Page 18 of Forced By an Obsessive Bratva Stalker

I stepped out of the car and began moving through the festival unnoticed. Dark jeans. A fitted jacket. Sunglasses tucked into my collar. Nothing memorable.

Blending into the crowd was a piece of cake—everyone was engrossed in one activity or the other. I moved stealthily and confidently, my eyes discreetly searching for her.

“Hey, handsome,” a feminine voice called to me.

I stopped in my tracks when a tall brunette dressed in a bikini halted in front of me.

“Are you new?” she asked, cradling a red plastic cup in her hand. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

I could smell the alcohol in her breath, mixed with the sugary scent of her perfume. Her hazel eyes were pinned on me in a rather seductive manner as her teeth grazed her lower lip.

“God, you’re so hot,” she whispered, closing the distance between us.

She was tipsy. And tipsy girls her age in settings like this tended to do something dumb and reckless.

Without a word, I stepped away before she could reach out to me, disappearing into the crowd. I knew she’d be wondering how I vanished before her eyes, but I didn’t bother looking back.

Eventually, I spotted Aria standing near a bonfire with her friends. Her smile was faint, her roaming eyes hinting at the fact that she was more conscious of her surroundings than she was interested in their discussion.

She held a red plastic cup of alcohol but didn’t take a sip. She just stood there, her gaze shifting across the faces in the crowd—analyzing. I watched her from a safe distance, intrigued by how she easily picked up on details around her.

I noticed the way her blue eyes crinkled at the corners each time she forced out a smile. A young man approached her, tall, lean, and masculine. He rubbed his hands in glee, his lustful eyes darting over her body.

My fingers clenched into fists on my sides, my brows furrowing. Why was I pissed off by this man’s presence around her? Why did I feel the urge to go over there and knock him out with a single blow?

He tried to get her attention, but she was more interested in scanning the environment than she was in listening to him. I watched him leave after failing to impress her, and a small, self-satisfied grin tugged at my lips.

She said a few words to her friends and dismissed herself. My heart skipped a beat when she began walking toward me. For a moment there, I thought she actually recognized me or had noticed me staring at her. However, I didn’t move.

A commotion started nearby. Two guys were arguing over something, and fists were already being thrown. I stood there, watching her head toward the chaos behind me, seemingly uninterested—just minding her own business.

It was as though time slowed as she walked past me, her gaze fixed ahead. In an instant, my instinct kicked in, and I reached out to grab her hand. I pulled her to me just before a thrown bottle whisked past her head.

Without hesitation, I yanked her away from the chaos, my arm wrapped protectively around her. She didn’t push me away. Instead, she followed my lead as things began to spiral out of control.

Once we were safe from the commotion, I let go and stepped away before she could make sense of what had just happened. I picked up my pace, leaving even as she called out to me.

“Hey, wait up!” She rushed after me, trying to catch up, but couldn’t match my long strides.

“Aria!” a feminine voice called out to her in the distance.

As I walked away from the scene, I felt her gaze on me, and when I glanced back, I saw her friends pulling her away from the slowly spreading chaos.

Although I’d only held her for a moment, the scent of her perfume filled my space. And even now, feet away from her, it still lingered in the air around me. I headed straight to my vehicle, got inside, and closed the door.

My fingers combed through my hair as I leaned into the driver’s seat, wondering what the hell I was doing. The sound of her voice when she called out to me still echoed in my head, stirring up feelings I wasn’t used to.

“Fuck,” I murmured, massaging my temples.

I couldn’t help wondering what it was about this girl that kept drawing me to her. And the more I thought about it, the less it made sense to me.

Why was I suddenly overly protective of her? Why did I always find myself jumping in to save her from trouble?

Chapter 7 – Aria

“Aria!” Iris rushed to grab me by the wrist.

I was still staring at the man in black as he walked away without looking back when she pulled me out of the chaos. We made our way through the loud crowd, our hands never letting go of each other’s.