I should have taken Alex up on his offer of a ride. I only said Finnigan’s because I know all the cops love to eat anywhere they can see their food being made. Now I’m walking six blocks in the cold to have dinner with my ex-boyfriend and a psycho killer might be stalking me.
Not my smartest choice.
I glance over my shoulder at oncoming traffic, but if my stalker is cruising along watching me, I have zero clue about what he’sdriving. A smarter woman would have watched him to see where he went or what kind of vehicle he was driving. Not me though. Nope. I keep my hand fisted around my keys to use them as a weapon if it comes down to it. How much damage can the pointy end of a key inflict? I hope I never have to find out. I should have taken Alex up on the offer for those self-defense classes while we were dating. Maybe then I wouldn’t be in this mess. I wouldn’t be so on edge.
Fifteen paranoid minutes later I’m walking into Finnigan’s. Alex stands in the entrance, waiting for me, wearing a dopey grin, staring at me as though I’m the sun he orbits around. At one point in time, that was true.
“Thought I would need to send out a search party,” he jokes.
I ignore his lame attempt to make a joke. “Let’s order.” I step around him, feeling his hand come to the small of my back as though he has any right to touch me. The gesture pisses me off, but I don’t say anything. I don’t want to cause a scene. There’s a few other guys from the force seated in one of the booths in the back. They all turn to look at us, giving Alex nods of approval. I recognize one of them from his poker nights.
This doesn’t mean anything. I’m not taking him back.
Hell will freeze over first.
CHAPTER FOUR
Theo
“Francesca,” I call out for my sister as I enter her apartment. She lives one floor above mine, where it’s easier for me to check in on her. My sister doesn’t respond at first, but I don’t panic. She’s probably in her gym and has her earbuds in.
I place the cat carrier on her couch and dial Deacon.
“Lo,” he picks up on the first ring.
“Location?”
“In your sister’s spare room getting everything set up.”
“Good.” I end the call and grab the carrier.
I find him in the guest bedroom putting together a cat tower while my sister observes.
She shoots me a look that is sharp enough to cut glass.
“You said you didn’t want a dog, and these guys were in need of a home.”
“I see. You could have asked.”
“You would’ve said no and I know you could use the company and the distraction.”
“They better be cute and cuddly.”
“I think you’ll like them. Can I close the door?”
She glances over at Deacon as he ignores us, humming to himself as he completes the next level of the tower. “Okay.”
Since she was kidnapped, she doesn’t do well in enclosed spaces with more than a few people. I’ve had Deacon guarding her for about a year now, and she still doesn’t trust him. No one can blame her, though, after what she’s endured.
She’s still scarred physically and mentally. She refuses therapy. Refuses to leave the apartment for extended periods of time. Hell, she rarely opens a window.
I close the door and give her a minute to relax. “Meet your new best friends. Hercules and Hades. They’re twins.”
“Like us,” she muses, waiting for the cats to leave the carrier. “Hello my darling boys.” She smiles big, making the scar on the left side of her mouth disappear into her dimple. It’s been so long since I’ve seen any emotion out of her but sadness. The sight of her smile nearly splits my heart in two, it feels so fucking full. “Thank you, dear brother.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I leave her to make friends with her cats.
