Page 3

TWO

AUDREY

OF ALL THE people I thought might come climbing through my bedroom window tonight, Maddox wasn’t at the top of the list. Or the middle.

Or the bottom.

That being said, I’m not exactly upset about it. Outside of one little issue.

“Why didn’t you call and tell me you were coming?

” Even if he couldn’t call me, someone from Alaskan security should have.

I’ve been sitting here in my apartment for days, jumping at every little sound, thinking my time in this world was almost up.

It woulda been real freaking nice to know help was on the way.

“That’s a complicated answer, and I don’t have all the information I need to be able to give it to you.

” Maddox bends down to pick up the baseball bat I’ve been snuggling at night.

“So for now, I’m gonna need you to keep your voice down.

” His eyes narrow on my weapon of choice.

“And you need to put a sock on the end of this thing so whoever you swing it at next can’t take it from you. ”

That has me sealing my lips together and my eyes snapping around the room. Is someone else here? Listening? In need of a baseball bat to their head?

Shit . I don’t have a sock handy.

Maddox shakes his head, like he can hear what I’m thinking. “No one’s inside, but I’m a little concerned about who might be outside.” He’s been speaking softly, but his voice lowers even more. “And I want to be sure there’s no cameras or devices in here before we talk about anything, okay?”

I nod. “Okay,” I whisper, trying to be as quiet as he is.

I knew something was going on. Had a pretty good idea what it was about and who was behind it.

But I didn’t think it had gotten quite far enough that I should be worried about cameras in my apartment.

Not yet, anyway. I did see it heading in that direction though, which is why I’ve been sleeping with a baseball bat while waiting to hear back from Alaskan Security.

I stay by the door as Maddox lays the bat across my dresser and begins to systematically move through the space, checking around door frames and peering at knobs.

He inspects the shelves of my closet and goes through all the items on my bookshelf.

He doesn’t seem to come up with anything, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

When he checks my bedside lamp and peeks behind my headboard, I figure he’s probably finished in here, so I step out of the way, expecting him to come to the door.

But then he reaches for the drawer of my nightstand, and my stomach drops to my feet as I rush to stop him. “ Don’t —”

Shit. The most gorgeous, memorable man I’ve ever met in my life is staring straight at my vibrator. The way his whole body goes still makes it obvious he knows exactly what it is too. Closing my eyes, face on fire, I wait to discover if a person can die from embarrassment.

Apparently that’s not a thing, because I remain living and breathing as he closes the drawer and continues on, acting like nothing happened.

When Maddox straightens and turns to face me, I can’t meet his gaze.

“I need you to do me a favor.” His voice is still low as he continues laying out his request. “Go through your apartment and turn off all the lights. That’ll make it less likely anyone who might be watching can identify me while I do a sweep.”

“I can do that.” I’m actually totally cool with turning off all the lights right now. I’m also cool if he wants to dig me a hole I can crawl into.

I flip off the bedroom light first, breathing a little easier now that I’m not staring down the man who just gave my little lavender friend a long look.

After opening the door, I do the same with the hall light.

The bathroom switch is already off, so I pass it and the darkened kitchen to switch off the lamps and television in the living room.

My place is small, so in under thirty seconds it’s completely dark.

Normally, the reduced visibility would make me uneasy, but I’m actually breathing better than I have in a long damn time. I might be completely mortified right now, but I also feel completely safe for the first time in months, and that’s worth a little embarrassment any day of the week.

Staying quiet so I don’t distract him from this very important task, I watch Maddox in the darkness, eyes adjusting as I track his shadowy movements while he investigates the apartment I currently call home.

It’s nothing like the million-dollar mansion I lived in before, but there’s not enough money in the world to make me go back to the luxurious life I lived. I’d rather die.

I was starting to think that might be a very real possibility.

But now Maddox is here, so maybe everything really will be alright. Maybe it will be possible for me to get through this. For me to move on.

For me to have a life. One I’m in control of. One I enjoy. One that’s not filled with fear and shame and sadness.

It feels like it takes forever, but eventually, Maddox has looked through every inch of my apartment and deems it safe, which I’m going to guess just means no one has hidden any cameras or recording devices in it. Because I am pretty confident I’m about as far from safe as it gets.

And that’s not for lack of trying.

I honestly believed I’d crossed all my Ts and dotted all my Is when I left my husband. I genuinely thought I was smart enough to get away.

But yet again, I think I underestimated Trevor.

“Can I turn the lights back on now?” I’m reaching for one of the lamps when Maddox stops me.

“No. Not tonight.” He pulls out a cell phone, the screen of it offering a tiny bit of illumination in the dark space as he makes a call.

His explanation continues as the line rings, the trill easy to hear in the silence.

“Anyone watching will think you went to bed. Turning off all your lights and then turning them back on will be suspicious.”

A chill snakes down my spine as he confirms my suspicions. “So I am being watched.” It’s not a question.

Whoever Maddox is calling answers, so I don’t get the confirmation I don’t really need.

“I’m in. The place is clear.” Maddox strides to the front window, one long finger reaching out to lift a single slat of the blinds so he can peek outside. “It looks like the car is still out there. Have you seen any movement?”

I know which car he’s talking about. It’s the same one that had me big spooning a baseball bat every night for the past few days.

I hoped I was overreacting. Tried to convince myself I was being paranoid. That there was no way Trevor would have figured out what I’d done. I did my best to believe the unknown car simply belonged to a new neighbor.

Who happened to also occasionally park outside the clothing store I managed.

If I tried hard enough I could convince myself it was possible. Plausible, even.

Which was a ridiculous thing to do considering my history of choosing to see things differently than they actually are.

“Stay on it. I want to know the minute something changes.” Maddox lowers the blind into place and turns to me, his expression nearly impossible to read in the dim lighting. “She’s okay.”

It’s good to hear that I appear okay, even though I’m not confident it’s an accurate assessment.

Maddox reiterates to whoever’s on the other end of the line that he wants to be informed of any changes. Then he hangs up, sliding his phone into one of the pockets on his tactical pants as he looks me over.

“Is that why you called us? Because of the men parked outside?”

Among other things.

I nod. “Yes.” Because if he can claim not to have enough information to give me answers, then I feel like I deserve the same luxury.

Maddox continues studying me in the darkness, making me want to shift on my feet. Can he tell I’m holding back? Is he going to be pissed as hell when he finds out how much more there is to this story?

“How long have they been out there?” he asks.

“Today?” The word comes out on a squeak as the familiar twist of dread ties my belly.

I know I called Alaskan Security for help, but I was thinking they would just send someone big and scary to shoot at anyone who might try to kidnap or kill me.

I didn’t really expect them to ask too many questions. “Or just in general?”

“Both.”

“Well.” I take a deep breath, trying not to fall apart as I face him and the truth.

Silently hoping he handles unpleasant news better than the man in my past. “Today, they’ve been out there since just after lunch.

” I wipe my hands on the front of my pants, attempting to rid my palms of the clamminess collecting there. “In general, about a week.”

“So you waited almost a week to call us?” He doesn’t sound pissed, but he does sound skeptical. I don’t blame him. Any reasonable person in my situation would have assumed seeing the same car everywhere they went meant they were being followed.

But I’m not so sure I’m a reasonable person.

“I didn’t want to be overreacting . ” I didn’t want it to be true .

I wanted everything to work out the way I expected.

For things to slowly find their way into a new sort of normal.

A normal that didn’t involve getting the shit beat out of me when things didn’t go my husband’s way.

Or hearing about what a piece of shit I am every night.

Unfortunately, I’m discovering I don’t simply get to leave those things behind. The universe appears to be more of an exchange type situation.

Now, instead of wondering when I’ll get smacked again, I wonder if someone’s going to come for me in the middle of the night. Instead of hearing what a piece of shit wife I am, I get to be threatened with having my life ruined. Manipulated with promises of money and the return of my dog.

My life is still just as fucked up as it was before, only in new and exciting ways.