The silence as he drove to my apartment was yet another unnerving moment. I hated the anxiety keeping us both on edge. I loathed wondering if every shadow held a monster. He obviously felt exactly as I did. His fingers were constantly tapping on the steering wheel, his eyes darting to all three mirrors.
By the time he found a parking spot more than a block from my apartment building, I’d already shifted to the edge of the seat. After he cut the engine, we sat quietly for a couple of minutes.
While I’d been lucky to find a relatively quiet neighborhood, there were still people enjoying the warm night, some walking hand in hand, others holding onto leashes of their dogs.
The atmosphere was entirely different after midnight. That’s when the criminals walked the street freely like vampires searching for their next meal. Carrying mace wasn’t a decent enough deterrent.
“Ten minutes. Okay?” Hudson wasn’t asking if that was enough time. He was telling me it was.
“That’s all I’ll need.”
His hand remained pressed possessively against the small of my back, his body shielding mine and we remained close to the buildings as we walked the block. While my apartment was small, the security was decent. I had a separate key for the frontdoor. With only eight apartments in the building, I certainly knew my neighbors and could sense if there were any issues.
I was on the top floor with two apartments per floor. He remained peering over the railing as I unlocked my front door, but with one stern look, I knew to wait just inside as he quickly checked to ensure no one was inside or had been.
“All clear,” he said. Even his voice was entirely different. Almost as if revisiting his days in the Marines.
“I’ll hurry.” Except my legs didn’t want to move. I was frozen on the spot and that didn’t make any sense. This was my apartment. The same stuffed animals were on the couch as when I’d left the last time. I could see the dishes draining in the rack on the kitchen counter from when I’d hurriedly washed them before leaving.
My running shoes, for as many times as I’d promised myself I would take up jogging and hadn’t, were positioned near the hall closet. Even the stack of mail, mostly dastardly bills remained on the kitchen table. And the goddamn faucet the building owner had promised to fix four times was still dripping. While the sound had been annoying before, tonight the slow drip was straight out of a horror movie.
Even so, everything was so… normal.
“It’s okay,” he finally said gently. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Some sense of relief filled me. At that point, if he tried to leave, I’d be the one chasing him down. I’d thought the reality of what I was dealing with had hit me before, but for some strange reason, returning to my apartment made everything seem sordid and dirty.
I found my rhythm, heading into Bella’s tiny room first. I grabbed her pink suitcase, haphazardly tossing in her favorite clothes and PJs. Then I shoved some books, a couple of dolls and another stuffed animal inside. Zipping it closed was an issue, but I managed.
With the generosity from my protector, I didn’t need as many items, but I wanted a few of my things that had kept me grounded during the horrible nights where sleep had evaded me. My favorite sweatshirt and my leggings that I’d lived in for months. My favorite pair of jeans.
As I was tossing some lacy underwear into my tried-and-true suitcase I’d had since college, I noticed a single nightie I’d purchased for myself after moving to Miami. Snatching it in my hand, I had a fever of emotions. The damn piece of lingerie still had a price tag. That’s how close I’d come to actually wearing it. Feeling sexy around Bruno had taken a backseat to everything else.
Including getting him the hell out of my life.
Why not? With an evil smile on my face, I tossed it into the suitcase. Now for a few toiletries and I’d manage to make it in just under ten minutes. Toothpaste. Check.
Makeup. Check.
Deodorant. Check.
The sudden prickle of goosebumps caught me off guard. I even looked over my shoulder to see if Hudson was standing in the doorway telling me time was up.
He wasn’t there.
With a cold chill creating tension, I moved closer to the tiny window in the bathroom, holding my breath as I peered outside. What?
No. No… There was no way. I had to be seeing things.
Backing away, I counted to ten and while the trickle of fear remained, I was now angry. Furious that the motherfucker believed it his right to torment the hell out of me when he was the one who’d murdered someone in cold blood. I rushed into the bedroom where the view was better.
I hadn’t been wrong. A figure stood under the streetlight, staring up at the building. And I could swear that not only was the bastard watching.
He was smiling.
Oh, hell, no.
Without saying a word, I fled into the living room, trying to control my nerves as I pointed down the hallway. “The monster is outside.”
