“There’s more,” Valen says, looking like he hasn’t slept in days. His dark hair is disheveled, his jaw shadowed with stubble, his shirt wrinkled as though he slept in his car.
I’ve never seen a more beautiful man.
“Go ahead and tell her, son,” Chief says, entering the kitchen and helping himself to my leftover burrito.
Valen holds up his phone. “Security footage from the camera feed in Rip’s car.” He steps closer, and suddenly my small kitchen feels microscopic. “Someone bypassed the cameras last night at 3:15 a.m. They were disabled for exactly seventeenminutes, but someone ran a recording through our system on a loop so we wouldn’t detect it immediately.”
His jaw is locked hard.
He— Oh shit. He was here with Roman at that time.
“Riley was in custody well before that,” Elle says.
“Exactly.” Valen looks at Chief. “Which means whoever’s been stalking Clover is not Savvy’s ex.”
The words settle over us like a shroud of dread.
“Then who?” Madi asks.
“That,” Chief says slowly, “is the question.”
“How long have you been getting these?” Valen asks.
Dammit. My friends will hate what I say next. “Um, about a…month. Maybe two.”
“A month?” Elle blurts. “But you said…”
I wince.
“You were getting packages and not telling us.” Madi surmises.
“The poems started six months ago. The packages are…newish.” Shame makes the words thick and uneven.
Valen’s phone buzzes in his hand. He glances down, then back to me. “It’s Roman. He’s bringing something over. A—” Is he struggling with his words? “A military-grade vehicle. It’s a security system with reinforced walls that he had one of our guys drive down from Charlotte.” His cheeks are totally flushed. “It’s basically a mobile panic room.”
Oh, Mylanta. Valen’s embarrassed, and it’s sexy as hell.
He’s staring at me expectantly, and I snap out of my drool-fest. “Um, why is he bringing that here?”
“Because I’m not leaving you unprotected.” His voice is firm. Final. “And since you’re barely leaving your house, I’m bringing the protection to you.”
“What are you going to do? Sleep in her driveway?” Madi’s smirk is annoying. She’s having way too much fun with this whole…debacle.
“Yes.” My gaze snaps to Valen so fast my hair gets stuck in my wide-open mouth.
“That’s—” Intense. Overprotective. Completely overbearing. “You don’t have to do that.” Even as I say it, the fear swirling in my stomach heats with something much, much more dangerous. Freaking hope.
“I do though.” Something flickers in his expression that looks like the boy I knew. “We have secrets to uncover, Clover. Wounds that scarred both our lives. I may not remember—yet—what they are, but I feel them, and I’m here now. I need you to help me remember my past, and I’ll help protect your future. I won’t let anything happen to you—not this time.”
“Not…” I’m not sure if the word makes any sound as it kisses its way across my lips. “This time.”
Madi elbows me in the ribs.
Elle barely suppresses a squeal.
Chief grins like he’s watching his favorite TV show.
“Valen—” I don’t know how to finish this sentence.
