Page 9 of Dark Biker Protector

I could tell she didn’t want to talk about this. But, after how hard she had gone after me for this interview, the least she could do was tell me what was on her mind, right?

"Look, it’s just that I had this ex back where I used to live who...gave me some trouble after we split," she explained quickly, not quite looking me in the eyes. "He didn’t do well hearing no. And he stuck around even after I tried to call things off with him."

I narrowed my eyes.

"And he’s here now?"

"I’ve got no reason to think so," she replied. "I’m just paranoid."

"Something happened recently?"

She paused for a moment, and, in that second, I was certain she was going to tell me everything – that she was going to spill the truth of everything that had been going on with her, everything she had been trying to keep to herself all this time.

But then, she shook her head.

"No, nothing."

I sighed, leaning back in my seat, not breaking her gaze for an instant. This was all too familiar. The way she was playing it down, acting as though there was no real problem when I could tell there was. She didn’t want to talk about it, not with me, but that didn’t mean that I was going to let her walk out of here with nothing to show for it.

"You need help?" I asked her bluntly. She frowned.

"Help like what?"

"Help from us."

"What help could you give me?" she asked, almost laughing as she spoke the words like they seemed ridiculous to her. I bristled slightly.

"Guards," I replied. "Someone to keep watch on you. Make sure you weren’t being followed or watched."

Her eyes flashed with some emotion, and she nibbled on her lower lip – I couldn’t help but let my gaze be drawn down to it, the fullness of her mouth as she pondered my offer. But then she shook her head.

"I told you, I’m fine," she replied, guising her voice with a fake brightness. "You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself."

"If you’re sure..."

"I’m sure," she replied, a little more firmly than she needed to. As though she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince me. "Anyway, where were we...?"

She hit me with a few more questions, but I could tell her focus right now was trying to deflect from whatever worry was going on inside her head in that moment – she didn’t want me freaking out on her or getting involved with what was going on in her life.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to keep an eye out for her. I knew how hard it could be to shake a guy like that once he got his claws into a girl he wanted – and how little the cops would do to keep her safe.

She might not want our help, but she also might need it more than she knew.

Chapter Five – Abbey

I see him outside of my apartment building. Standing by the window to my bedroom, staring inside, that twisted smile on his face, like he knows he has gotten me right where he wants me. As he knows there is no way out for me. My heart pounds in my chest, and I stare at him, those sharklike gray eyes meeting mine with the cool, calm collectedness I have come to expect from this man. This is what he wants from me...my fear, my terror. And, right now, there’s nothing I can do but give it to him. I want to scream, but nothing will come out of my mouth – the sound of it hitches at the back of my throat. And, even if I scream, I know nobody will be able to hear me – there is nobody else in this city but me and him, him and me, and he will finally have me. Finally get his hands on me.

Finally, be able to do whatever he wants to me.

He lifts his hand and slams it into the glass of the window, over and over again, until the whole thing shakes under his touch. Oh, God. I try to step back, but I can’t get away in time. My feet are rooted to the ground as I watch the glass buckle beneath his hands, and I know it’s only a matter of time before it gives out beneath him. Suddenly, a spiderweb of cracks spreads out over the glass before me, and I lift my hands to protect myself from the spray of it coming right at my-

I sat bolt-upright in bed, heart pounding, head throbbing, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as I panted raggedly. Where the fuck was I? I reached around, feeling the blankets beneath my fists, and took a deep, shaky breath. I was fine. I was safe. I just needed to calm down, and I would be fine.

I sank back into the pillows and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ground myself back here in this moment again. I couldn’t believe this was happening. It had been weeks since I’d had any nightmares about Franco, but the sight of that graffiti had left me on-edge and nervous in ways I hadn’t been before.

Even Chuck had noticed it when I had interviewed him the day before, though I had done my level best to cover it up. I felt like it must have been obvious to him, the way I was jumping at every little thing, freaking out like I had something to be scared of. It annoyed me; after so long trying to get that interview, when the time had come to actually do it, I had been hardly able to focus because I had been so distracted with what was going on inside my head. I needed to get my shit together, urgently, or else I was going to miss out on more opportunities in the future.

Cinnamon lifted his head from his tail where he had curled up at the end of the bed, hitting me with a bleary expression.

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