Page 63 of Stalker

“You can do this.” I whispered to myself, trying to make myself feel as brave as I had been earlier when I hatched myGet Dane Backplan.

My hands shook as I grabbed the handle and opened the door. I couldn’t back down though, I was too far in. Hell, I’d even sent Olivia a location pin and told her if I didn’t check back in within three hours to send the authorities. I wouldn’t be surprised if she showed up in place of the police long before the three-hour window, though, given how she already threatened to drag me back home after finding the hacker bug Dane left on my computer.

So I had to keep going. One foot in front of the other, my favorite red bottom heels that Dane bought me clicked against the sticky brickfloor as I walked deeper into the biker bar he sent me to the first night he chased me.

My dress was so indecent; I belonged in a centerfold instead of surrounded by dirty, disgusting men who were just stupid enough to take what wasn’t theirs. I really hoped I hadn’t overestimated whatever invisible barrier held them back from actually touching me last time.

If I did, then the new toy I bought earlier at the sporting goods store would get used without a second thought. But I didn’t think I’d need it.

I was banking on Dane breaking his silence.

Didn’t mean my asshole wasn’t puckered tight with fear as the whole place fell silent as I walked across the place to the bar. I kept my head high, ignoring the whistles and leers as I slid onto the same barstool I sat on the night I met Dane.

The same female bartender from that night came over right away and leaned over the polished surface. “Are you nuts?” She hissed, leaning over the top. “You need to go.”

“I need a strawberry margarita, please.” I said back, trying to be polite, because she wasn’t wrong. Placing my phone on the top of the bar, I hoped Dane was getting an eyeful of my surroundings.

“He’s not here.” The bartender widened her eyes.

“Who?”

“The Ghost.” She whispered, looking at me like I was dumb when she was talking in tongues. “The only reason you made it out last time was because he orchestrated the entire thing, sitting right there to make sure no one stepped out of bounds.” She nodded to the corner of the bar and I looked over my shoulder at a dark booth along the edge.

He would have had a perfectly clear view of every inch of the place from there.

One time, I’d asked out loud if he was watching me as I stared at my phone. He had texted back almost instantly,Always Puppet.

Which was obviously a lie. Because I had told him I changed my mind. God, what I wouldn’t do to take those words back in the heat of the moment.

“They’re rough tonight.” She tried once more, setting down a drink in front of me. A coke. “Rougher than normal, and that’s saying something. So drink your drink if you must and then get the fuck out of here before something happens that you won’t survive.” She looked down at my dress and shook her head.

I nodded to her, grimacing at the chiding. She wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t either, though. I had no other way to get Dane’s attention besides throwing myself into the literal lion’s den and hoping he showed up before they tore me to shreds.

“Well, well, well.” A man took the seat next to me, sitting with his back against the bar and leaning toward me as the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke assaulted me. “Look at this pretty kitty all alone in the dog pound.”

I glanced up at him briefly and then turned my attention back to my drink, no longer interested in it.

“Pretty little kitty didn’t bring her escort with her tonight.” Another man sat on the other side of me. They were the two that sat down beside me that first night too. The first man had a patch on his leather vest that said President under his name, Blade. I’d watched enough Sons of Anarchy to know he was the leader of the group.

I also knew if anyone in the place was going to call the shots, it’d be him.

“How do you know?” I looked over at the other guy, noting the VP patch on his vest. “Do you always see him when he’s around?”

I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was saying, but I had to think on my toes to keep myself safe long enough to give Dane a chance to figure out what I was up to. If I ran with my tail between my legs in the first two minutes, I may not make it out alive.

I kept my face forward, but noted the way the VP looked around me to Blade, like what I said wasn’t farfetched.

“You do call him the Ghost, don’t you?” I tried to be as non-chalant as possible, using the tidbit of knowledge the bartender had given me.

“I don’t call him anything.” Blade gruffed, leaning his elbow on the bar so his hand brushed against my bare arm. He was an ugly motherfucker, and he smelled even worse, and as he leaned over to intimidate me even more, I nearly threw up in his lap from the disgusting color of his teeth. “I will callyousomething though,” He rubbed his knuckles up my upper arm. “Kitty.”

“That’d be silly.” I scoffed and turned to him. “Because I fight like a fucking bear.” I slid my hand into my purse on my lap, gripping my new toy tight in my palm in case I needed it. I knew for a fact I wouldn’t get out of the crowded bar with just it defending me, but I was sure it’d shock the fuck out of whoever tried to stop me first and maybe even second, no pun intended.

Blade grinned and opened his mouth to say something when his phone rang loudly in his pocket. At the very same time, my screen lit up on my phone laid on the bar.

My heart raced when I recognized the same inconspicuous text bubble front and center.

Get the fuck out of there. NOW!

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