Page 93 of The Penalty

I know your weakness now. I’ll find her.

Panic flooded my body. What have I done?

“Stalking is too dramatic. But I have been getting random texts. And today, one of them had a photo attached of me and Hannah at brunch. I don’t know how they got my number.”

This was not fucking okay. “Was there a message?”

“Yeah.” She loosened our embrace, sounding nervous. “Never know who’s watching. It reminded me of—”

Her mouth clamped shut.

“Reminded you of what?” I tried like hell to remain calm and comforting.

“Nothing.” A small head shake. “It’s nothing.”

“Victoria.” I curled my fingers under her chin. “Tell me.”

She fidgeted with her necklace, appearing distracted. Several beats passed before she spoke.

“There’s just been a lot of annoying shit happening this summer. Text messages, my car got vandalized, some guy groped me at dinner and—”

“You were groped? What guy?” Fury crackled through my veins. Taking a breath, I softened the edge of my voice from a command to a request. “What guy?”

“Some asshole propositioned Hannah and I at dinner the other night. He wanted to buy us drinks. We said no thanks. Then he invited us to a sex club.”

My hand clenched.

Stay calm.

“He told me he had a feeling I’d know about it because of the way I looked.”

The muscle in my jaw ticked.

I will flay this bastard alive.

“Then he grabbed me. I shoved him and said he had a small dick. He called me an entitled bitch. I told him to go back to the cave he crawled out from. The end.”

The last part cleared some of the turbulent thoughts running wild in my mind. I was actually impressed by her audaciousness.

“That’s my girl.” I ran a thumb over the elegant line of her jaw. “Do you think he’s behind the texts?”

“No, but I did see the valet hand him an envelope when we left. I assumed there was money in it.” Her tone sharpened. “We were at a trendy restaurant in Manhattan. Certain groups of people know who we are. The players hang out there. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that someone wants to harass either Hannah or myself.”

Victoria closed her eyes and exhaled in frustration before leaning back against the cabinets. A chill set in at the loss of her warmth. When she looked at me, my heart sank. Her expression hardened.

“And if you could fucking tell Bennet fucking Logan to stay the fuck out of my fucking business, I’d appreciate it.”

I waited a beat before responding. “That’s a lot of fucks to give, love.”

Silence.

She glared at me in disbelief, opening her mouth to say something. I was the picture of perfect neutrality. Her lips pressed together, twisting into a reluctant smile. Small, and not what I’d call happy, but better than a scowl.

“That’s the most I’ve heard you swear at one time since we met. Your Ivy League mouth is quite unladylike.”

“Sorry.”

“What did I say about apologizing for things you don’t have to apologize for?” I spread my arms. “Come here.”

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