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That’s what this was about. He’d sensed my feelings for Hunter and wanted to come rescue me from emotional peril.
“The guy is wrong on so many levels. He’s nothing but an arrogant, rich philanderer, who’s never photographed with the same woman twice. He was born into a world of wealth and privilege with a team of people doing whatever he orders them to, so he’s used to getting his way, always.”
Sean looked up at the mansion with disdain, like its monstrosity was an eyesore to the pristine landscaping around us.
“I won’t sit back and let you get hurt, Luna. You’ve been through too much.”
The concerned gaze of my friend made doubt swirl through my heart like unwelcome smoke.
“Hunter’s a good guy,” I assured. “He’s trying to protect me, too.”
Sean stared at me, shaking his head. “There’s nothing I can say to make you dislike him, is there?”
“He’s going above and beyond,” I said. “He’s even having his private investigator delve into Franco.”
Sean grabbed the back of his neck, as if reeling from failing to convince me to see Hunter in a different light. But it was clear the most urgent issue to him was safeguarding me from Hopkins. He could continue trying to convince me to leave Hunter another day.
“I’ve started researching Franco myself, too,” Sean said. “I have contacts in the true crime world that can help me flush out people willing to talk to me. People who won’t talk to law enforcement or even private investigators.”
I didn’t like this one bit. Franco was dangerous. Look at the guy that had attacked me in the prison—I didn’t want Sean to get caught in the crosshairs.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” I said.
“I don’t wantyouto get hurt.”
His past had to be haunting him right now, making him terrified history was about to repeat itself with the murder of his high school girlfriend. I wished I could take away his fears. Obsessing over a man who was trying to hunt me down couldn’t be healthy for him, not with his heartbreaking past.
“Look, instead of poking around dangerous criminals, why don’t we work together to try to uncover the identity of the Windy City Vigilante?”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. With everything going on, I hadn’t fully processed what the Vigilante had told me.
“So, you still want to take the Vigilante down.”
Still.
That one word crawled over my skin and dug into my stomach. Why would Sean think my point of view on the Vigilante had changed? I hadn’t told him about my encounter with the Vigilante yesterday, and I certainly never expressed my confused feelings about it.
The only other person who would suspect my feelings toward the Vigilante might have changed would be the Vigilante himself.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked.
Sean shrugged. “You said he saved you in that prison parking lot.”
Yeah. That had to be all he meant. Right? That perhaps my gratefulness toward his rescue had cooled my flaming hot rage for him.
Because there was no way Sean could be the Windy City Vigilante.
Right?
CHAPTER39
The Vigilante
My target didn’t see me hiding in the shadows of the alley, stalking him. He was oblivious, making his way toward his car with his gaze fixed on his cell phone’s screen—the glow the only illumination in the blackened night.
People didn’t realize that every moment their eyes were glued to their cell phones, they weren’t sweeping their surroundings for dangers lurking. Like me.
It had been trickier getting to the high school quarterback who’d left Luna with a scar. He’d been on his guard, though it was only because he’d been worried about getting caught cheating on his pregnant wife. Her pregnancy gave me the added encouragement to leave him with just a beating. A bloody face and a million questions, but a heartbeat all the same.
