Page 52 of Every Breath

Her heart fluttered. She stroked his cheek. “You say the sweetest things. Now, I really should get going. I promised Mya I would take her to the mall on the way home.”

“By all means, you don’t want to keep the young lady waiting.” He chuckled.

“No. My daughter can be pretty tough when she wants to be.”

“How quaint.” A malevolent voice spoke from behind her.

Mason’s face went beet red. “What the hell are you doing here? You know you’re not supposed to be within one hundred yards of Brandi.”

Brandi turned to see Rodney standing behind her. What was he doing here? A couple of months ago she would have never suspected him of stalking her, but after the night she broke their engagement, she took the necessary precautions to keep him away from her and the children. She been very careful in the way she told her children about her broken engagement, letting them know that no one was to blame, but that she felt it was for the best that she and Rodney separate. Surprisingly, they both seemed fine with it, DJ especially.

Since then, he left hundreds of messages on her answering machine and cell phone. It had gotten to the point where the children were questioning why he was calling so much. If the sheer volume of the calls didn’t give her cause for alarm, then the nature of the messages did.

In the beginning, the messages had been apologetic in tone, then they progressively became more belligerent. “No one will love you like I do. No one.” That message chilled her to the bone. The very next day she changed her numbers.

She also received daily deliveries of flowers at her office with equally chilling messages. Why had she never noticed that Rodney was like this? From his reaction to the breakup, she wished she kicked him to the curb sooner.

Who knew what would have happened had she gone through with the wedding. Any gratitude she felt because he’d been there for her during a tough time in her life flew out of the window with his actions.

“This is a public park. How was I to know you would be here?” Rodney’s hazel eyes surveyed her face and she shivered at the possessive look he shot her. “You look beautiful, Brandi.”

“Rodney, you know I have a restraining order against you. If I call the police, you will get arrested. We need get going. Come on, Mason.”

Mason never took his eyes from Rodney. “Sure.” He put his arm around Brandi’s shoulders, and they would have walked away if Rodney had not stepped in their path.

“Move!” Mason growled.

Brandi tried a more reasonable approach. “Please leave us alone, Rodney.”

Rodney’s nostrils flared. “You stand there and tell me to leave you alone as if I don’t matter? As if we didn’t have something special?”

She opened her mouth, but Mason jumped in before she had a chance to speak.

“Brandi has asked you to leave her alone and I suggest you do so.”

Rodney advanced on them, and Mason moved in front of Brandi.

“And what are you going to do about it, white boy? You have no idea what I can do to you. Stay out of this; it’s between me and Brandi.”

“Are you threatening me?” Mason asked, showing absolutely no fear.

“I don’t make threats, pal. Threats are for people who don’t plan on following through. I make promises.”

“Rodney, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re acting crazy!” Brandi couldn’t believe this exchange.

“Brandi, I’m only crazy in love with you. Can’t you see this guy is no good for you? He’s not good enough to wipe your feet on.”

“I’m warning you, Rodney.” Mason’s teeth were clenched.

“Warning me? I should be warning Brandi.” Rodney smiled. “You seem to think Mason Collins is such a paragon, but did you know that he was a deadbeat dad? I have it from a very reliable source that as rich as he is, he has been late with his child support payments on several occasions.”

“You’re making that up!”

“Am I? It’s in the public records if you want to check for yourself. If that doesn’t bother you, then how about what he did to his poor sweet mother? Right after his father died, he put her in one of the worse nursing homes in the state. And let’s not forget that he’s a serial cheater.” Rodney smirked triumphantly. “Mason, why don’t you tell her how your first wife committed suicide? I guess she got fed up with the way you treated her.”

Brandi gasped. Why was Rodney making up lies about Mason? She knew in her heart he was a good person. He just wasn’t capable of these things.

“Rodney, I don’t know what you think you’ll gain by making up these lies, but you need to get the hell out of my face before I put my foot up your ass.” She placed her hands on her hips and tipped her head back to so he could see the anger in her eyes.

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