Page 110 of Theirs to Take

“Thanks, Mina,” Carrie said. “It’s sweet of you to let me stay here tonight. I promise to be out by morning.”

“No, you’ll stay here as long as you need,” Mina insisted. Carrie wanted to point out that her ex would be back soon enough, putting her in danger, but she knew she’d be wasting her breath. She could see how determined Mina was to help her and her father had taught her to never pass up a kindness. Right now, Carrie could use all the kindness she could get.

Evan

Evan picked up some dinner on his way home, and he just couldn’t shake the bad feeling that Carrie was in some kind of trouble. Maybe it was the look on her face earlier, or the way that she looked as though she had been crying, but he felt an inexplicable pull to drive over to her place. He knew where she lived. It was actually one of the buildings that McTavish Industries owned, and his place was just around the corner. Evan quickly convinced himself that checking in on her was the right thing to do and he did a U-turn at his housing development before he could talk himself out of it.

He parked his car in the parking garage and rode the elevator up to the fifth floor. He was pretty sure that he’d seen “Apt. 509” on her HR forms earlier that day. Evan found her place at the end of the hallway and gently knocked on the door. He could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door, and he was pretty sure that she wasn’t alone in her apartment. Evan was also sure that whoever was on the other side of the door was spying on him through the peephole.

“Carrie, it’s me, Evan,” he shouted through the door. He heard her muddled curses and bit back his smile as she pulled her door open.

“Why are you here, Evan?” she asked.

“I can’t explain it, but I was worried about you. I know, it’s weird, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. You seemed upset earlier,” he said.

“I told you that it was just a message from home, and it made me homesick,” she lied. He could tell that she was still scared—he saw the fear in her eyes.

“How about you tell me what has you looking as though you’re terrified, Carrie? Maybe you should call Alex or Rod,” he said.

“No,” she almost shouted. She opened the door wider and pulled him in from her doorstep, quickly shutting the door behind him. “They can’t know what’s happening. They’ll never forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?” Evan asked. He looked down the hallway to find another woman standing in Carrie’s small kitchen.

“That’s Mina, my neighbor,” Carrie said.

“Good to meet you,” Evan said. “What do you need Alex and Rod to forgive you for?” he asked again.

“You wouldn’t understand. Besides, you’re my boss and you’re their partner. You’ll tell them everything and they’ll ship me back to Scotland.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he assured. “You can tell me anything and I won’t tell the guys. I’m your boss and I give you my word that I won’t share anything you don’t want me to share.”

“It’s worth a shot, Carrie,” Mina said. “You can’t keep running.”

“What are you running from?” Evan asked.

“It’s a who,” Carrie almost whispered. “My ex-boyfriend followed me from Scotland, and he’s been here tonight looking for me.”

“It’s why she’s coming to stay over at my place across the hall,” Mina cut in.

“You’re going to hide away from your stalker ex just across the hall from your apartment?” Evan asked.

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds like a bad plan,” she said.

“Because it is a bad plan,” Evan insisted. He was sure that there was a lot more to her story, but he didn’t care about all of the details right now. He just wanted to get her out of there and back to his place where she’d be safe.

“Where is your ex now?” he asked.

“The cops just took him off. He never found me because Mina called them to report him. But they won’t keep him for long. He’s a very powerful man back in Scotland,” Carrie said.

“I’m sure that back in Scotland he’s got allies that will help him out. But here, he’ll have to lawyer up before they release him. That gives us a little bit of time to pack your stuff and get you out of here before he comes back,” Evan insisted.

“That’s the plan and staying at Mina’s will give me a bit of time to figure out my next move,” she said.

“Your next move is going to be over to my place,” Evan said.

“What—no!” Carrie spat. “You’re my boss. I couldn’t possibly move into your place. It would go against every rule that HR has.”

“I don’t give a damn about HR or their rules. I’m telling you that you aren’t staying here. So, you have two choices here. You either come to stay with me, so that I can help you, or you call your cousins and tell them about your ex showing up here. What’s it going to be?” he asked. For some strange reason, Evan found himself hoping that she’d willingly chose the first option.

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