Who would do this to her?
Why?
How did they get in? Because there was no damage to the door.
How did they get into the building?
The place she’d chosen because of how secure it was, wasn’t that secure after all. Not if someone could get in and access her floor.
The police were still there talking to Dalton. They’d already asked her endless questions. All through the process, she’d felt like she was outside of her body, watching it all, but not really being in the moment. She had no idea if she’d answered sensibly or not.
The police told her they were going to bring in the forensic team to see if they could pull prints. There’d been something intheir tone that suggested they didn’t think they’d be successful. At this point in time, Steff didn’t care.
She didn’t care about anything.
All her stuff was ruined. Her clothes had been slashed. Her bed shredded. Whoever had done it had been in a rage.
Why hadn’t her neighbors heard? That was a question that went round and round in her mind. There was no way any of what had been done could’ve been quiet.
“Steff? Sweetie, look at me?” Cynthia’s voice penetrated the fog that surrounded her. If she couldn’t have Jag near her right now, she was glad Cynthia was.
The concern in her friend’s eyes almost had the tears welling up, but she swallowed; she wasn’t going to waste any more time crying over whoever was doing this to her.
Anger ballooned from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, and Steff embraced it. Clutched it tight around her.
How dare they do this her?
She’d never done anything wrong in her life. If anything, she should be the one causing misery to others considering she’d lost her parents. She’d been kidnapped, held against her will, and violated in the most horrid of ways. She was all alone in the world.
You’re not alone.
The thought pulled her up short, and she looked around. Amongst the police presence in her apartment were people she’d just met. Dalton and his team were all there, supporting both of them.
Cynthia was by her side. Her hand rested lightly on her leg. She placed her hand over Cynthia’s and squeezed it. “Thank you. Thank you for being here. I know I’ve said it before, but thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Aww sweetie, you’re my best friend. I gave you time because you needed it, but I was never going to cut you out of my life.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I should’ve done better after.” She took a breath before continuing. “After everything that happened. We went through it together. It wasn’t just me. It was you and all those others.”
Cynthia shrugged. “We all had to deal with it our own way. I know we haven’t talked in depth about what happened to each other, and,” she looked down at their joined hands, “I don’t think I want to know. It’s better to leave it all behind us and move forward. As hard as it is, we have to look ahead. We’ve got two amazing men who like us and want to be with us. There’s so much good stuff happening.”
Steff, once again, looked over to where Dalton stood, and as if he was aware of her scrutiny, he lifted his head and their gazes met. His expression softened, and the corner of his mouth ticked up. The half smile melted away the anger that she’d been so happy to embrace. It was still there, but not as fiery as it had been moments ago.
“You’re right, we do.”
“He’s so smitten with you,” Cynthia teased.
Steff dragged her gaze away from Dalton and looked back at her friend. “And Fox is the same with you.”
Cynthia ducked her head as if embarrassed, before straightening her shoulders and finding Fox in the room, as if she’d given herself a mental lecture not to be shy. “He’s pretty special. I like him. A lot,” she finished quietly.
It finally hit Steff that Cynthia and Fox had come here together. She knew Fox lived close by, which meant that the two of them had to have been together when Dalton had contacted him. “Are things starting to get serious between you two?” Steff asked. Surprised, considering they’d only just met. Then again, Dalton started staying at her place less than a week after they connected at Angelica’s birthday party.
“I know I said we should look forward, and I am, but I’m also cautious.” She smiled brittlely. “You know it’s not easy to let yourself get close to someone, especially a man who’s as alpha as Fox is. It’s a bit intimidating.”
Steff understood where she was coming from. The thing was, when she was with Dalton, his alpha nature didn’t scare her; if anything, it made her feel more protected. No way was she going to discount Cynthia’s feelings though, every emotion she had was a valid one. “You’re right, they can be a bit intense. I sense that when it comes to the people they care about, they’re not quite so intimidating with them.” At least Dalton wasn’t with her. She didn’t know how Fox would be with Cynthia in private, but considering the two were the best of friends, she believed Fox would be very similar to Dalton with the people they cared about.
They didn’t say anything for a few moments, everyone moving and talking around them. Eventually Cynthia turned to her again. “Do you want to come back to my place for the night? You can’t stay here; you have nowhere to sleep.”
