Page 127 of Fixation

The porch glows under the lantern’s flicker. A shadow looms behind the frosted glass beside my door.

A broad silhouette, unmoving. Watching.

A scream lodges in my throat. My hand flies to my collarbone, but no voice comes out.

This isn’t the man Anderson warned me about.

It’s Anderson himself. The scariest and most attractive one of them all.

A hand slams on the glass, in the same way I flattened on my wall a minute ago.

Only difference is this one is bigger. More terrifying.

Monstrous.

His hand has the power to choke me.

To love me.

“Harper,” he says, and at the same time, I find my voice.

I scream.

21

ANDERSON

Showing up at Harper’s home when she’s already up means one thing.

I’m late. I should’ve been here earlier to take care of what’s mine.

Swapping her birth control pills would’ve come first. Second, I’d hug her while she slept.

But I fucked up. She’s awake.

I would’ve gotten here sooner, but I had to catch a couple of hours of sleep. Except I never got to actually sleep. I was in hell.

In what had to be the longest nightmare of my life, I got a clear vision of what would happen if I failed to protect Harper.

Sergey and Stas had her bound to an old bed. They forced me to watch as both of them raped her. Held my eyes open with duct tape, and my wrists and ankles tied to a chair.

She wasn’t moaning for them. Wasn’t coming.

She was bleeding out of her ass.

Crying in real pain.

Her gaze was anguished.

Unlike the times I had her, there was nothing sexy about that.

I woke up drenched in sweat, showered, threw on my scrubs, and slung my backpack over my shoulder. Then I scanned the entire neighborhood for either one of them.

Stas, that son of a bitch, stayed gone. If I had to guess, he’d only shown up to threaten me.

He didn’t see me last night, but I saw him. After telling Harper to wait for me, I jogged to the closest payphone and called in suspicious activity. The police cruiser must’ve been enough to scare the lurking bastard off.

Only after making sure no one was stalking us did I head to Harper’s front door.