Page 21 of A Dangerous Way to Love (Dangerous Bonds 3)

I was glad I drove the Charger tonight. I hopped in the driver’s seat and floored it all the way to her house. On the way over, I called her phone several times, but the calls went straight to voicemail, which only heightened my concern.

When I saw an empty white Range Rover parked a few doors down from Alise’s place, at a vacant house, I lost it. He was here. That punk knew not to come to the club, so he followed her here. Now, I had to do to him what I should have done the night I went to his house. See, I give my enemies a little rope, and they use the whole damn thing to hang themselves.

“Motherfucker!” I said as I hopped out of my car and sprinted to Alise’s door. If Van had harmed one hair on her head, not only was I going to dismantle him, but Dimir’s ass was next.

Relief calmed me a little when Alise came to the door with a wine bottle in her hand. She looked like she wanted to wield it at me, but I was just glad to see that she was home and safe. Classical music played in her house, and the scent of lavender hit me as soon as she opened the door. This setting did not go along with Van’s empty vehicle being parked a few houses down. If he wasn’t inside with Alise, where was he?

“What are you doing here, Bruiser?”

“You slipped away from us.”

“I told you that I wouldn’t need you guys every night. Well, tonight is a night where I’m good…”

“No, you’re not. Let me come in.”

Now that I knew she was safe, I was going to search her townhouse from corner to corner to make sure Van wasn’t hiding out, waiting for the right time to make himself known. After I searched the house, I planned to stay the night to make sure she didn’t slip out of my reach again. If I had to protect her against her will, that’s what I would do.

“Bruiser, I said no—”

I pushed past her and walked into the house. It was warm and cozy feeling inside and definitely decorated by a woman.

“Why are you here? Get out,” she argued.

“Stop being bullheaded, Alise. You have no idea what kind of danger you are in.”

“Oh, yeah? What kind of danger am I in?” she mocked.

I didn’t want to yell at her and tell her to stop taking this so lightly. Had I not come here tonight, I had no doubt that Van was going to make a move. His vehicle was parked right outside, and there was no way I was going to leave here without putting some lead in him first. I meticulously searched each room, one at a time. I looked under furniture, inside the closets, and I didn’t see a trace of him.

Alise followed me suspiciously as I searched her house.

“I don’t need you doing that. This is my house. What part of I can take care of myself is it that you don’t get?” she yelled when I looked under her bed. A little black and gold box with the label “Bedroom Kandi” sat in a neat little corner. I smiled. Now, I understood why she was yelling so much about me going under her bed.

“Alise, I know you can take care of yourself, but I can take care of you better.”

“And what makes you the authority on taking care of me, Bruiser? For all I know, you could have come here to hurt me just like Van.”

I looked into her eyes and saw that she didn’t honestly believe there was a chance that I was there to cause her any harm. If only she knew, I would hurt her, but in only the best possible way.

“I could be here to hurt you,” I replied. “But the way I would hurt you, you would be begging me to hurt you every time you see me.” We were past formalities at this point. I had just stumbled upon her bedroom toy stash, and the embarrassment on her face had been priceless.

“Bruiser,” she started.

“Do you really want to chase that rabbit down the hole? Pun intended.”

Her mouth snapped shut.

“Yeah, you really don’t want to go there, do you?” I asked.

“What I want is an evening alone, without any worries or drama.”

“Stop fighting me then. I’m only here to help you.”

“But you’re not telling me anything. Like why are you searching my house like this?”

“His Range. It’s parked a few houses down at the vacant house your neighbor moved out of last week.”

“Huh?” she said and turned around and walked to her front door, flung it open, and looked outside. “There is no one at that house. Not a Range. Not Van. Not one soul...”

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