Laughing, I told her everything that happened. “Girl, he is what my romance books are all about. He was big, full of muscles and… yeah…bigeverywhere. He was all alpha, and he called me his girlfriend when he told that guy to backoff. Swoon, girl.” Taking another drink of water, I continued. “Then it just happened. But then he said he had to go because he was working. I don’t know what he does, and I’ll probably never see him again, but talk about finding more inspiration for my books.”
Tasha laughed, “Wow. Okay, girl. At least you got some. Let’s get out of here. I think you had enough fun for both of us for one night.”
***
After Tasha dropped me off that night, I laid in bed thinking about King. So much so that I got up and popped open my laptop to write a little bit for my next novel.
The words of that creep were playing over and over in my head, and then it hit me. Those weremywords. I opened one of my old stalker romances, and there it was.“Hey, sweet thing. What’re you doing out here alone? It’s not safe.”It was so crazy. I wondered,What are the odds?It left me unsettled, but I finally closed my laptop and chalked it up to a coincidence. Maybe I was being naïve, but the alternative was too much for me to believe.
***
The next morning, I got up and started another writing session. I’ve always done all of my best writing at about five o’clock in the morning. There’s something magical about it still being dark outside when my little world of Cupid City is still sleeping. I was locked in, and before I knew it, two hours had passed and I’d written three new chapters. Not bad for just coming off the book signing in New York.
After I closed my laptop, I was getting ready to get in the shower when my doorbell rang. It made me jump. As I made my way to the door, an envelope slid under it, which was strange and startled me. My blood was pumping so hard that I felt like I could barely hear anything.Who would slide something under my door?No one had ever done that before. I heard footsteps run away down the hall and around the corner. They must have taken the stairs down to the lobby. Finally, I tiptoed over to the peephole, to make sure no one else was there. Quickly, I unlocked and yanked the door open and stepped into the hallway, but it was empty.Who the hell did that?I wondered.
Stepping back into my apartment, I picked up the envelope and closed and locked my door. I was anxious, and jumpy. I didn’t want to open it. Thinking back to the previous night, I felt even more uneasy.
“Ah, fuck it. Don’t be a wimp, Serayah,” I said aloud. When I opened the envelope, I was horrified. There were photos of me in my apartment, looking out my window. It looked like they were taken from outside. There was a note attached.
My beautiful Serayah. I’m always watching you. You look so beautiful looking out your window in the moonlight. I hope you don’t mind me fixing the towel rack in your bathroom, sweet thing.
Gasping, I ran to my bathroom to see the once broken towel rack perfectly affixed to the wall with two new towels evenly hanging on it.What the fuck was happening?
Grabbing out my phone, I texted Tasha to come over.
***
When Tasha arrived, I was pacing. She had a key to my place, so she unlocked the door and walked right in. “Serayah, are you ok? What’s so urgent?”
“You know, bitch, at first, I thought you were playing a joke on me.” I laughed. “And then I said, Tasha is not messing up her manicure to fix a towel in my bathroom.”
Tasha slowly walked toward me. “Oookay, what are you talking about?”
I rushed to the counter. “TheseTash.This. Look. Someone took photos of me in my apartment, and they left this note.”
I watched as Tasha read the note, the expressions on her face morphed from shock to disgust, and then she picked up the photos. “Girl, I would never even play a joke like this. Oh my god. Who would do this? And why are they acting so familiar with you?”
Still pacing, I said, “I think it was the same creep from last night. The one who tried to attack me. It only makes sense. Maybe he showed up here before the club and fixed the towel rack? I don’t fucking know, Tash.”
“What the fuck, girl?”
“There’s something else, Tasha. I realized that what that sicko said to me last night was a line from one of my books. Like an exact line.”
“Girl. Okay. That’s enough. We ain’t about to let some freak have you sittin’ in here scared. Listen. I got a cousin who knows a guy in charge of a security company. I’ll call him and set something up for you. Okay? We’ll make sure whoever this is, doesn’t get near you again.”
“Thanks, Tash. I appreciate that.”
Tasha made us something to eat while I shoved the photos and the note under my mattress. What a nightmare.
Chapter 4
King
Cass summoned us to Heartline early in the morning. Too early. Not all of us, though. There were only three of us there. Mack Hawthorne, Chase Corbett, and me. Cass was already sitting at the table when we walked into The Watchtower. He tapped the bottom of a folder upright against the table to straighten the papers inside and said, “Have a seat, gentlemen.”
We took our seats and listened up. Cass continued, “We’ve got a new assignment, and I’m putting the three of you on it. King, I want you to take the lead.” I was shocked to hear him say that. It meant a lot to me that Cass trusted me enough to take the lead on a case. I’d seen him hand leads to assignments over to other guards who were up for promotion. He didn’t say it, but I knew that if I did well, I’d have a chance at a raise, at least.
“You got it,” I said. “What are the details?”
