Her security detail climbs out first and instantly scans the street.
I used to hate all this, but now after being up close and personal with Victor Sterling, I’m thinking I can get used to it. It does make me feel a little safer.
Paul is standing by the front door of the apartment building, surveying the parking lot.
Luna follows me up the stairs and wrinkles her nose. “Okay, no offense, but I’m very excited for you to stop living here.”
I laugh softly. “I know. It’s not as bad as you and Robert make it out to be, but I get it.”
I unlock the apartment door, open it, and immediately freeze.
There’s a massive bouquet of red roses sitting on my kitchen counter, and they weren’t there when I left.
Luna notices them too. “Wow. Robert’s trying hard.”
My stomach drops instantly. “No.”
She looks over at me. “What?”
I slowly shake my head. “Those aren’t from Bobby. He wouldn’t have flowers delivered. He would bring them himself.” I pause. “And he wouldn’t send me roses. He knows I don’t like roses.”
A chill goes down my spine as I stare at the flowers.
Luna steps closer to me. “Eleanor?”
There’s a small black card tucked into the bouquet. I pull it free and open it. I read the words and start to feel sick.
“When this is over, you’re going to be mine.”
The card is signed with only a V.
Luna snatches the card from my hand, and her face drains of color. “Oh my God.”
I stare at the roses. Victor sent me these. Hell, he could have delivered them himself. I look around my apartment, and it no longer feels freeing to me. Hell, I feel like I may be suffocating.
Paul knocks on the still open door. “Everything okay in here?”
He scans the room, and as soon as he sees the flowers, he points at them. “Where the hell did those come from?”
Luna hands him the card, and his jaw tightens as he reads it. “Fuck,” he grunts.
He looks between Luna and me. “Sorry for the language. Was this in the hallway?”
Wide-eyed, I stare at him. “No, it was right there on the counter.”
He pockets the note card. “I’m taking you home, Eleanor. Robert won’t allow… I mean, it’s the safest thing… I mean…”
I know he’s trying to figure out the best way to say it, but I get it.
“I know. I just need to pack some stuff up and I’ll be ready.”
“Stay here,” Paul says.
He walks room to room, gun drawn, and then comes back to join us. “It’s empty. Grab what you need, and I’ll come get the rest tomorrow.”
He speaks to Luna’s security detail that is standing in the hallway, and what was going to be a leisurely girls’ night out turns into a feeling of panic.
I start moving through the apartment. I grab my suitcase and throw some clothes in. Luna helps by packing up my toiletries in the bathroom. The whole time she is muttering under her breath about psychopaths and Sterlings and how Robert is definitely going to murder someone.
