Page 18 of Shadow’s Protection (Hurricane Heat MC #1)

Violet

When I wake up, I don’t know if it’s been two days or two years. My body is sore and satisfied, and my mind is happy, content, and, oddly, I feel at ease.

My eyes are sealed like they are glued shut, so I squint them open and check the clock on Shadow’s bedside table. Phew. It’s not even lunchtime.

I roll my shoulders and slide out from under Shadow’s heavy limbs. He’s snoring lightly, so I go into his bathroom, pee, wash my hands, and clean up a bit. Even though we used a condom, I came so many times, I feel wet and sticky everywhere.

I have to balance my hands on the sink and gather my strength. I need a big glass of water and a good meal. Shaking legs, tired-out lady bits, a smile that won’t wipe itself off my face. In my entire life, I’ve never, ever felt this way.

I can’t help the smile that crosses my face.

I was so pissed off when he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder like a rag doll.

That was some impressive feat, because I am not a small girl.

But then it was like all that anger and emotion just…

I don’t know, went away. We worked it out or banged it out.

The smile I can’t wipe from my face gets even bigger. Me. Violet James. Banging out my emotions.

I’m drying my hands when it comes back to me.

Clive.

I pad back to bed and crawl back under the covers, trying to banish the idea of Clive from my thoughts. It doesn’t work.

“Why the frown, sweetheart? You okay?”

I peer up at Shadow, who looks wide awake. I snuggle down against his chest. He pulls the covers up over me and kisses my forehead.

“Yes,” I say. “I’m okay. Just sad and a bit confused, I guess.”

Shadow stiffens beneath me but wraps me tighter in his arms. “Confused about what?”

“After I left Clive, some days I felt like he followed me.” I trace the tattoos on Shadow’s chest with my fingers.

“It was the weirdest thing, and I know it’s not possible.

But things that unsettled me kept happening.

He’d text and ask me if I had time to talk to him.

I’d tell him no, that I was doing whatever I was doing.

Going out, running errands. I never told him exactly what I was doing, not for real, but I always had a reason why we couldn’t talk or see each other.

And somehow, more often than not, he’d end up showing up wherever I was not long after I got there. ”

I can feel Shadow’s heart thundering beneath my ear, and I turn my cheek and give his chest a light kiss before continuing.

“I just don’t get it,” I admit. “He knows I don’t want him.

He knows I’m moving on. The job I took, the new one here in Tampa, I accepted it because I wanted to get away from Clive.

Move somewhere I could live, go to work, go to the store or the library and not constantly look over my shoulder and watch out for my ex.

But something he said on the phone today, Shadow. It didn’t sit right with me.”

I think back to what he’d screamed into the phone while I was in my car. About knowing where I was and making me pay.

I look up into Shadow’s face. “I honestly felt like he knew where I was,” I whisper.

“And he sounded pissed. A different kind of pissed. When he said he was going to make me pay, I believed he really meant it, Shadow. I never thought he’d actually go out of his way to hurt me before, but now, I’m honestly not sure.

I came back because I didn’t know where to go.

This is the only place I can think of where he won’t know how to find me. ”

I roll onto my stomach and prop my hands under my chin. I close my eyes. “That’s why I came back at first,” I say, that smile claiming my entire face again. “I really was mad that you’d talked to Clive.” I sigh. “I don’t want him and you mixed up together. It’s not, I don’t know…”

Shadow is so still for a minute, I think he’s stopped breathing, but he’s suddenly out of bed like a shot went off. “Get dressed,” he says, pulling on his jeans and boots. “Get up, Violet. Get your clothes on.”

“What?” I ask. I scramble out of bed and hurriedly put myself back together while Shadow tugs a T-shirt over his chest and opens the door. “Shadow, what is it?” I’m still sliding into my sneakers when he shouts down the corridor.

“I need all hands out back.”

I follow him through the main room and out into the parking lot. Six guys have assembled in the lot. Two of the prospects, including the one they call Jizzy, Savage, Blade, Hawk, and Viper. Shadow points to my car. “Sweep for a tracker,” he tells them. “Tear that fucking thing inside out.”

Immediately, they go to work, popping the hood, the trunk. Two prospects slide under the car, and two of the other guys climb inside.

“A tracker?” Stunned, I echo Shadow’s words, a sick feeling stirring in my stomach. What does he mean, a tracker? “Do you really think…”

I look up into Shadow’s eyes, his lips set in a deep frown.

He doesn’t have to respond. I know what he thinks.

He thinks Clive’s been tracking my movements somehow.

And to do that, he needs a device. If it’s not in my car, it’s…

I think of the phone in my yoga pants. My laptop.

I have no understanding of this kind of thing.

Could he have been monitoring me all this time?

And if he has, maybe he knows where I am right now and just couldn’t get to me because of the storm.

A full-body tremor tears through me, and I wrap my hands around my arms, shaking uncontrollably. I don’t want to think that Clive is capable of that, of violating my privacy and following me. I don’t want to think it, can’t believe it, and yet…

“Shadow, do you think he’s been following me?” My voice is a whisper.

“We’ll find out for sure.” Shadow sounds convinced. “But it damn sure sounds like it.”

No, no, no, no.

This is too much. This isn’t fair.

Shadow didn’t sign up for this. He offered a woman in distress a place to crash for the night. He didn’t ask to get mixed up with an ex who may or may not be a bona fide stalker. I can’t involve him in this.

“No, stop.” I shake my head. “Tell them to stop, Shadow. This is too much. I’m not your problem. You gave me a place to stay, but this?” I sweep my hand toward my car. “I can’t make whatever this thing is with Clive your problem. He could be really dangerous.”

Shadow takes my hand and lowers it, then holds it between his. He strokes the back of my hand with his thumb and leans down to meet my eyes. He lifts a brow. “Dangerous?” He squeezes my hand in both of his. “You think we’re not used to a little danger?”

His words are interrupted by my phone ringing. I shake my head. I’m going to ignore it.

“The minute I laid eyes on you, I knew you were gonna be a problem, and yet I brought you here anyway,” he says. “And once I stuck my dick in you, you became my problem. Mine , Violet.”

It’s not a ringtone I have programmed in, so the incessant ringing makes me panicky, edgy. “I’m sorry. Let me just make sure it’s not him.” I grab the phone from my pocket. When I answer the call, my voice is guarded. “Hello?”

“Violet James?” asks a woman I don’t recognize.

“Yes, this is,” I say.

“Oh, good. I’m glad you picked up. We were without power for a few days due to the storm, or I would have called you sooner. This is Margaret Thompson, from public school district…”

I remember the voice now. “Of course, Margaret. Hi, hello. Is everything okay?”

I passed the background check and sent in all my required employment documents weeks ago.

I am scheduled to get the keys to my new condo as soon as the association can schedule the final walk-through.

The storm is likely going to delay that for some time.

In fact, I don’t know when I’ll be able to actually feel at home again, but as I listen to the woman on the phone, it’s as if my entire new life flashes before my eyes.

“So, you see, Ms. James, the medical leave that our previous librarian intended to take has been postponed until summer break. Under our seniority policy, we’re obligated to take the other librarian back. Unfortunately, that means we will have to rescind the job offer we made to you.”

“Rescind?” I echo her word. “What do you mean, rescind? You can just take it back?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what we mean. Unfortunately, we no longer have a vacancy. The librarian who intended to go on leave?—”

“No, I’m sorry. I heard what you said. I just don’t understand. You offered me a job. I accepted that job. I quit my old position and moved to Tampa. I rented out my townhouse. I?—”

“Well, I’m very sorry, Ms. James, but there is nothing we can do about all that. If you read the offer letter, it did clearly state in the fifth paragraph that the offer was contingent upon us having a vacancy, and if at any time the vacancy was filled by a change in the proposed leave?—”

I stop listening then and there. It doesn’t matter what she says. What the letter I signed says.

I have no job.

That is it.

The reality.

I quit a job, and now, I have no job.

I moved away to try to leave Clive, and there might be no escaping him. I have no job.

I’m screwed.

“Wait,” I say, not caring that I’m interrupting her. “So, if there’s no job vacancy, there’s no separation package. No severance pay? No benefits of any kind? Is that right?”

“No, Ms. James. Your offer has been rescinded, so you never had a job with this district. That means no employment date, so no compensation will be paid. And, of course, no benefits. We’re terribly sorry, and if anything changes, you’ll be the first to?—”

I swipe the touchscreen to end the call, and I just can’t help it. My hand goes weak, and my phone clatters from my fingers to the concrete.

“Violet, what the fuck?” Shadow bends down and checks the phone for damage.

Well, at least I have that much luck. My phone is just fine. I, on the other hand…