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He grins. “I can still break one of his legs for you.”
Sighing, I lean next to him on the desk and say, “Aren’t you supposed to be his friend first?”
He shrugs. “Breaking your heart is a deal breaker. Besides, you get so needy when you get upset.”
“Hey!” I growl, insulted, smacking him on the shoulder. “I do not.”
Zayn smirks. “You want to spend more time together. You force me to watch all these cheesy chick flicks. I shouldn’t know all the lines to ‘A Walk to Remember!’” Comfortable silence ensues, and then he asks, “So, what do you plan on doing? You can’t ignore him forever.”
I entwine my fingers together. “I love him, Zayn. But there was trust there, with him, that he broke. I know he has feelings for me, but this hurt is so deep, I don’t know how to fix it.”
“So, start over.” Zayn’s words are simple, and I stare at the floor. “Ian’s a complicated man, Agatha. He might be smart and intelligent, yadda yadda, but when it comes to you, he’s always messing up. I mean, if you want to have a go at him with the bat, I can hold him down for you.”
I chuckle at the image. “I appreciate the offer.”
Zayn stands up and turns around to face me, his face serious, no snark in it. “We’re family. I have always considered you my family. Which is why I want the truth. What are you hiding from us?”
I know what he is asking, and I close my eyes. “Fine. But it stays between us. And before you start throwing a fit, you need to know that I’m going to handle this.”
He crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes intent. “All right.”
I take a deep breath. “I think I have a stalker.”
When his eyes flash and his jaw tightens, I continue, “There have been odd gifts. It started with flowers, but then it became things more personal. When you—” I take a shuddering breath, “—when I had you pick me up the other day, there was a man outside, wearing a dark hoodie and a clown mask. And he was looking up at me. Then I got a message about the color of my clothes.”
“Have you seen him again?” Zayn asks, and I shake my head.
Then, I hesitate. “Lately, I always feel like somebody’s watching me; like I’m never entirely alone.” Zayn begins to prowl around the room as I continue, reluctantly, “That’s why I got all these things. And the door.”
“Did you keep the gifts?” he asks from where he is studying the books on the shelf in the corner.
I wrap my arms around myself. “Not in the beginning. Lately, I’ve started. They’re in a cupboard in the kitchen area. I burned one or two of them because they were too much.”
Zayn is walking around my office like he is searching for something. He looks under the table but finds nothing. A snarl from his end and I hear him pick up one of the vases from on top of the table and smash it on the ground, making me jump. “What the hell?”
He leans down and picks up a small black device. Looking up at me, he says, grimly, “Well, you weren’t wrong about feeling watched all the time. Somebody planted a miniature camera here.”
The room spins as it hits me that my every move is being watched. Terror creeps up my spine, slow, chilling fingers making their way up. I grip the back of the chair in front of me.
Zayn straightens and glances around the room. “I bet there’s more where this came from.”
A thorough search unearths two other cameras. By the end of it, Zayn looks thunderous. As he places the cameras on my desk, I know that he is struggling not to crush the tiny devices in his hands.
“You expect me to keep this from your brother?”
The words are a hiss and I know what he is saying makes sense. “I’ll talk to Philip, but the—”
“Philip will put you under lock and key. He’ll have one of the teams from our company following you around.” Zayn walks over to the blinds and peeks out. “There is a snowball’s chance in hell that Fergus and Ian wouldn’t figure out something is wrong. I’m curious.” He turns to look at me. “How exactly did you plan to fix this?”
His tone is bordering on cold anger, but I hold my ground, clamping down on my fear. “Henry. I am going to call Henry tonight.”
“The new commissioner?” I nod my head in a jerk. Zayn doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he pockets the cameras and says, “Come on. I’ll take you home. Grab what you need.”
The day was a long one, and mentally, I am drained. Hence, I don’t put much of a fight.
The drive is quiet, and I have a feeling that Zayn plans to use my guest bedroom again. What I’m not expecting is to see Ian in my building lobby, clearly waiting for me.
Zayn raises a brow on seeing him and asks me, “I have a bat in the car, if you’re interested?”
