Page 66 of Erik's Redemption
Her skin grew clammy. “He didn’t hurt me, and he’s not out there…because I shot and killed him that night.”
A heavy pause followed, and for a moment, she couldn’t look up. Because then he’d see everything. The darkness that had been a part of her since that night. The way her actions had affected her on such a deep level.
The man had deserved to die, but taking a life at sixteen…a person didn’t come out of that unscathed.
Warm fingers touched her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. Erik’s expression wasn’t judgmental. Instead, he was frowning like he was trying to understand. “If you shot and killedhim, that would have been on the background check I pulled on you. It wasn’t.”
Her fingers dug into her palms. “Because the police never found out. I panicked. I’d basically broken into the house, going in through a window. And I was scared law enforcement wouldn’t believe that I’d acted in self-defense. When I’d told the police he attempted to rape me, some officers had looked at me like I was just another lying, troublemaking foster kid.”
She knew the exact moment it clicked for Erik. The frown smoothed out, and his chest rose and fell in one long breath. “Nico covered it up for you.”
She nodded, a tear falling down her cheek. “He got rid of the body and cleaned up, so it looked like I was never there. As far as everyone was concerned, Clarence Burns jumped bail to avoid facing trial.”
He leaned forward, swiping away a tear. “Angel, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
She tilted her head, leaning into his warm touch.
“How does that relate to what happened today?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing the words out. “I’ve been getting messages for the last month. That one you saw on my desk…and texts. Telling me they know what I did. Then yesterday, someone left a photo of Clarence on my car windshield.”
Erik’s brows slashed together. “Yesterday?”
“I found it when I left the hospital.”
He cursed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were already dealing with everything with your dad. I didn’t want to add to it.”
He leaned his head closer. “Angel…alwaystell me. No matter what else I’m dealing with or where you and I are in our relationship, your safety is my first priority. Always.”
She gave one quick nod.
His thumb swiped her cheek. “What else?”
“When I went back into the house the second time today, someone had added Clarence’s name on my iPad to the list of people who’d attended the open. And when the guy had me pressed to the wall, he said something.”
Erik’s jaw clenched. “What did he say?”
“That he was going make me hurt for what I did to Clarence.”
If she’d thought she’d seen anger on Erik’s face before, that was nothing compared to now. He looked ready to hunt this stalker down and end him.
CHAPTER 23
Hannah read and re-read the same sentence five times. God, she was so tired she couldn’t concentrate. Not only that, but she’d been feeling nauseous since the attack.
Days had passed, yet she still didn’t feel like herself. She probably wouldn’t until she knew exactly who was behind it.
Dread pooled in her belly at the idea that someone in the world apart from her and Erik knew what she’d done. They didn’t seem to have evidence…or if they did, they weren’t using it.
The nausea in her belly rolled as a knock came at her office door. Her gaze shot up to see Leo standing there, an easy smile on his face. “Hey. I’m just heading out for coffee. Want to join? I can act as your personal bodyguard.”
Despite everything, a smile curved her lips. Leo had become a good friend. He was easy to talk to, soft-spoken, and he’d helped her out on so many occasions that she’d be forever indebted to the man. “Thank you, but I’m actually having lunch with my friends today. I haven’t had a chance to visit with them since the…incident.”
Everyone in the office had received the same version of events as the police. They knew that she’d been attacked but not that Clarence’s name had been placed on her iPad. And of course, no one knew what her attacker had said to her.
He cocked his head. “Ah. Well, I hope it goes all right.”
