Chapter 9
They walked slowly down the stairs, still wrapped in the soft atmosphere that had settled between them during the night and the morning.
Reeze stayed close behind Charlie through the stairwell, and when she reached the final step, his hand slipped into hers.
It didn’t seem like something he thought about or any conscious romantic gesture; it was more as though his body had already grown used to seeking hers whenever she was within reach.
Charlie looked down at their intertwined fingers and couldn’t stop the small smile that touched her lips.
This was dangerous.
Not Reeze. Not in the way Dennis had taught her that men could be dangerous, but the feeling that this might become something she genuinely wanted to keep.
It had been far too easy to grow accustomed to him in her bed and kitchen, to his hands and his laughter and even the way he swore at coffee filters and modern music.
Now he walked beside her as though holding her hand was the most natural thing in the world, and she had no desire whatsoever to ask him to let go.
The cool morning air met them as they stepped outside.
Somewhere farther away, a car engine coughed reluctantly into life while an elderly neighbour stood bent over the steps opposite, sweeping gravel with slow, irritated movements.
Music drifted from an open kitchen window above them, and everything looked exactly like any other ordinary morning.
Almost too ordinary.
Charlie had only taken a few steps into the yard when the feeling crawled along her spine.
She wasn’t sure what she noticed first. Perhaps there had been a movement at the edge of her vision or something else her conscious mind hadn’t yet registered, but her body knew before she did. Her steps slowed and her fingers tightened around Reeze’s hand.
He noticed immediately.
“What?”
Charlie didn’t answer. She had already spotted the man farther away in the car park.
He was leaning against a dark car she didn’t recognise, his arms folded across his chest and his posture relaxed in an almost deliberate way. It was the same man she had seen before, although today he wasn’t smoking. He was simply standing there watching them.
His attention went to Reeze first.
The look lingered long enough for Charlie to realise it wasn’t mere curiosity.
The man studied him from head to toe, taking in his cut and his face as though he were comparing what he saw with information he already had.
There was something disturbingly purposeful about it, as though he were memorising Reeze and storing away every detail for later.
Then his gaze shifted to Charlie.
A cold sensation travelled through her body.
It would almost have been easier if he had looked angry or openly threatening, but he didn’t. There was a quiet interest in his expression, something close to curiosity, and that somehow made it worse. He looked at her as though he already knew something she hadn’t yet understood.
Her grip on Reeze’s hand tightened.
The change in him was immediate.
He didn’t let go, but Charlie felt the relaxation drain from his body.
It was such a small shift that she probably wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been standing directly beside him.
His shoulders straightened slightly and his gaze settled on the man with a stillness she was beginning to recognise.
She had seen Reeze angry before and knew how quickly his temper could ignite when someone threatened Molly or hurt someone he cared about, but this was different. He didn’t do anything rash or storm forward. He simply stood beside Charlie and watched the man watching them.
“Is that him?” he asked quietly.
Charlie nodded.
“Yeah.”
The man still made no attempt to leave. If anything, it seemed as though he wanted them to notice him, as though the entire point of standing there was to make certain they understood that he had seen them.
Reeze took a step forward.
It wasn’t much, and he didn’t say anything, but Charlie saw the difference immediately. His entire posture made it clear that he had no intention of standing there quietly while a stranger watched them.
The man saw it too.
A small smile touched the corner of his mouth before he slowly took out his phone.
Charlie didn’t understand what he was doing at first. He made no attempt to hide it, simply lifted the phone, aimed it directly at them and took a photograph.
The softness of the morning vanished in an instant.
Only a few minutes ago Charlie had been standing in her flat laughing while Reeze swore at her radio. Now a strange man was across the car park openly taking pictures of them.
Reeze released her hand and started towards him.
“Reeze...”
He barely managed a step before the man lowered the phone. The faint smile was still there and he didn’t break eye contact as he opened the car door and got behind the wheel.
But he didn’t drive away.
He simply sat there.
Charlie remained where she was while the seconds passed, and Reeze didn’t move either.
They were too far away for her to see the man’s expression clearly through the windscreen, but she could see his hands resting calmly on the steering wheel and the complete lack of urgency in the way he sat there.
It was almost as though he were waiting for something.
Or giving them time to understand.
Only then did he start the engine and calmly pull out of the car park.
There was no sudden acceleration and no attempt to get away quickly after being noticed.
He drove off exactly like anyone else who had finished whatever errand had brought them there and was now simply carrying on with the rest of the day.
Reeze followed the car with his eyes until it disappeared around the corner.
Charlie remained behind him, the unease inside her growing stronger.
The man hadn’t simply happened to be there.
She had known that before, but now there was no longer any way to convince herself she might be overreacting.
He had been waiting for them, had taken their picture and had made absolutely certain they knew about it.
“Who the fuck is he?” Reeze muttered.
“I don’t know.”
He was still staring towards the road where the car had disappeared.
“Have you seen him anywhere else apart from here?”
Charlie tried to think.
“No. Not that I know of.”
Reeze turned towards her.
“Not that you know of?”
“I just mean I could’ve seen him somewhere without noticing him. I don’t pay attention to everyone I pass.”
“Dennis?”
The name alone was enough to make her stomach tighten.
“I’ve never seen him with Dennis.”
“Friends?”
Charlie folded her arms around herself.
“I don’t know, Reeze. I have no idea who he is.”
He swore quietly and rubbed a hand over his beard while his gaze returned to the entrance of the car park. Charlie could almost see him going through every detail in his head, from the first time the man had stood in the yard to what had just happened.
Then Reeze looked at her again.
“Has Dennis ever had someone watch you?”
The question made her hesitate.
“Not that I know of.”
“A friend? Someone from work? A relative?”
“I don’t know everyone he knows.”
Reeze nodded slowly, but the answer clearly didn’t satisfy him.
There was something in his expression that frightened her more than if he had lost his temper and run after the car.
She understood his anger because she had seen it before.
This was colder. He was no longer trying to decide whether the man was a problem.
He had already reached that conclusion and had moved on to working out exactly what kind of problem he was and what needed to be done about it.
The situation had already become something concrete in his mind.
Old anxiety began to creep through Charlie again.
She had seen what happened when other people became involved in her problems. Friends grew tired of the calls, people became frightened when Dennis started appearing and police officers explained what they could and couldn’t do while she continued looking over her shoulder.
Now Reeze was standing in the middle of it.
“You don’t have to...”
His gaze shifted to her.
“What?”
“Get involved in this.”
Something changed in his expression.
“A little late for that, babe.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“You don’t know what Dennis is capable of.”
“No.” Reeze took a step closer. “But he doesn’t know what I’m capable of either.”
Perhaps that should have frightened her.
Instead, she felt something inside her loosen.
Reeze reached for her hand again, closing his fingers around hers with a gentleness that stood in sharp contrast to the hard expression in his eyes.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“To my bike first.”
Charlie followed him across the yard, and even though the car had long since disappeared, she could still feel the man’s gaze on her. More than once she caught herself looking around.
Reeze noticed, of course he did.
When they reached the motorcycle, he stopped and turned towards her.
“You’re not going anywhere alone for a while.”
Charlie’s eyes widened.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“No.”
The answer came so quickly that it took some of the edge off the irritation already rising inside her. Reeze ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“I don’t get to tell you what to do, and I’m not trying to. But someone is standing outside your home taking photographs of you. I’m not going to pretend that’s normal.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
Charlie looked at him suspiciously.
“But?”
“No but. You can take care of yourself and still let someone help when you need it. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
It was annoyingly difficult to argue with him when he put it that way.
“And what exactly are you planning to do?”
“Find out who he is.”
“How?”
A faint smile appeared.
“I know people.”
Charlie groaned.
“That’s exactly the sort of thing nobody ever wants to hear a biker say.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s never followed by anything normal.”
Reeze laughed, and some of the tension finally left his face.
“Depends what you call normal.”
“For ordinary people?”
“Then you’ve definitely chosen the wrong man.”
The words came so naturally that neither of them reacted immediately.
Charlie did first.
Chosen the wrong man.
Not the wrong person to ask for help. Not the wrong neighbour.
Man.
Reeze seemed to realise what he had said almost at the same moment, but to Charlie’s surprise, he didn’t try to take it back. He simply stood there looking at her.
She felt the corner of her mouth twitch.
“Is that what you are now?”
“What?”
“My man?”
He looked at her for a few seconds before that self-assured smile returned.
“Do you mind?”
Charlie probably should have said it was happening too quickly, that they had known each other for far too little time and that she had only just come out of something that still had its claws buried in her.
The last thing she needed ought to have been throwing herself headlong into another relationship.
Instead, she shook her head.
“No.”
“Good.”
Reeze pulled her against him and kissed her right there in the middle of the yard.
Charlie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, but somewhere beneath the sudden warmth, the unease remained.
Because someone had just taken a photograph of them together.
And she had no idea who would be looking at it next.