Chapter 8
Leo
I told myself I’d only watch. I told myself I’d stay in the shadows. But here I am… carrying boxes into the apartment across the hall from hers.
As Max .
The brown contact lenses make my eyes sting, but they serve their purpose. When I first approached Nora, I’d been wearing gloves and a ski mask, but I know my eyes are distinctive, so that was the first thing I had to disguise. I have tattoos but as her watcher she wouldn’t know that.
I’d wondered how I could get closer to her, and luckily when I checked out her apartment block, I found this apartment was vacant.
The family hadn’t had the heart to clear it out since the old man died, but the apartment had finally been listed—privately, discreetly.
They were asking too much for it, which explained why it hadn’t been snapped up.
A short conversation, some made up reason why I wanted to sublet an apartment in the neighborhood for six months. A bank transfer. A forged identity. And I was in.
They were thankful. Apparently, Josef’s family had been carrying the costs and were relieved to have someone take it off their hands, even temporarily. They didn’t ask too many questions. Good. I don’t like answering them.
Now I’m inside. Close.
Her door is directly across from mine. I timed it—eight steps. Eight steps between me and the woman who’s been living in my head like a fever I can’t sweat out.
Nora.
Everything in me tells me what I’m doing is unhinged. Deranged. I should have reported back to Dimitri two weeks ago. Confirmed her identity. Given him what he wanted. Walked away.
But I didn’t.
Because every time I thought about her being handed over to that monster like some pure-blooded peace treaty, my chest burned like it was full of smoke. I didn’t want her to vanish into that gilded cage. So instead I told my uncle it was taking time. That I had to observe her more closely.
I watch her through the peephole sometimes. I know her movements better than she knows them herself. I can hear the soft shuffle as she walks past. The sound of her keys clinking together as she fumbles at her door. The quiet mutterings she says to her cat when she comes home. I memorize them all.
I’d planned to stay out of sight the first day. Let her get used to the idea of a new neighbor. But when her grocery bag tore open and spilled everything across the floor, instinct overrode strategy. She was down on her knees, cheeks flushed, mumbling to herself, and I couldn't not go to her.
Seeing her up close again? It damn near knocked the breath from my lungs.
Her eyes are even brighter in the daylight. The sweater she wore tried to hide the curve of her waist, but I saw it—just like I saw the flicker of something in her eyes when our hands touched. Not recognition, not exactly. But something.
Curiosity. A spark. Something I could work with.
I shouldn’t want her this much. I shouldn’t be dreaming about her every night.
I shouldn’t be finding excuses to touch the box she touched or breathe the air she just exhaled.
But here I am, unpacking my things like I’m a normal guy, all the while replaying the exact shade of pink that flushed her cheeks when she looked at me.
She doesn’t date, she said.
Perfect.
There’s no one to interfere. Just her. And that cat. Josef likes me. Climbed right into my arms like we were old friends. He’s smart, that one. He knows I belong here.
I sit on the floor of my new apartment, boxes still sealed, not caring that I haven’t made the bed or unpacked anything but my surveillance gear. I’ve set up sound monitors and signal blockers. No one will hear anything they’re not supposed to. Not from my side of the hall.
I close my eyes and picture her face. That half smile she gave me when I carried the box for her. The way she tried not to stare. The careful wall she’s built around herself.
I’ll climb that wall. I’ll charm her, tease her, study her. And when the time is right, I’ll be on the other side. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, but I’ve already decided.
Nora is mine, she just doesn’t know it yet…