AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alistair watches me in alarm. “So, you’d describe him as unbalanced, then? Violent?”
I swallow. “Yes. I ended the relationship as soon as he began physically assaulting me, but he wouldn’t go away. Threatened me. Threatened … all kinds of things.”
Alistair comes back to the sofa and sits with me, his warm hand on my back. “That’s enough; that’s all we need to know. I don’t want you to have to think about him.” He says the last part through clenched teeth, trying to hide his anger while he comforts me. But I see violence in his eyes. Razor blades and fire.
“I’m scared,” I whimper.
Alistair sweeps me into another full-body hug. “We’re going to take care of this. I’ll never let anything happen to you, do you understand me? Never.”
But he has misunderstood me. I’m not only scared of Jeff. I’m scared of him, too. Scared of what I don’t know about him. Scared of what he is capable of. But most of all, I’m scared of losing him.
Chapter 33
The Match
Alistair briefs the guys outside. I hear him and Henderson exchanging ideas on what to do next. They decide to search Jeff’s residence. Unsurprisingly, there is no mention of getting the authorities involved. Anxiety zings through my body, as if every cell is vibrating with nervous energy. I feel like I can’t breathe properly. Can’t get enough air into my lungs.
I can’t believe that we were fighting over a dinner reservation earlier.
“I need to take a walk,” I tell Alistair when he returns. “If I stay cooped up here, I’ll go mad.” What if it takes weeks to find Jeff? There’s no way I’m being held prisoner here.
I see his jaw clench. He wants to refuse but thinks better of it. “There will be conditions,” he warns.
I nod. Bring them on! I’ll do anything for fresh air.
Alistair grabs a box from the hallway.
“A gift!” he announces. “Not the most romantic one, but there’ll be time for that.”
I frown at him, then take the package and tear it open. A bulletproof vest. I hold it up.
Alistair nods approvingly. “I have no doubt you’ll look good in it.”
I want to say, “Seriously?” But then remember Jeff’s holster, and thank him instead. He pulls me up from the chair. I’m still shaking, so he unbuttons my blouse. I watch his face as he does so, and, despite everything—or because of everything?—I’m filled with affection. Next, he slides the vest over my head and shows me how to strap it securely. The sound of the peeling Velcro reminds me of our second night together. Once our relationship ends, I know I’ll be haunted by him. When I hear Velcro, when I feel ice on my tongue, when I wear an eye mask to bed.
Alistair admires me in the black padded vest while he checks the fit. “You’d honestly look hot in anything.”
“Inappropriate,” I joke.
“But true,” he replies.
“Will we survive this?” I ask. I didn’t mean to say it out loud.
His eyes burn into me. “Of course we will,” he replies. “A connection like ours will survive anything.”
I kiss him. It’s an emotional embrace filled with fear and longing and gratitude. When we come up for air, he nods to the door. “Let’s go.”
The first condition was that I had to wear the vest. The second, that we’d walk in an entourage, with Alistair at my side. I feel like a brat, being the cause of four grown men having to walk for the sake of me needing some air, but no one seems to mind. Jeff hadn’t been spotted nearby, and it’s not like he’s so deranged that he’d open fire in a public place, so there doesn’t appear to be immediate danger. Despite the horrible circumstances, I feel safe and protected surrounded by these men.
I’m not sure what will happen next, or where we’ll sleep tonight.
I can’t go back to my flat. We can’t go to The Raven. Will we stay at Sable until Jeff is found? And what will they do to him, if they aren’t going to hand him over to the authorities?
I shudder. I want him gone forever, but I don’t want him hurt.
I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I know it’s not Alistair, so it’s probably Becks. I’ll check it later. What I need now is fresh air and exercise, to ground me, to offer perspective. Alistair smiles at me and takes my hand, and if it weren’t for the bodyguards and the bulletproof vest, you’d swear we were just a regular couple. My phone vibrates again, then again. My curiosity mounts. More messages come through. I pull it out of my pocket. Becks. I take off my glove to scroll the stream of almost incomprehensible messages.
REBECCA BRADLEY
