Page 17 of Stalked & Bred by the BRATVA
She jumps, whirls around, nearly knocking the stack out of her hands. Her chest rises fast, eyes wide. But she doesn’t scream.
I step closer. “You don’t lock the linen room door.”
Her lips part. “You scared me.”
I reach past her to take the towels, set them aside on the shelf behind her. “You’ve already seen me at night. You’ve already felt me touch you. And you’re still standing here.”
Her throat moves as she swallows. “You can’t just walk into my room whenever you like.”
“I already have.”
“That’s not—” she cuts herself off, jaw clenching. Her voice is shaking, but there’s anger in it too. “You don’t get to stalk me and sneak into my bedroom and leave me things and then pretend this is normal.”
I arch a brow. “You think I’m pretending?”
“You left a photo,” she says. “A note. You watched me sleep.”
I don’t deny it.
She takes a shaky breath. “I thought… at first, I thought it was him.”
I freeze.
The words settle between us like a crack splitting through concrete.
“Who?” I ask, low and sharp.
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Say it.”
“No.”
“Sarah.”
The sound of her name in my voice stops her. She looks at me, blinking like she’s surprised I even know it.
“You were afraid it was someone else,” I say. “Who?”
She hesitates. Her fingers tighten around the edge of the shelf behind her. “My brother.”
The moment the word leaves her mouth, something shifts in me.
I already knew. Of course I knew. I’ve seen the file. I’ve seen the bruises. I’ve watched the way she flinches at certain sounds, certain shadows.
But hearing her say it?
That’s different.
It makes everything sharp. Immediate.
“You thoughthewas the one in your room?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer, but her eyes drop. Shame.
That look nearly undoes me.
I move closer, caging her between my arms, one hand braced on the shelf beside her head. She tenses, breath catching, but she doesn’t back away.
