“I don’t mind the overkill of tracking Evan, but do we really think someone is going to take it that far?” I have to ask because I’m ready to do whatever it takes to keep her safe. With what’s happened, I just don’t see someone escalating to that level.
“If she wasn’t mine, I would take her.” Damon’s words are cold and dark. If Evan had continued to reject him, I don’t knowhow this would have gone. Damon locked into her pretty quickly, but Evan didn’t really resist.
But it’s also a wakeup call, because what someone is willing to do is determined by their obsession. It depends on the motivation again. If it’s Brandt, he’s trying to win. It’s not about Evan. He wants to ruin her chances to make sure he wins. Losing Mia a month before the performance should have hurt her production. So maybe things will calm down now.
But if it’s someone obsessed with Evan, what happens when they decide they want her no matter what?
The thought sends chills through my body.
“If it’s someone truly stalking her, then it’s not unreasonable that they might see us as threats and come after us.” Hawk sits up and looks over at Damon. “It depends on the motivation, right? Do they want to own her, or do they just want to fuck up her life? We wanted to fuck up Chase’s life. We never would have kidnapped him. But if this person feels like Annie owes them something more...”
He lets that hang over us. I’d prefer them to come after us. We can take it. Evan is strong and smart and could probably take mental torture, but she’s also soft. I can’t even think about someone violating her without my stomach turning and rage pumping through my veins.
“We keep our eyes open and keep digging.” Damon shakes his head. “She belongs to us.”
EvanAnn
Every moment of every day seems full. The days slide into each other. I’m fully immersed in the play, in my character. Mark’s and my chemistry rivals his chemistry with Mia, forwhich I’m grateful. If things fell flat between us, I would have been tempted to bring in someone else.
Mia hasn’t reached out in a few days, but from the little she’s said, something is horribly wrong. Her brother made it through surgery, but there’s still some risks involved. Apparently she can’t talk about what happened with anyone.
I wish she could. Talking with a friend would have made it easier to deal with my father’s impending death. But I also respect that if she needs to talk to me, she’ll let me know. I just need to make sure she knows I’m here for her.
“Goody?”
I turn and look at Cam. He gives me a small smile.
“You ready to go?”
When I glance at my phone, it’s almost ten o’clock. Everyone else left about an hour ago, but I wanted to go through the recordings to see if I missed anything. Time passed, and I didn’t even realize it.
“I’m so sorry, Cam.” I stand and start gathering my stuff.
He gets up and drops his bag next to my chair before helping me. “It’s okay. I’m at your service.”
“No, I should have just done this at home.” I shake my head.
Cam chuckles. “Like Damon would have given you an uninterrupted hour.”
“He’s not that bad,” I argue and look at Cam. “I just can’t focus as well in our bedroom.”
Cam touches my face, and I lean into his warmth as sparks drift through me. “You need to take more breaks.”
“Thank you.” I step into him and wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head against his beating heart. “You guys keep me tethered. And make sure all my needs are met.”
Cam laughs as he kisses the top of my head. “Come on. We should get out of here.”
I release him and turn back to the table. I pick up my laptop and find one of his red paper flowers crushed. “Oh, no.”
I put my laptop in the bag and turn back to the squished flower. “Oh, Cam, I didn’t even see when I did this.”
“It’s not a big deal, goody.”
The paper is coming undone and there’s ink toward the center. I spread it open a little more, and it unfurls completely. Inside is this little cartoon drawing. It’s the group of us on the bikes. It’s small but so detailed I can tell who is who.
“Cam?” I hold it up to him with questioning eyes.
He shrugs and smirks. “I like to doodle.”
