“Love, run!” I yelled.
They both turned my way, but Atlas reacted quickly and elbowed the fucker in the stomach while he was distracted. It was enough for the stalker’s arm to loosen around Atlas’ neck and for Atlas to escape.
Then my love was running in my direction. I came out of my hiding place and ran to meet Atlas. The fucker straightened himself and ran in the other direction. He was fast, which was probably another reasonhe’d been able to evade us so far. I let him be, knowing that our friends would be able to handle him, and focused on my man.
Atlas crashed into my arms like a bullet. “Hector! I thought he had you. I thought something happened to you,” he babbled into my chest. I could feel a wet spot growing where his face nuzzled against me.
“I’m okay, love. I’m okay. It’s over now. We’re safe,” I murmured softly.
Atlas’ head jolted up. His tear-streaked face just about shattered my heart. “The stalker, we need to?—”
He tried to turn around, but I pressed his head against me again. “Shh. It’s okay. They have it handled. We’re safe now,” I repeated.
I covered his eyes. I never wanted him to have to look at that fucker again.
Over Atlas’ shoulder, I could see our friends rounding the guy. Becca and Sam were already a force to be reckoned with, but adding on the other guys, who were all giant and a wall of muscles? Honestly, I almost felt sorry for the poor motherfucker.
Almost.
Okay, not really.
He deserved everything that was coming to him and more.
Our friends quickly got the guy on his stomach. Dan pulled out a rope from somewhere and looked all too excited to tie the guy up…which reminded me toneverget on his bad side.
“We got him!” Sam yelled, and Atlas slumped in my arms.
“It’s over. You’ll never have to see him again,” I murmured and petted his hair.
Atlas took a deep, steadying breath and nuzzled my neck. “Can we leave?”
I looked toward our friends, who waved us off. I had complete faith that they would handle things from here, which meant I could focus on taking care of my man.
“Let’s go home, love.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
ATLAS
I was shaking the entire drive home. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins from the night.
We did it. We caught the bastard. We were safe.Hectorwas safe.
I’d refused to relinquish Hector’s hand, so he had to drive home using his left one. If it weren’t for the need to get home, I would have crawled onto his lap and stayed there until it really hit me that he was okay.
Hector seemed to understand my need for closeness. He talked the entire ride, saying words of comfort and sweet nothings, for which I was grateful. His voice helped settle me.
Thankfully, the trip home wasn’t long, and soon Hector was parking and leading me into the diner.
He locked the back door and double-checked that all the entrances were properly secured before leading me upstairs to our apartment. I paused on the stairs.
“Wait. Becca?—”
Fuck, I was a terrible friend. We were her ride, and we just left her there.
Hector tugged on my hand. “She’ll be fine. One of the guys will make sure she gets home safe. You only need to focus on yourself tonight.”
I nodded and continued following him. Hector unlocked the door to our apartment, and the blaring sound of the alarm reaffirmed that our home was safe.
