“Well, come and lock your front door, we don’t want that idiot returning and finding your door unlocked.”
Grimacing, Darryn stood up.Well, that thought had the same effect as a bucket of ice-cold water.“Damnit, stop fussing.”He growled but got up and followed a grinning Dale out of his room.
*
Darryn was restless.After everyone had left this morning, he had slept for an hour and was now feeling much better.The doctor had been by, replaced the bandages and had advised him to stay home for another day or two before venturing outside.
He’d work on some photographs, but his thoughts kept straying to Hannah and damn Stephen White.Apparently Dale and a security guy were following her around today, but would they be able to keep her safe?There was an uneasiness in his gut he couldn’t shake off.
Dale had phoned when he and the security guard left Hannah’s home and followed her to the photo shoot.At his request, his brother had sent him the address where the shoot would take place.It was a venue in Sea Point he knew well and had worked in while he was still a fashion photographer.
Hannah was safe; she was being looked after by his brother and security guard.He should relax and try to finish the photographs he was working on.
Nothing could happen to her while she was doing the shoot, right?
So why the hell was he feeling this way?For a few seconds he stood still, trying to figure out what was wrong.Then he knew.His gut was trying to tell him something, and he had always relied on that.
Grabbing his car keys, he hurried to his car.
Chapter Fourteen
Hannah smiled atthe camera and moved to the instructions of the photographer, hoping she was pulling off looking relaxed and carefree.She was happier than she’d ever been before in her life; Darryn loved her, he wanted her, and the sparks flying around them whenever they came near one another were just about scorching.But.And because of thatbut, she had to make peace with the fact that people would be following her.
Apparently, Dale had lost today’s bet, because he and a security guard dressed in civilian clothes had been following her around since she left her apartment late this morning.And although her brother-in-law was looking quite cheerful, she felt dreadful.They all had work to do; they had families of their own.It was ridiculous to have to traipse after their wives’ sister because of some deranged idiot.
At this point she was so irritated, so mad about the whole thing, she wished Stephen White would show his face because she was ready for a fight.
Against Darryn’s wishes, she’d put the battery back in her old phone, switched it on, and, although she was using her new phone, she kept the old one with her.If Stephen had been tracking her movements through her phone, she wanted him to find her.Darryn would probably be angry, but she was fed up with this cat-and-mouse game Stephen was playing.She mentioned it to Dale, and needless to say, he was also not very happy with what she’d done.
“Smile, sweetheart.”The photographer coached her, and she realized she was scowling.
Trying to shut out everything around her, she moved and stretched and smiled until finally the photographer was happy.
The photographer walked over to her, smiling.“Thanks.It was a pleasure working with a professional like you,” he said.
“I’m a bit distracted—sorry about the frown.”
“Even frowning, you’re gorgeous.Surely you know that?”He flirted, and she laughed.
This kind of light flirtation she could handle; most of the photographers did this with every model.Stephen White’s creepy kind of flirting though, she couldn’t stomach.
Smiling, she turned to go to the dressing room and that was when she felt it—the hairs on the back of her neck rising.He was here.Stephen White was somewhere close by.She continued walking and willed herself not to look around her.
She caught Dale’s eye and with a quick motion of her head tried to warn him, but the frown on his forehead indicated he didn’t understand what she was trying to say.He started forward, but a commotion behind her stopped everyone in their tracks, and all heads turned in that direction.
“Something is burning!”someone shouted.“Look, flames!”
Stephen White had a hand in this.She knew it.
Hannah glanced over her shoulder while she lengthened her strides.People were panicking, trying to get outside.She couldn’t see Dale or the security guard through the smoke.She wanted to get to her phone as quickly as possible.At this point she could mostly see only smoke, but small flames were visible here and there against the opposite walls of the building.Around her, people were shouting and running toward the front door.
Hannah rushed forward, but a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and something poked her in her back.
“If you hadn’t flirted with the photographer, I wouldn’t have had to start a fire.”A voice hissed in her ear.
A chill went down her spine.Stephen White.“Now put your hair up under this hoodie, walk toward the door, and don’t try and draw anyone’s attention, especially not the attention of Cavallo and what I assume is a security guard.”He snickered.“Don’t you know by now nobody can keep me away from you?Now walk, I have a gun at your back.”
Hannah did as she was told.A strange calmness settled over her.This was going to end today, one way or another.This man was not going to hurt anyone else, not if she could help it.There was no way she was getting into a car with him and she had a plan, but for it to work, she didn’t want anyone else too close to them, so leaving the building was a good idea.
