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“I’ll let you come out for air sometimes,” Bruiser replied.
What did he just say?
I sucked in a breath. His piercing brown eyes were incredibly erotic, his lips lickable, and everything about him morphed into tall, dark, and ‘fuck me, please’ right then and right there. I turned on my heels and hurried to my car and got in. I started the engine, quickly looked at Bruiser, and then looked at Tameka. I didn’t want Bruiser to know that his words affected me, but they did. Looking into his eyes would surely give me away. I shot Tameka an ‘I’m going to get you’ glare and took off.
Bruiser rushed to his car, fired it up, and followed me all the way home. He sat by the curb and watched me walk up the stairway leading to my front door. I turned back to see him still watching me. He killed his engine and turned off his lights. I was in disbelief. He was planning to sit out here. This is too much. With him following me home like this, it was hard to tell who was really my stalker.
Suddenly, Bruiser peeled his eyes away from mine. His attention went to a white Range Rover parked a few houses down. The vehicle’s lights were out, but a shadowy figure could be seen sitting in the driver’s seat.
Bruiser got out of his car and walked toward the vehicle, moving his hand around to his back to hover over his gun as he walked. The driver started the engine and drove off down the street like he was in a high-speed chase.
Well, hell… That blew the theory of having two stalkers.
Bruiser sent me an ‘I told you so’ victory look.
“That was him,” he said. “Now, go inside and get some sleep. I’ll camp out here for a while.” With that, he got back in his truck and pulled out his cell phone.
I went inside and slammed the door shut behind me. What was going on tonight? It seemed like all the peace and restoration I had fought so hard for in my life had slipped away in a matter of hours.
Chapter Five
Van
The Chamber
2:46 a.m.
And I love you back…
She loved me. Remembering how she said the words, soft and sweet, helped to lull me into a peaceful rest. Sleep was upon me. Like a runner handing off the baton to his partner, I had my hand extended, ready to grab sleep into my grip. As much as I reached for the baton, sleep had run right past me, continuing the race without me. Tapping sounds at my front door pulled me from my near slumber. Raven showing up at the door and appearing in her life-form was becoming the norm. But the knocking was louder than ever before tonight. So loud that it sounded real this time. Someone was actually at the door.
Raven.
Could she be coming back home for real this time? She was. My Raven was coming back to me. I sprang out of bed and took the steps two at a time, heading to the front door. I don’t even know how I managed to always keep so much faith in the idea that we would reunite once more, but I still had hope. Just as I hoped not to be let down yet again. Seeing Raven’s ghost, only to have her disappear, would burn my soul for the thousandth time.
I braced myself for whatever was on the other side. Be still heart, I silently told the organ thumping against my chest. I peeked outside and saw the shadow of a giant person wearing all black.
“Who is it?” I asked.
There was no answer, only more knocking.
I opened the door, ready for whatever. I was stunned to see that it was the bouncer, Bruiser, from Club Elite, standing on the other side of the threshold. When he threw me out of the club earlier tonight, the club’s owner kept calling him Bruiser. That’s how I knew his name.
“What the fuck are you doing at my house?” I asked, my tone immediately going into a raging roar. He had some nerve showing up here.
“You followed Alise home tonight. I?
?m here to let you know that’s not to happen again.”
“What I do is no business of yours. I can drive anywhere I want to in this city or yours,” I replied.
“Oh yeah?” His vein-filled hands unfolded and folded into fists. Each time they folded, veins pulsated, and knuckles cracked. The glare in his dark eyes could cut into metal. Blood visibly throbbed as it pumped through the veins of his thick neck.
He was a giant compared to my slim weight. He looked to be about two hundred pounds and six feet four. Though I was a tall man at six feet even, I wasn’t ready to square off with him again. I did it anyway. He might have been this cock-diesel strong and physically imposing guy, but he had come to my place of residence. I was not about to back down in my own home.
“Raven is my business.” I caught myself. “I mean, Alise is a grown woman, and she’s single.” I’d checked her social media profiles and knew she wasn’t dating anyone. This guy was just a man who obviously wanted her as much as I did. “You have no claim over who can and cannot come to see her. If I come to her house again, what in the hell will you do about it?”
“Listen, you crazy little shit.” Bruiser closed the space between us and his voice boomed as he said through gritted teeth, “If one thing happens to her, a hair harmed on her head, her feelings get hurt, the stray animals that live around her place feel threatened, anything, I will slice you in half and bury you on different sides of Alabama, so that you’ll never be whole again. You understand where I’m going with this?”
