26. Mallory #2
Strong hands shot out, gripping my shoulders before I could fall, sturdy fingers holding me upright with bruising force. “Whoa,” someone said.
My heart nearly exploded out of my chest, adrenaline flooding my system so fast my vision tunneled. I jerked my head up and stared into the shadowed face of the man standing in front of me, blocking the exit…my escape, and I deeply wanted to get the hell out of here.
The angle of the light obscured his features, his face cast in darkness, but I could make out the general shape. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
“Let me go,” I gasped out, trying to twist away from his grip.
But his hands only held me in place. “Hey, easy,” he said, and there was a familiarity in his voice.
Something I couldn’t quite place through the panic, and I realized with horror that I was completely trapped.
No one knew where I was. My phone was in my pocket, but my hands were full.
The alley was behind me. I had nowhere to go.
I could throw the kitten at him and hope she did some damage, but I couldn’t sacrifice her to save myself.
The man tilted his head, and the light finally caught his face. “You’re going to hurt yourself, Hales.”
Recognition slammed into my gut, stealing what little breath I had left. “Maddox,” I gasped, relief and residual fear warring in my chest. “Fuck, you scared me.”
His brows drew together, concern replacing whatever expression had been there before. His eyes scanned my face. “I’m not sure I’m the one who scared you. Your damn face is white as a ghost.”
A rush of air left my lungs, my knees going weak, and I locked them to stay upright while maintaining my hold on the kitten.
“What are you doing here out alone?” he demanded, his hands still on my shoulders. “It’s not safe. Especially not after dark.”
“Saving a life.” The words came out breathless, my voice still thin and reedy from fear.
His gaze dropped to the furball tucked against my chest, nestled in the space between my breasts where she’d burrowed. The kitten blinked up at him with wide, watery eyes. Maddox exhaled slowly through his nose. “And I’m going to save yours, Hales. Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”
I suddenly remembered I was wearing his hoodie, the one he’d given me on Raven Night.
God, I hope he doesn’t notice. Why had I thrown it on?
And what were the chances I’d run into him of all people?
I grabbed my fallen takeout, no longer having much of an appetite, and studied him as we walked, my eyes adjusting fully now that we were out of the alley’s oppressive darkness. “You weren’t following me, were you?”
“No,” he scoffed, his eyes partially shielded by his hat. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know.” I shifted the kitten, adjusting my grip so she sat more securely against me. “You just showed up out of nowhere. Right when I needed you. That’s…convenient.”
“That’s luck,” he stated flatly. “Not stalking.” He paused as his lips turned down. “Why did you need me? Did something happen?”
I shook my head. “No…I don’t know. Maybe. I thought someone was watching me back there.”
“And this is why I told you to keep your ass at home, Hales,” he grumbled.
“I was hungry.”
“DoorDash,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes.
He leaned against the side of his Jeep parked at the curb. “Are you suspicious of me?”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “I don’t know. I’m suspicious of everyone at this point, but somehow, these things only seem to happen when you’re around.”
His head tilted slightly, considering. “That might actually be an angle worth exploring.”
“How so?” I asked, caught off guard by his agreement.
“It’s possible you’re being stalked because of me.”
I snorted harshly. “Does everything revolve around you?”
“My last name is Corvo?” he said bluntly, no humor in his tone. Just a cold fact. “So, yes.” His gaze flicked toward the alley behind us. “The bigger question is…what possessed you to go in there alone?”
I scratched behind the kitten’s ear, her purr vibrating against my palm. “I couldn’t just leave her.”
“So you thought it would be a good idea to investigate a dark alley in a part of town where girls are known to go missing and never come back? Make that make sense, Hales?”
The way he said it made it sound so much more perilous than it had felt in the moment. Looking back, it might not have been smart. “What do you know about that?” I snapped.
His expression hardened, every line of his face going cold. “I know enough to know you shouldn’t be here.” He opened the passenger door of his Jeep with one hand. “Get in.”
I climbed in, settling the kitten carefully into my lap and dropping my takeout on the floor near my feet.
Maddox rounded the hood and slid behind the wheel.
The engine roared to life, rumbling through the frame.
“Where were you going before you found?” I asked as he pulled away from the curb.
It occurred to me that he never said what he was doing downtown.
“I was on my way home,” he said, his eyes on the road, hands steady on the wheel at ten and two. “I stopped to pick up food for Mason and me. It’s in the back.”
I glanced over my shoulder behind his seat to see an identical takeout bag from the same restaurant I’d gone to. We must have just missed each other, and if I hadn’t stopped at the alley, we wouldn’t have seen each other at all.