Fifty-Two
Hale
She’d taken the job.
Hanging up the phone in my office, I sat, staring at it.
Two weeks, I’d thought of nothing but her, wondering what she was doing, if she was happy to be home, if she had been excited about the job offer.
I’d almost called her more times than I could count.
Five times, I had headed to the fucking airport to go to DC and turned around. Reminding myself why I’d let her go.
The job she had worked for, wanted, planned on having was all I could give her, and I’d made that call when I was still in DC.
Before I took her. Before I thought she was in on things with Harland.
Not knowing that, soon, I would be possessed with wanting her to be happy.
Have it all. Live the life she had dreamed of.
I also wanted her in a safer fucking apartment and out of DC, but I was working on how to make that happen. Someplace like where I had Opal living. With top-notch security.
One thing at a time though. Ease her into it.
I was going to go insane if I didn’t at least get cameras in her apartment so I could check on things. Her phone had a tracker on it, and that gave me some small source of peace, but not enough. I wanted to see her face. See if she was smiling. If she was sleeping okay. Taking care of herself.
Since she had walked out of my house, I’d been obsessed with watching her location, reading her texts, and listening to the recordings of her phone calls.
Anything to have a piece of her. Wishing more than once I’d been able to keep her longer.
That my soul hadn’t been on the line and I could have enjoyed her.
But I couldn’t. All it had taken was that one time, and I’d known that she was different.
I wanted her in a way I’d never wanted anything.
But I also knew I would break her in the end, and the idea of that was more painful than letting her go.
The monster under the surface battled me daily.
Demanding to see her. Needing to be close to her.
She’d stirred him to life, and I couldn’t seem to put him back where he had come from.
My moods were getting more violent. My thirst for blood had increased.
Those closest to me were staying out of my way.
I was going to have to find a way to be close to her and not affect her.
She couldn’t see me. But if I didn’t see her soon, I wasn’t sure anyone was going to be safe.
Setting my glass down, I stood up. She was taking the job, getting the life Harland had taken from her.
I’d hoped that news would calm me some, but it hadn’t touched the rage clawing in my chest. I had to see her.
Even if it was to watch her sleep. Just a moment to be near her. She never had to know.
It would have been better, safer, if I’d only watched her from the hotel across the street.
But that was no longer enough. I knew her now.
She wasn’t a stranger I was stalking. She’d become a compulsion or fucking addiction.
I wasn’t real damn sure what had happened to me when I was inside her.
But whatever it was, I wasn’t the same. Time spent away from her wasn’t making me forget.
The memory wasn’t fading. Daily, it got stronger.
My sons were keeping their distance. Linc had even left me alone. My tolerance with life in general had been zero. Everything set me off. I lived on edge. Ready to start ripping things apart at any moment.
The scent that hit me as I stepped into her apartment was sweet balm to the insanity controlling me.
I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes for a moment.
Fuck, that was good. This was what I needed.
This was how I could gain control of my life again.
I just had to see her. Be near her. Without damaging her the way I had Lethia.
Silently, I moved through the living room to the open door that I knew led to her bedroom. She was in there. I was so close.