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Shite. That’s exactly where my mind had gone, though I hadn’t fixed on the idea. I sat forward. “Through a mix of luck and judgement, Larson ran into her car, assumed she was in it but found it empty, then took off again without lying in wait for her. We searched for him, but he was gone, ditching his ride to avoid detection. Why leave when he had no other leads? Of course he meant to track her,” I said, cold sliding through my veins.
Her car would lead him right to her.
“Thinking like a good little stalker there,” my colleague said.
We hung up, and I sat back, awash with better feelings.
My job was to protect Ariel. Now the fog had cleared of the fucking incredible orgasm she’d given me, I could see again. She needed my help, not my fucked-up headspace and panic over whatever set me off in her room.
Even if I had to break part of myself, I’d be what she needed.
Chapter 19
Ariel
A hand gripped my throat, fingers clawing, nails digging in. I sat bolt upright in the dark, flailing out an arm.
Into empty space.
I snapped on my lamp and swept my gaze over my room, my palm to my racing heart.
I was alone, of course, but the sense didn’t leave me like it had done the past few times I’d woken in a panic.
Despite the silence of my apartment, something was wrong. It could’ve just been a bad dream, again, but I wasn’t able to relax. Instead, a spiral of panic gripped me.
On my phone, I pulled up the camera feed for the exterior of the tower and then the hall. Both were normal. No one creeping around in the shot. Nothing appeared out of place. Jackson’s car with a fresh coating of snow and ice sat to one side of the outside view, and I watched it, then alternated with staring at the curving stone steps.
I was losing my mind. Utterly spooked by nothing at all.
My bottom lip trembled, and emotion threatened. I hated this.
This was my home. I wasn’t going to be afraid. On trembling legs, I climbed out of bed, the cold air wrapping around me. Then I padded to the door.
Opened it.
The low-level proximity light sprang on in the hallway, activated by my door opening.
At least that told me no one had just passed by.
From my phone, I knew it was after three in the morning. If I was trying to kidnap someone, I’d leave it until then. Late enough that everyone else was asleep but before the early risers got up. The perfect time to make an attempt.
A creak came from beside me.
I jumped.
Raphael’s door opened, and a messy-haired Jackson appeared, the room behind him dark.
God, I wanted to burst into tears. I clutched a hand to my mouth, holding it in.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, the tiredness leaving his features instantly.
“I don’t know,” I squeaked quietly. “I’m probably imagining things.”
“But something woke ye?”
I gave a shaky nod. “It was probably just a bad dream.”
“Go in your room. Lock the door,” he commanded.
