Chapter 24-The Stalker
I can’t believe I found her.
After all this time.
After everything she did—everything she put me through—she thinks she can just disappear?
Start over?
Pretend like none of it happened?
My grip tightens on the edge of the bar across the casino floor, the glass sweating in my hand as neon light flickers over the surface. Red. Blue. Gold. It paints everything in this place like a lie.
Vegas is perfect for that.
A city built on illusion.
On people pretending to be something they’re not.
Just like her.
My gaze locks on her again.
Across the lobby.
Across the crowd.
Like a magnet.
Like a tether.
She hasn’t changed.
Not really.
Same soft curves. Same smile. Same way she lights up a room without even trying.
But now?
Now she’s brighter.
Stronger.
And I hate that I wasn’t there to see it happen.
To shape it.
To guide her.
Because she needed that.
She always did.
She just didn’t realize it.
Women rarely know what they need.
And him—my lip curls.
He’s there.
That fucking cowboy.
That mistake.
That problem I was so close to getting rid of for the two of us.
Of course, he’s there.
Standing too close.
Touching her like he has a right to it.
Looking at her like she belongs to him.
Like he won.
My teeth grind together.
After everything I did—after everything I showed him—he still came back.
Like a pathetic puppy.
And she let him in. She let him touch her.
Like a dirty little whore.
Because she’s weak like that.
A slut.
Easily straying.
Easily confused.
But I can fix that.
I always could.
“She’s not yours, Gunner. I’m going to take her this time,” I whisper under my breath, the words slipping out before I can stop them.
Not loud.
Not enough for anyone to hear.
Just enough for me.
Just enough to remind myself what’s real.
Because that’s the thing nobody understands.
Not her.
Not him.
Not any of these idiots walking around with drinks in their hands and fake smiles on their faces.
They don’t know what we almost had.
They don’t know what she meant to me.
What she still does.
My chest tightens as I watch her laugh—head tipped back, hand still in his, her body turned toward him like he’s the center of her world.
That’s bad.
Ugly.
IT’S WRONG!
That should be me.
It should’ve always been me.
I saw her first that night. But then, he came along and poisoned it.
Stupid fuck.
He filled her head with bullshit and dragged her away from what we could’ve had.
From what we should’ve had.
“She thinks she’s safe from me,” I murmur, shaking my head slowly.
A bitter smile tugs at my mouth.
“She thinks I’m just going to let him have her.”
A laugh bubbles up—low, broken, a little too sharp—and I swallow it down.
Because no.
No, no, no.
That’s not how this works.
That’s not how I work.
He doesn’t get to have her.
He doesn’t get to rewrite the story.
Not after everything.
Not after everything I did for her.
She can pretend all she wants.
Play innocent.
Play confused.
But I know the truth.
My gaze shifts back to him.
Benji Gunner.
The name tastes like acid.
He thinks he’s her fucking hero.
Some good guy soldier.
But I see through it.
I see what he really is.
A thief.
A liar.
A man who took something that wasn’t his and convinced himself it belonged to him.
My fingers curl into a fist.
“She was mine first,” I whisper.
The words steady me.
Anchor me.
Because that’s the truth.
The only truth that matters.
“She just forgot.”
And I can remind her.
I will remind her.
I’ll make it right.
My eyes track them as they move toward the elevators, his hand still wrapped around hers like he’s afraid to let go.
I push off the bar slowly, blending into the crowd, my steps measured, deliberate.
I’ve waited this long.
I can wait a little longer.
Plan it right.
Do it right.
Because the stakes are high.
Everything is finally within reach again.
They won’t get away with this.
Not this time.
My eyes never leave them.
Not for a second.
“I’ll remind her,” I murmur.
A slow smile spreads across my face, cold and certain.
And if he gets in the way?
My smile sharpens.
Turns ugly.
Turns dangerous.
“I’ll show them both.”
Because one way or another—Esme is coming back to me.
Where she belongs.