“Yeah, Baby, I’m pretty sure.” The less she knows right now, the better. I don’t want to scare her, and I can’t protect her if she runs from me.
She shakes her head and pushes me away as she straightens her body and walks over to the end of the island and paces back. “No, this has to be a mistake.”
“Ali…”
“No,” she says, cutting me off. “This is a mistake. He was just checking his phone or something, and you misinterpreted it.”
“What about the letters?” I ask, wondering if I really want to poke holes in her theory right now.
“The letters are just from a fan who’s gotten a little carried away in his crush for me. My article went viral so a couple of weird letters are to be expected.”
As she passes me in her pacing, I reach out and grab her, pulling her into my body again. Her head drops back as she looks up at me, and I press a quick kiss to her lips.
“Maybe you’re right, Kitten. But if you’re wrong, I’ll never let anything happen to you so you don’t need to worry either way.”
She searches my eyes for a moment before she buries her face in my chest, and I hold her, mentally promising her and myself that I’ll die before I let anyone hurt her. I may have fought this but she’s my life now, and I won’t lose her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chris
Rage twists through my veins like heroine as I stare down at the photo in my hands. How? How could she do this to me? Even looking down at the snapshot of them together turns my stomach, and hatred simmers in my soul. I crumple the photo and turn away from it but it doesn’t matter. In my mind, I can still see him on top of her, his lips pressed to her neck as her naked body stretches out beneath him. I’ve been sitting here in my car, watching her house for what feels like hours and yet, I still can’t understand why she would betray me like this. I thought we had something real and special but the moment I go away, she’s with him. I’ll make him pay for this. He’ll regret ever touching my girl but what the hell am I supposed to do about her?
Even now, I still love her.
Looking down, I unfold the photo and stare at it again, letting the anger take hold as I look at the way he thrusts into her like he has every goddamn right to. But it’s the look of ecstasy on her face that drives the stake into my heart. The anger builds and builds until it feels like I’m going to explode, rising up from the pit of my stomach until I’m forced to scream out into the car, slamming my fist down on the steering wheel.
My perfect angel.
She’s been destroyed by this insignificant piece of shit. Who the fuck does he think he is? I glance over in the passenger seat where the rest of the photos of them together are. I threw them in a fit of rage, and now they’re scattered across the car, taunting me with the image of my beauty being fucked by the devil from every angle.
I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that she would do this to me. We were building something together. Why would she go and destroy it like this? Then again, I suppose she thought she could get away with it. Pain like I’ve never known stabs at my chest again and again, and I can’t believe I trusted her. Leaning back in the seat, I look up at the house again, my heart shattering in my chest.
There is so much that I imagined for us, for our future, but that’s all gone now, and someone needs to pay. And I’ll start with him.
Just as I’m turning away, I spot a different photo, and my eyes widen as I pick it up. It’s my sweet Ali crying on her bathroom floor, and it hits me out of nowhere. Of course! She’s not there voluntarily. I stare up at the house like it might tell me the answers. It makes sense, actually. He’s in a motorcycle gang, a lowlife. He’s keeping her there against her will.
Needing validation, I slip out of the car and creep across the street before sneaking into her backyard, careful not to alert anyone of my presence. The last thing I need is him going off on her if he realizes that I’m here. God, this must be why she hasn’t responded to any of my letters and why it’s been harder and harder to see her. She was probably trying to save me, and I responded by assuming she cheated on me. I’m filled with remorse as I carefully open the gate and creep along the house.
When I reach the window that leads into the family room, I crouch down next to it and take a deep breath before standing off to the side and creeping over until I can see her. She’s there on the couch next to him, and he’s got his arm wrapped around her, holding her close to his side. I see red and every cell in my body wants to charge through that back door and rip them apart, but I take another deep breath, reminding myself that I need to be smart here so she doesn’t get hurt.
Looking over at her, my heart breaks. She glances up at him and smiles. God, she’s putting on one hell of a show but I can see the fear lingering in her gaze when she looks at him. Slipping back to the side of the window, I let out a breath. I can’t believe I ever doubted her. Of course she wouldn’t cheat on me. Not my Ali. She’s a good woman, through and through. This situation presents me with a whole new challenge though, and I have no idea how I’m going to get her out of there.
“I promise I’ll save you, Sweetheart,” I whisper into the night before slipping back out to my car and driving back to my apartment to formulate a plan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alison
“So, since I didn’t hear from you all weekend, does that mean things are good with Logan?” Carly asks, standing at the doorway to my office, and I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face as I look up at her from my laptop.
“Yeah, things are good.”
She grins at me. “Good. I’m happy for you. You hear from your enthusiastic fan again?”
At the mention of Chris, my face falls and I think back to Friday night and the car that Logan saw outside my house. Carly picks up on it instantly and steps into my office, planting herself in one of the chairs across from my desk.
“What is it? Did you hear from him?”
“I’m not exactly sure.”
She studies me for a second. “What does that mean?”
“Well, Logan was coming over Friday night and he saw this car outside my house, and as soon as he noticed it, the driver sped off. He was really on edge about it but I don’t know. I mean, it could have been nothing, right?”
“It’s either nothing or really, really bad.”
I wince and nod. “Yeah, I was kind of hoping you weren’t going to say that.”
“Miss James,” Jeremy, the new intern, calls from the office door, a large box in his hands.
“Yeah, just set them on the couch, Jeremy. Thank you.”
He smiles. “No problem, Miss James. There are three more so I’ll be back.”
He leaves and Carly laughs as she stands from the chair and moves around the desk to hug me. I stand, and she wraps her arms around me.
“Just be careful, okay?” she asks, and I nod as she pulls back.
“I promise I will.”
She leaves, and I step out from behind the desk and walk over to the couch to sort through the first box of letters. I grab the first one off the top and open the flap just as my phone rings on the desk. Rushing back over, I grab it and answer as I plop down in my chair.