Page 25 of Offside Angel

“And I’m here!” I throw my arms wide. “I’m home with him.”

He arches a brow. “Do I really need to explain to you of all people that your past doesn’t always pack away in a nice little box when you’re done with it? Shit like that doesn’t just go away, Mira. You’re here, but now, Zane has to figure out how to keep you here.”

“Then his job is done. Consider me a kept woman,” I say. “I mean, I agreed to letting you follow me around like a stalker for the foreseeable future. That’s about as ‘kept’ as I can be.”

“You’re going to have to give him some time,” he replies. “You’re also going to have to stop calling me a ‘stalker.’ I have baggage of my own, you know?”

I don’t want to pry, but Evan must be able to read the frown on my face, because he continues with a sigh.

“A friend of mine had a stalker. An asshole ex-husband. It was a bad situation.”

“Shit.” My shoulders droop. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have said that If I knew?—”

He waves me off. “It’s really fine. I know you didn’t mean it like that. But that friend is why I got into security in the first place, and I take stalking seriously. More seriously than the fucking police do half the time, frankly.”

I drop down onto the bench to shove my gear back into my duffel. Aiden and Zane will be back from school soon, and I want to be showered by the time they’re back.

“Can I ask what happened to your friend? Are they okay?”

Evan smiles. “She’s fine. Living in California now with her new husband and their Goldendoodle. I get Christmas cards—a saving-her-life perk, I guess.”

“You saved her life?”

He shrugs humbly. “Kind of.”

“Okay, well, that means you definitely saved her life. It’s always the biggest heroes who act like they didn’t do anything. Can I hear the story?”

Evan drags a hand across the back of his neck. “There isn’t much to it. She grew up in an abusive home—kind of like you in that regard. Except, instead of getting out and finding someone nice like Zane, she found Tom.”

I groan. “I hate him already.”

“That’s how I felt,” he agrees. “I’d known Sariah since we were teenagers, and the moment I met Tom, I knew he was a piece of shit. But she swore she was happy and things were great. Then I saw her walking around town with a black eye. She finally told me the truth about Tom and I helped her move out of their apartment the next day. She lived with me for a few weeks.”

I wag my brows in question and Evan shakes his head. “Nothing like that. We were always just friends. As soon as she could afford it, she got her own apartment. But Tom found her. Within a couple days of getting the keys, he was knocking on her door every night, all night.”

“Did she call the police?” I ask.

“Would you have?” he retorts.

“That’s—” I chew on my lower lip. “It’s different. I’m wanted for questioning in a murder. I can’t exactly trust the police.”

“Yeah, well, neither could Sariah. She had some priors: minor stuff that stemmed from the rough childhood she had. Even though she was clean, she didn’t trust the police. She called me, instead.” Evan’s eyes go glassy as he relives it all. “I slept over at her house the next night. The plan was for me to answer the door when he knocked and tell Tom to fucking beat it. Except, he didn’t knock—he blew through the door with a shotgun.”

I gasp. “Shit, Evan! What did you do?”

“I disarmed him,” he says, the same way I’d say I shook someone’s hand or waved hello. “I got the gun away, pinned him to the floor, and called the police.”

“Did he go to prison?”

“Apparently, the only way he could go to prison for attempted murder is if I’d let him fire off a few more shots in the apartment first. I was too good at my job and all he got was breaking and entering.” Evan snorts bitterly. “But he went away for six years before he got out for ‘good behavior.’ Whatever the fuck that means. It was enough time for Sariah to get out of town and start over, so that’s all that matters to me.”

I’m listening to Evan’s story, but I’m also spiraling into a panic.

What kind of charges could they pin against Dante if he gets arrested? My brother hasn’t touched me. Not since the night I fled that house. Maybe his calls to Hanna and Zane could be considered stalking? He broke down the door at my last apartment, but I doubt there’s any footage to verify that.

If Zane and Evan catch him and he gets sent to prison, it probably won’t be for long. He’ll come back.

And I’ll be right back where I started.

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