s our business. Someone is after you, and you’re leading it right to her door.”
“Then, WHY send me to her house?! Isn’t that leading my danger right to her?” I was yelling. I needed to calm down, but he was making me so mad.
He didn’t answer that one right away. If I wasn’t so angry, I’d relish the fact that I’d turned his own words against him. But seeing as I hadn’t won this yet and he was still in my apartment, I didn’t have time to enjoy anything.
“Do you know who is following you? Is that it? Some spurned lover trying to scare you? Get you back?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” I lied. Until now, I had never had a man chase me down like this.
Storm’s scowl deepened, as if that angered him. “Who is it then?”
I threw up my hands. “I don’t know! Jameson?”
“He’s out on bail. If he leaves Atlanta, he’ll be found and put back behind bars.”
Oh. Okay. That was news. Out on bail for what? That was not the point. I didn’t care.
“I do not know!” I couldn’t think of one man from my past who would follow me. But their wives … “Maybe it isn’t a man.”
Storm seemed to understand my meaning without me spelling it out for him. He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair, muttering a curse.
“Fine. Stay here. Do whatever you want. But if you’re lying about Roger, then we will find out.”
He was going to leave. I’d done it. I had convinced him to go. We were going to be able to get away from here. From him.
So, why did it feel like he’d just slapped me? Because he wasn’t fighting to protect me.
He wasn’t protecting you, Briar. He was making sure you weren’t hiding Roger.
This was never about him caring about you. He’d made you think that, or you’d let your head go there. You’d wanted it.
“You leaving now?” I snapped.
He studied me for a moment, and I thought I saw something there … something that said this was about me. He was worried about me. He cared.
Then, he stepped around me and headed for the door. I didn’t turn to watch him leave. I closed my eyes when the door clicked shut. He’d left, and I realized just how stupid I had been. I’d come so close to letting him in. Never had that happened. I’d never even been tempted. But that man, he was dangerous. A danger I couldn’t allow.
After I was sure I’d gotten my emotions under control, I headed to let Dovie know it was time to pack. I hated leaving like this. Pepper deserved more from me, but I wasn’t in the position to be a good person. Maybe she wouldn’t hate me.