Page 64 of Stalker
Dane!
My fingers shook as I picked up my phone, acutely aware of Blade growling as he brought his own phone to his ear. I wasn’t a rocket scientist, but I knew it was Dane.
I pulled a five-dollar bill from my purse and laid it on the bar as Blade simply listened to whatever Dane was saying on his end and turned to stand up. Before my heels could touch the floor, though, the VP wrapped his meaty hand around my upper arm and stopped me. He squeezed my arm so tight a soft whimper escaped through my clenched teeth before I could stop it.
“Not so fast, Kitty.” He sneered, “No fucking way are you walking out that door twice without letting me take a taste.”
I had my phone in one hand, and the other wrapped tightly around my only way out of the place, ready to use whatever means necessary to escape his tight clutches.
“Let her go.” Blade sneered, pocketing his phone again and standing up over the top of me.
“What?” His VP snapped, and I tried pulling my arm free, but he stood up, yanking me off my stool with him as he disobeyed his boss. “No fucking way, Blade. He can’t call the shots. This wasn’t scheduled!”
“I said let her go.” Blade thundered, and the entire bar fell silent for a second time since I walked in. “Unless you want death himself on your fucking doorstep.”
“He ain’t fucking shit!” The man yanked me again, putting more distance between us and my exit. I tried pulling away again, and he somehow tightened his hand even more on my arm, making me wonder if I’d hear a crack if I even took a deep breath.
My phone buzzed again, and I glanced at it.
Back exit. Just like the other night. Run and don’t fucking stop until you’re home.
I didn’t think I just acted. I shoved the pointed heel of my stiletto into the man’s calf and shivered when I felt it pierce skin and then cut its way down through the muscle. His painful howl echoed in my ears as I tore away from him, passing by stunned on lookers and ran for the back exit.
As my feet twisted in the gravel, I instinctively kicked off my shoes and abandoned them. Leaving one shoe now stained in blood, I ran barefoot through the darkness towards the woods I knew were located diagonally across from Lincoln’s estate.
I wasn’t sure what exactly would stop the bikers from following me, but I sure fucking hoped something would.
“You fucking cunt!” The VP roared from the back door to the bar, “Don’t ever come back here again!”
I didn’t stop, I just ran for dear life. Thankfully, I’d used a ride share to get there, or I would have abandoned my car for good, there was no way I was going back again.
Suddenly, my foot snagged on a low branch, causing me to lose my footing and tumble onto the forest floor, landing on my hands and knees.
My phone and purse scattered into the bushes around me and I quickly lost track of them in the darkness. “Fuck.” I hissed and then froze when a shadow moved beyond the trees behind me and a figure stalked toward me. “Fuck.”
Chapter 23 – Lincoln
“So,” Tamen took a long drink off his whiskey. “I’m offended you went to Maddox instead of me when you needed an outlet.”
I rolled my eyes as I worked at my computer, trying to pretend my brother hadn’t barged into my office uninvited, like there wasn’t a state-of-the-art biometric scanner on the door to stop him. Which apparently it hadn’t.
“Seriously, Linc. Talk to me.”
I had avoided him most of the day, burying myself in work I’d ignored while I worked out my frustrations on unsuspecting bodies of flesh and bone. At least they had been whole before I got ahold of them. But now it was getting late, and he had me cornered. I was so determined to avoid Peyton that I refused to leave the safety of my office, fearing I might run into her around the main house.
So I was stuck.
“How’d you get in here?”
He scoffed like it was obvious and rolled his eyes when I glared at him, unimpressed. “I have a copy of your fingerprints.”
I sighed, changing the scanner on the door to a two-step feature including a passcode.
“Rude.” He deadpanned when he watched me change the process.
“For one of highborn English descent, you’re the rude one.” I threw back. “Peyton could have been hurt last night.”
He raised one brow, clearly happy that I was willing to speak of her, and I groaned inwardly. “Well, since you’ve mentioned her, I’ve got a list full of questions.” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, “Did you know what she looked like before she got the job or after?”