“The flowers.” My throat squeezed, my air cutting off.
“Gone.”
I nodded again. Breathing wasn’t any easier. It wasn’t until Keith began to slowly rock me that I could draw in more.
Why was this happening to me? I was fine when Sheldon received a note. Not fine, but I didn’t nearly faint. This made it real. The threat wasn’t just against Sheldon. It was me too. I wasn’t afraid for me then, only him. Now, I wanted to return to Jordan’s building, where nothing could get to me. Not only that, but what if this person hurt the people I worked with?
Tears burned my eyes as I looked at Damian. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, right, K?”
“Not at all. You’re one of us. We watch out for each other.”
“Move!” I heard bellowed through the shop.
“Sheldon,” I whispered.
Damian slid out of the way before Sheldon quickly appeared in front of me, his knees hitting the floor, his hair a mess. The room was no longer tunneled. Everyone was sharp in clarity.
“You didn’t wear a helmet,” I said with no anger to it. I should have been, but I was just glad he was here.
“Beautiful, no one fucking cares. Are you okay?”
“I care. I don’t want you hurt. I thought we agreed you’d wear one.”
“When I get a call that you were threatened, you better believe I’m dropping whatever I’m doing and coming for you as quickly as humanly possible. I may need a faster bike.”
“No!” As much as I loved riding on the back of the one he had now, faster could mean more of a chance of him getting injured.
“Are you done telling me what to do?”
“No.”
“Are you okay?”
I shook my head. Nothing about this was okay. Not a damn thing.
He pulled me into his arms and sat on the floor. “No one’s going to touch you. Remember when I said that? You’re mine. I’ll kill whoever comes near you.”
“The flowers… They knew you sent me some.”
“Yeah. I’ve got people checking the buildings around us. As soon as they’ve cleared them, we’re going home.”
“Please,” I begged brokenly. I didn’t want to be here any longer. I also didn’t want to lose my job.
“You have to stay home until I get this figured out.”
“My work…”
“I have a laptop and your stuff packed,” I heard Keith say.
Leaning away from Sheldon, I peered up at my boss.
“I had a feeling it might come to this at some point and wanted to be prepared. JJ ordered a new computer and had the software you need installed on it. I hate that shit, so I let him handle it. In reality, it was Greer who did it.”
There was no fight in me, no pushback about not wanting to be hidden away. That was all I wanted in this moment, to be safe in Sheldon’s home, where no one could get us.
“We cleared as much as we could,” Kayli said, entering the office. “The Nav is in the shop, bay doors closed. You just have to drive it out.”
