Page 76 of Devil's Vengeance

She rolled her eyes hard. “I don’t need your protection! Leave me alone!”

She stormed off, hopping into her car before I could say a word. I stepped out into the street to stop her, because it's what I would’ve done if the situation was real, but she pulled off a flawless three point turn, heading the opposite direction and away from me. My stomach tightened uncomfortably watching her go, but I couldn’t chase after her. Clink made sure of it.

“Chase! Get your ass in here! Prez wants to see you!”

With a frustrated growl, I spun on my heel and marched back inside, slamming the door behind me. That got me a sock in the gut from Clink, who didn’t appreciate damage to the property, but otherwise they left me alone. I waited on pins and needles for fifteen minutes before getting a text from Mariah that she’d gotten home safely. The relief was short lived, since she had to be at the library in an hour. I paced the living room,shaking out my hands whenever I got the itch to leave before I was supposed to. It wasn’t until I got another text that she was leaving that I could head out.

“Don’t fuck this up,” Brewer growled as I headed for the door.

I didn’t reply, but that was probably for the best. I was still pissed at the whole idea, and I might put my foot in my mouth throwing out comments to the officers. It was better to keep my mouth shut and see this through.

But if Mariah got hurt, I wasn’t sure I’d be so level headed about it. It’d be suicidal to go after Croy, but he shouldn’t have brought her into this. It was fucked up on so many levels.

I was still seething when I got to the library. I timed it right and arrived right as Mariah did, but coming from the opposite direction. It looked like I was chasing her instead of escorting her like I normally would. And because she’s an amazing actress, she acted like I was an unwelcome presence, hurrying to lock her car so she could get inside and away from me. I had to book it to catch up with her, trying to drag her away from the door with a grip on her arm.

“Let me go, Chase!”

“No. Not until we talk about this. I’m trying to help you.”

She twisted her arm to get free, glaring at me. “I didn’t ask for your help! I didn’t ask for any of this! What is it with you bikers not taking no for an answer?”

“Maybe if you weren’t so fucking stubborn–”

Lashing out, she slapped me across the face for the second time since I met her. This time, it was lighter. She wasn’t actually trying to hurt me. But I turned my head to the side to make it look real anyway.

“I said no! God, you’re just like him! You act like you’re better than him, but you’re really not! I’m not interested in being your little hangaround! Stay away from me or I’ll call the cops!”

Ouch. I didn't like being compared to Trick. She told me not to take anything she said personally, but hearing her say it out loud cut deep and made me hesitate. It was what she was looking for because she put some distance between us, her glare filled with hatred.

“Mariah–”

“Go to hell, Chase. I’m done with you.”

She spun on her heel and stormed off, unlocking the door and disappearing into the library, leaving me alone on the sidewalk staring after her. Her words felt more like a slap than her actual hit did. And it felt fucking real. Like I was experiencing what would happen if I didn’t get past my issues and give her what she wanted in a relationship. I hated the thought of her walking away. I’d have to do better.

CHAPTER 46

MARIAH

I felt awful for what I said to Chase. I saw him standing there for a while, staring at the door like I’d physically hurt him and he didn’t know how to handle it. When he eventually slunk off, I had to fight back every urge I had to call him and apologize. I was supposed to be pissed off. There were lots of windows in the library and Trick could have been hanging around watching me from outside. It was a good thing Regina was out that morning. The whole scene would’ve been really hard to explain.

The first day was hard to get through. I managed to stay busy, though I was a little jumpy since I was there alone until after lunch when Regina showed up. I relaxed a little with her arrival, but I still watched the door way too much.

The second day was harder. A lot harder than I thought it would be. I’d called Chase the night before in hopes of reassuring him that we were fine and it was all a ruse, but he didn’t pick up. I worried that maybe I’d gone too far, but he wouldn’t answer my texts either, despite the notification that he’d read them. So when he showed up the next day and I had to again pretend I wanted nothing to do with him, it was awful. I yelled at him to go, told him I didn't want anything to do with him, and when he wouldn’t leave me alone, I pretended to avoid him. I asked Regina if it would be alright for me to change around my schedule a little. I told her it was because my dad was home and I wanted to spend time with him before heleft for another job, but I wasn’t about to tell her the real reason. And she knew how much I loved my dad. She was happy to let me work late afternoon and stay to work on the archives after the doors were locked.

It was nerve-wracking, being in the library alone at night, knowing there was someone out there targeting me, but I had to do it. The sooner we could get this over with, the sooner I could get back to a normal life and speak to Chase. But after a week of the same thing, I was starting to lose hope. I didn’t see any sign of Trick. Regina updated me whenever I showed up that he hadn’t come around during the day either. And I couldn’t talk to Chase to see if anything had happened on his end.

I was getting frustrated, and I figured I was wasting my time staying late every day, so I decided to pack up early and head home, mumbling to myself about stupid bikers and their issues making my life difficult. I was so busy being annoyed, I didn’t notice someone leaning against my car until the library door shut behind me. I came to an abrupt halt, my heart hammering in my chest.

“Hello, gorgeous. Ready for our next date?”

Nope. No way was I sticking around for that. I lunged for the door, hurrying back inside, but before I could lock it behind me, Trick ripped it open with a condescending smirk.

“That wasn’t very nice. I got all dressed up for you and everything.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I hissed, backpedaling to put more space between me and him. Unfortunately, it meant I released the door to him and he pushed it open, inviting more of his friends inside to join us.

“Nah. That sounds boring. I think we’d rather fuck you instead.”