Page 65 of Stalker
“We’re not discussing her looks.”
“Oh, so you’re going to pretend she isn’t fucking sexy as sin?” He questioned, but I kept my face stoic, aimed at my screens. “Or better yet, you don’t care if I take her for a spin?”
The key on my keyboard creaked under the weight of my fingers as I fought to remain impassive. “If you go near her again, I’ll murder you. I already told you that.”
“Hmm.” He hummed and sat back. “She couldn’t get enough of my ink this morning. Has she seen all of yours?”
“Tamen.” I warned, but my brother had no self-preservation and only desired to tempt my life expectancy by threatening his. A true fight between us would leave an impressive mess of bullet and knife holes in its wake.
“Does she know about Dane?” He cocked his head, “Or better yet, has she met Dane?”
“Leave it alone.”
“She has, hasn’t she?” He hummed and ran his fingers over his bottom lip in contemplation. “I didn’t think she had it in her, tobe honest. To tempt the biggest monster out there and walk away unscathed.”
“She didn’t.” I paused, staring aimlessly at my computer screen as her words from the maze played again through my head.
“Did she get hurt?” He asked calmly, knowing my past.
“No.” I shook my head, “But she regretted it.”
“Because of her boyfriend?”
I glared at him and rolled my eyes, going back to what I was doing.
“What?” He scoffed, “I may not be as good as you on a computer, but I can search a name on Facebook and do some sleuthing.”
“I read the situation wrong. She said she wanted one thing and then back peddled when I gave her everything she asked for.”
“Ah.” He nodded, “And let me guess, you walked away without even a backward glance.” I gritted my teeth, “Hence the break from darkness being broken and you eliminating names off of lists even I didn’t know existed. Got it. It makes sense now.”
“Whatever.”
He snorted and rubbed his hands together. “I can’t remember the last time you’ve tried and failed to act so unbothered by something before, Linc. Not a single time.”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter, she regretted it.”
“And you’ll never allow yourself to be what someone regrets again.” He stated quietly. “Like our father did.”
I clenched my teeth to keep from blowing his brains all over the wall behind him.
But he wasn’t done with me yet, “Tell me something, Linc. When are you going to stop letting the actions of a small man dictate your actions as a much fucking bigger one?”
I once again chose not to respond.
“Interesting.” He rose to his feet and put his hands in his pockets as he faced me. “Don’t let him be the reason she lets someone else give her what she wanted. I’m guessing if she asked you for it, then she still wants it, even if she doesn’t recognize the part of her that does.”
He wasn’t wrong. I knew that. But I didn’t know how to give her another chance to deny me. Rejection stung so fucking deep into my soul, fracturing it beyond recognition each and every time.
“You know I’m right, and I wouldn’t wait too long before you get your head on straight and make her see that, too. Especially not when she’s going out looking as sexy as she did right before I came up here.”
My eyes snapped up to his and my blood boiled as his words sank in. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged and opened the door to the hallway, “She was looking for trouble when she got into an Uber on my way up. My guess is she’s going to find it in the little clothing she had on when she left.”
He departed, already knowing he had said enough to bait me into acting. Before the door to my office was closed all the way, I pulled up the location tracker that I put on her phone and swore when I saw where she was.
Eight Ball Bar.