10. Stalker #3
“This is the most ridiculous conversation I’ve ever had. Telling someone you’re going to stalk them is the most stupid stalker move anyone could ever make as said stalker. You don’t even deserve to be in the stalker category.”
“It’s only fair to share that information with you. In the courtroom, we call it discovery.”
She officially gives up. “You need to leave. I need to go to bed. As you know since you’re a self-identified stalker, I have to get up before dawn.”
I can’t let her shut the door on me. None of this went the way I planned, but I do need to tell her the real reason for my visit. “Wait. I have to tell you one more thing.”
“What?”
I want to touch her. I want to reach out and run the tips of my fingers across her lips.
Dip my hand into her hair and pull her to me so I can devour her mouth, every inch of her body, and tell her that her mere presence has woken me from a miserable coma.
That she’s also made me miserable, on edge, and given me the urge to burn down my life as I know it and start over.
It can’t be healthy to feel so many conflicting things at once. I might as well be the red flag on a tug of war rope. I feel like a chick when I say this, but no one has ever given me emotional whiplash other than Ruby Mae Sinclair.
Yes, I need to start over.
But I really need to get my shit together.
She’s losing patience. “Payne—"
I pull in a deep breath. “I made you cry when you were already upset about Alice. I feel like shit. I’m sorry. I’m done being an asshole.”
She leans against the door and rests her temple there. Her teeth sink into her lip, and I love that I know her well enough to know what that means.
She’s overcome but she doesn’t like to show it. She also doesn’t say a word.
I continue to do what I do best and run my mouth. “So, when I’m stalking you, there will be no reason to avoid me or bite my head off. You can rest assured I’m putting the asshole away when it comes to you. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past. I hate myself for being that way.”
Her tits rise and fall with deep breaths. She finally swallows hard and licks her lips. “Thank you. I will also be ... cordial.”
I try not to frown, because of all the things Ruby is, I’d never put her in the cordial column.
Instead, I clap my hands once. “Great. And bonus, we’ll stay off the Winslet Uncut tabloid.”
She frowns. “What is that?”
“Never mind. Ask Blake. Actually, ask Alice. She’s a ringleader in that group.” I turn and head for my car as I give her one last farewell. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the Combover for breakfast.”
“My stalker is alerting me of his next location. Thanks for the heads up.”
I stop and hold my arms out low. “See? An asshole stalker wouldn’t do that. You’re welcome.”
She tips her head and her stare hangs on me. She doesn’t say goodbye, and she doesn’t move. She watches until I get to my car and drive around the corner.
I hit my Bluetooth. “Call Pettit.”
It’s been years, but I’m counting on him to come through for me. It rings four times. I think he’s about to send me to voicemail, either because of the hour or because he has so much business he doesn’t need to take my call. It’s fifty-fifty.
Then his voice rumbles across my speakers. “This is a blast from the past.”
“Eli,” I greet him. “It’s been a while. I have shit timing. Thanks for taking my call so late on a Sunday.”
“Not many people have my private number. If it rings, I usually answer. Are you back at the firm?”
“I wish.” I tell him the truth. “I hear you’re doing business in my neighborhood. Devon Donnelly hired you carte blanche to run security for his place in Winslet.”
That perks his attention. “You know Donnelly?”
“I grew up in Winslet. For better or worse—mostly worse these days—I’m back. I won’t bore you with the details. I took over my father’s investment firm and am practicing law on the side from time to time when I have the opportunity.”
“It never ceases to amaze me how small the world really is. What can I do for you?”
“I have a job. A woman just moved back to Winslet. She’s been in New York City for over a decade. I think something is up with her, and I want to know what it is.”
“What’s her story?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I called you. I’ll send you her name and the few details I know. I want to know everything you can find out about her during her time in New York. Where she worked, associates, but really, who she was with. You get my drift.”
He pauses and takes it all in before he finally answers. “You know I usually vet my clients, but I’ve always taken your cases.”
I grip my steering wheel as I make my way up the mountain to my life in hell. “I appreciate it.”
“It sounds like a jilted-lover case.”
“Now you’re just showing off. There’s a reason you’re known as being the best. I need to know everything, so spare no expense.”
He chuckles once. “At least tell me what I’m dealing with. Who’s been jilted?”
“Me.” As I press the button to open the gate to the place I call home, my insides tighten just driving onto the property thinking about what’s waiting for me.
“I want to know everything there is to know about Ruby Sinclair for the last twelve years. But what I really want to know is why she’s back in Winslet. ”