He put his filthy hands on her, molested her, and harassed her. He fucking stalked her. Fucking hell!
I pull at the roots of my hair. “Tell me, Kaeli, how can I let it go?”
“I’m not asking you to let it go. I’m asking you not to do something that will land you behind bars, damnit!” she yells.
Seeing her exhausted and spent, I will myself to calm down. This is not about me. This is about her. And right now, she needs me.
I might not tell her what I’ll do, but I will make John Mullens pay for ever believing that he could get away with what he put Kaeli through.
I will ruin him.
Forty Six
Kaeli
If Ezra was stuck to me like glue after confessing his love, then he’s been a permanent overbearing fixture now.
For the past few days, he’s been keeping tabs on every little detail about me. And since I got tired of him texting me every few minutes to ask me if I’m okay and where I’m at, and if I need him, I decided to share my live location with him.
I’m independent, not stupid. I know that the cops or Ezra can’t be with me every second of every day, even though he tries his best to be. Iknow he would literally stop playing if I asked him to stay by my side.
The morning when I unburdened everything on him, we went down to the station and filed a complaint against him. Ezra even called his lawyer to get a restraining order against John Mullens while I was busy checking the notifications on my phone.
There was a text from Stacy asking me why I hadn’t clocked in, to which I made some bullshit excuse.
There was one from Roman sending me a cute video of puppies, and one from Jodi asking if I had reached home. A personal message from her was odd, but I figured that she might be trying to build a friendship like I have with Stacy.
I’ve been alert and made sure to leave my office while it was still light out. Ezra picks me up whenever he can. He has officially moved in.
There has been no incident with Mullens again. It’s like he’s disappeared off the face of the earth. Cops have been trying to locate him, but no luck so far.
So, as everyone rushes to prepare the arena for a game today, I shove thoughts of him deep into the crevices of my brain and get to work.
I schedule the posts for sponsor announcements, existing rivalries, and the lineup. I also make sure to create graphics in advance with the ideas of what I could capture tonight.
A couple of hours before the puck drop, Jodi comes by my office. “Hey,” she greets with a knock on the door, her hair pulled into a ponytail.
“Hey, Jodi. Come on in,” I say to her with a smile.
She walks in timidly. “I wanted to come by and ask if there’s anything I can help you with?”
“Thank you for asking. But I’m done too. I was just about to head to the rink and check the setup. Give me a minute, and we’ll both head there together,” I inform her, shutting my laptop and grabbing my phone and camera.
Jodi pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Sure, ma’am.”
Walking by her side and out of the office, I remind her. “You need to stop calling me ma’am, Jodi.”
“Yes, ma’am…Umm, I mean, Kaeli,” she stammers, making me laugh as I sling my arm with hers.
“Oh, by the way, I’m sorry for not replying to your text the other day. I was…otherwise preoccupied.” I can’t tell her that I was actually being chased by a psychopath.
Her lips set in a straight line, her muscles tensing. Did I offend her?
As I’m about to ask her that, I hear my name being called. I search for the voice and find Andie waving me over to one of the benches in the lower bowl.
I pat Jodi on the shoulder. “That’s Ezra’s sister. Wanna come with me?”
She nods, so we head over to Andie, who sets her popcorn and drink aside to hug me and Jodi when I introduce them. She’s a ball of sunshine, really.
