Chapter 12
I’m realizing I was wrong.
Annie
“Ben’s back,” Sterling announces, getting to his feet.
I jump at the authority in his booming voice, and Joan Wick scurries into the bedroom.
“Time to go, V.” He helps her off the couch, and just as she reaches over to hug me, the door whips open.
Ben looks through his parents like they’re not here. His eyes pin me to the spot, and I gulp at the intensity he’s shooting my way.
“Well, then. It was so nice to spend the day with you, Annie.” Vera hugs me, and I have enough forethought to pat her back. “See you soon.”
She will? “Yeah. Nice meeting you, too.”
“Take care, girl.” Sterling takes his wife’s hand and leads her through the apartment, nodding at his son on the way out.
Ben kisses his mom on the cheek, then shuts the door behind them.
He flicks the lock, turns to me, and doesn’t say a word.
The last time I looked at the clock, it was after four.
He’s been gone like twelve hours, and I haven’t heard anything all day.
Something’s wrong. It’s bad, it has to be really bad.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
He swallows hard. “Poe? He’s not just a friend or a neighbor. He wants you bad, he’s not right in the head.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’ll be better if I show you to make you really understand.
Parker wore a hidden camera and was purposely pushing his buttons to see what kind of reaction he’d get.
It’s not good, babe.” He holds his phone out I watch the video in shock.
I can’t see Parker’s face since he’s the one with the camera, but I do see Poe’s, and it’s scary how much it’s changing as Parker talks.
Poe screams at him and I cover my mouth in total shock.
“I’ve never seen him like that before.” I continue watching as Parker runs down the stairs of my apartment building, and as soon as he gets outside, Ben’s there.
Ben starts to pull his phone away, but I see him rear back right before the screen goes black. “Did you just hit Parker?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t like what he said about you.”
I glance at Ben’s hand and see his bloody knuckles. “But you said he was provoking Poe on purpose.”
“He could have used different words to describe you, don’t worry about it. Do you see what I mean about neighbor-boy now?”
A slow breath rolls over my tongue. “He did get really mad.”
“Right, cause he’s psycho. But Vito?” He comes around the couch and hands me a picture. “That was in his nightstand, and your address and work schedule was written on a notepad. There’s other evidence to suggest he’s your stalker, but since he’s dead, I can’t get confirmation on that.”
I drop the photo and instinctively take a step away. “He’s dead?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He narrows his eyes and voids the distance I created. “Carjacking. He jumped on his vehicle and was thrown off. Impact killed him.”
My immediate reaction is to feel sympathy at the loss of life, but if he really was the one who was practically terrorizing me for so long, I don’t know how to feel. “He always creeped me out, and I hate that he was the one messing with me, but still…he’s dead.”
“He didn’t just mess with you, Annie. He stalked you, broke into your home, and stole your cat. I’m glad he’s dead, and you should be, too.”
“Right, right.” I rub my hands on my leggings, then skirt the coffee table. I’m safe now. There’s no need for me be here anymore. I can’t prolong it. It’s time to go. “Well, thanks for everything. Do you mind giving me a ride to the bus station?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Of course. He’s done enough. “That’s fine. I just need to grab my phone to request a ride.” It’ll probably cost everything in my account, but it’s better because I don’t think I can bring a cat on the bus anyway.
“I’ll get it.”
Ouch. He really wants me gone.
Don’t cry.
Don’t cry.
He comes back with my phone and stands in front of me. I grab for it, but he holds it out of reach. “Do you really think I’d let you go back?”
Oh my God. Was I wrong? “What?”
“Poe is bad news, Annie. When I say he’s a psycho, I’m not being facetious. He’s dangerous, and I won’t let you return knowing he’s across the hall. And like we talked about, I have an extra room, I want you to stay here.”
I swallow the disappointment that it’s something other than him keeping me safe. But I really don’t have anything to go back to, and even if he just wants to be friends, at least he’ll be in my life. “If I stay, I am not staying with you, I won’t be a charity case.”
“You never would be.”
“I need to find a job. And an apartment…if I stay.”
He smirks. “You’re staying.”
“But I need to cancel my lease and stuff.” I’m not looking forward to running into Poe, though. “So I’ll go back to do that then if I find something here, I’ll come back.”
“You’re not leaving.”
I throw my hands in the air. “I have to.”
“You don’t.”
“Okay…wait.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I am so, so glad that you helped me. I’m beyond grateful to you. But that doesn’t mean you’re in charge of me, Bennett. I’m an adult now.” He presses his lips together and rocks back on his heels. “Are you laughing?”
He shakes his head. “No. But tell me this, if we didn’t find out about Vito, what were you planning on doing today?”
“Going back to my apartment.”
His brows shoot up. “Let me get this straight. With a stalker on the loose, you thought I’d let you just go back to your life the way it was?”
“It is my life, Ben.” And I’m completely and totally broke, so I have no choice. “And I have to get back to it.”
He shakes his head. “You’re not going back. It’s not safe.”
“You can’t stop me.”
“I can and I will, but I’m asking you not to put me in that position.”
“I have to go get my security deposit back, Ben.” My eyes well with tears, and I turn away, embarrassed. “I need the money.”
He sighs, then I feel his hand on my face, gentle as he maneuvers us so I’m looking into his eyes. “I know you do, sweetheart. We looked into your financials as part of the case.”
Oh my God! That is humiliating. “So everyone knows I’m poor? That’s just great.” I try to pull away, but he won’t let me. “Get your hands off me. I’m going home.”
“Listen to me.”
“Let me go.”
“I don’t want to.” He raises his voice. “I don’t want to let you go, not again. I want to keep you safe, and I want to help you get back on your feet again, and I want you here when you do that.”
I shove his hands off me and storm away a whole five feet, staring out the window at the street below.
I’d love the chance to wander around this town, check out the stores, and eat at the local restaurants.
In an ideal world, I’d have friends to go out with on the weekends and grab a drink after work. But that’s not my life. It’s never really been, so I don’t know why it still hurts so much.
I look into the loft across the street above the coffee shop and wonder if I’ll ever be able to afford a place like that, like Ben’s.
It’s so cool, old brick on the walls and character in the wood.
I can just picture sitting on my purple couch, watching the stars in the sky and—wait.
I squint and press my face against the glass.
That is my purple couch. And my cat tree, and my bookshelf.
When I whip around, Ben is right there, and he starts talking before I can ask him what the hell is going on. “You might want to kill me for doing this, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yeah, because at least I know you’ll be safe while you’re plotting my murder.”
“What did you do?”
He holds my fingers in his hands, and I see the sincerity on his stupid, handsome face, so I know I’m going to hear it in his voice, too.
“I have a friend whose mom works at Sunny Hill. It’s a senior living facility just like yours.
A CNA is going on maternity leave in a couple of weeks, and the temp they found for her tested positive for cannabis on her drug test. Beth said they still need someone, and she could get you that job. ”
Yep. Totally sincere and so, so Ben. “Even if I wanted to, I’d need to transfer my license, and that can take months.”
“She said she has some connections and can get it done in a few days.” He rubs his thumbs back and forth, effectively grounding me.
“If I’d have known you were struggling all these years, I’d have done this sooner.
You’re not going back, Annie. You’re staying here.
I’d like for it to be your decision, even though I already made it for you. ”
I wish it were as easy as just staying because I honestly have nothing to return to. I live in solitude and am surrounded by reminders of losing the only family I had.
The thought of starting over sounds amazing, and Ben makes it seem like it’s that easy.
“You’re thinking too hard about this, Blue.”
“You haven’t thought hard enough about this, Ben.”
He runs his fingers through his hair and takes a step back. “I care about you, I always have. Let me do this for you.”
“Like you haven’t done enough already?” I cross my arms, then uncross them and point at the window. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t afford that place. I could barely afford mine, and it was a four-hundred-square-foot studio.”
“You don’t have to worry about that right now.”
Hot humiliation warms my cheeks. “I’m not a charity case.”
“I already said you weren’t, but sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with taking a little bit of help when you need it.”
I should be grateful. I should fall to my knees and kiss the ground he walks on, but I’m so embarrassed I can’t let myself be appreciative. “I don’t know how you got my stuff here, but I’m going to need you to take it back.”
“I’m not going to do that.”
“Yes, you are. You can’t do this to me. You can’t force me to be somewhere I don’t want to be, and I don’t want to be here.”