“Nah. I don’t need her to have a stalker for that. Playtime’s over. It’s time for her to come home.”
“Really? Is that settled?”
“It’s settled. She doesn’t necessarily know it, but it is.” I fish out my keys. “You stay in the New York apartment while you’re working on this. I’m taking her back to Coynston now.”
“Cool,” he says, taking the keys. “But watch your six on the way back because ’Vil will fucking kill me if something happens to you when I’m supposed to be covering you.”
“So go down and make sure the asshole’s not lurking in the parking garage or hiding in her trunk. She’ll need a few minutes to pack a bag.”
“Sounds right,” Trick says, turning toward the elevator.
Trick’s only taken a couple steps when the elevator door opens. It’s occupied, and I recognize the guy inside from the opening night after party. He looks different with a knife in his hand and murder in his eyes.
The guy locks eyes with me and starts forward at a run, raising the knife.
I grab for my gun, popping the holster’s snap and pulling. Before I’ve got it raised I hear the shot.
A spot of blood appears on the guy’s forehead, and he’s got a stunned expression before his features go slack and he crumples to the ground.
“Knife,” Trick murmurs as he advances. “Guess he didn’t know it was a gunfight.” Trick’s weapon is still pointed at the guy as his foot sends the knife skittering away. Then he rolls the guy over with his free hand, studying him for a moment. “As a doornail.” When he straightens, Trick says, “Good thing you didn’t want me to drag things out, C.”
Chapter
Twenty
ZOE
We’re back at Connor’s house in Coynston, and so far, he hasn’t let me set foot out of it, even though my stalker’s dead and gone. It feels heavy-handed, which is one of the things that I both like and hate about his style of boyfriending.
“C,” I exclaim when he’s so focused on the newspaper that he doesn’t even hear me say his name the first time.
He looks up from the paper. “Baby, do not raise your voice when I’m two feet away.”
I purse my lips. “I want to talk to you right now.”
C’s gaze rakes over me, and I just know he’s considering whether he wants to punish me for getting mouthy. This is one of the two main things I need to talk to him about. I take a reflexive step back.
He closes the paper and leans back, folding his arms across his chest. I practically squirm under the scrutiny.
“But,” I say. “If now’s not a good time, we can talk when I get back.” Glancing at the clock, I see it’s nine. The other guys will be arriving in a few minutes to work.
“Now’s fine, and you’re not going out until I’m done working and can take you myself. Figure out where you want to eat dinner later if you don’t feel like cooking.”
I actually love cooking, but I’m not settling back into the routine of cooking for him until some things are settled.
“Rachel and I planned to work this morning at her house. It’s right on the property. You can’t object to that.”
“And yet…”
“C!”
“Rachel can come here. Invite Laurelyn to come by later, too. It’s been a while since we all had lunch together.”
I swallow and blow out a breath, trying not to glare at him. “Slow down, Connor.”
His brow rises, challenging me to keep going the way I’m going.
“C, listen. I came home with you because I miss you and want to try to work on things. But you’ve turned it into something I didn’t intend—at least not yet.” I clasp my hands together behind me and stand up straighter. “Before I left you, I didn’t like how quickly you resorted to punishments if I got wound up. I started to feel like you were putting me into a box that was shrinking all the time. I might play a pet in bed, but I don’t want to be one full-time.”
