by Jayne Rylon
“Kari, wait.” Brady reached for her. She dodged. If he touched her, he would persuade her to ignore her better sense and she wasn’t about to do that again.
No, she had to leave.
Maybe later, when everyone had calmed down and was thinking rationally, they could talk things through. Right then, she had to escape.
Kari snagged her purse off the counter, glad she’d brought it down to get the cell phone charger out of it earlier, then marched for the front entryway. She paused only long enough to slip on her shoes.
“At least let me take you home…” Brady said quietly from the end of the hall. It was far enough away that she could drag in a few shaky breaths despite the crushing pressure in her chest.
“You don’t look like you’re in any shape to drive. Did you sleep at all? Eat anything?” Kari’s shoulders slumped. She should have thought to send him food at least. If she hadn’t been busy fucking his best friends, maybe she would have. She was losing sight of important things when she got carried away with them.
Brady didn’t respond to her questions, which was answer enough. He tried one more time to sway her, though. “Bronson…”
“Probably waited all night for you and barely crawled into bed himself.” Kari reached for the door. She opened it, then promised, “I’ll have the front desk downstairs call me a cab and wait inside until the security guard can escort me to the car.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay.” Brady blinked a few times, as if he couldn’t have thought of the suggestion himself. He swayed on his feet, obviously relieved, if about to drop.
“This isn’t healthy,” she said mostly to herself. Brady’s flinch made her sure he’d heard her, though. Kari didn’t want to hurt them anymore than she wanted to suffer herself.
Shaking her head she muttered, “Goodbye,” then walked out the door.
She impressed herself with her calm, steady tone as she made her request of the staff member manning the front desk then waited for the cab. If she sobbed the entire ride home, well, no one other than the poor driver she tipped generously had to know that.
Confused, she couldn’t decide if she’d done what was best for them all despite how it shredded her insides or if she’d fucked things up entirely.
9
Marty hated that bitch.
Not only had she acted like she was too good for him when they’d worked together, she’d gotten him fired. Sure, the triple fuckers had said it was because of the shit that went down with Cooper, but he knew the truth. It was really because he’d dared to take what they wanted.
To top it all off, it seemed like now they were getting Kari’s pussy after all. Whatever. It wasn’t like he was obsessed with her or how good she’d felt when he’d had her at the company Christmas party. She clearly was slut enough to take care of three guys, what was one more?
Especially if he got some more of those pills. His dealer was right—they made it a lot easier to get her to finally look at him and want him back. Although after that one time, she’d gone right back to treating him like he was some kind of monster. Even though she knew he could get her off just fine.
Maybe he’d have to show her again. Remind her that she’d liked it no matter what she’d pretended the next day.
This time he wouldn’t be so nice about it. Not only had he lost his job, but it seemed like the experience working there—which should have made him a hot commodity at other law firms in the city—couldn’t even get him an entry-level interview elsewhere.
Which meant that his old bosses had blacklisted him.
Marty was going to sue the shit out of them.
After he got some more personal revenge.
It seemed like Kari hadn’t only recovered from her run in with that cab—she’d moved in with the triple fuckers after a much shorter than anticipated hospital stay.
Marty was positive she hadn’t come home yet, because he’d sat in the diner across from her apartment for hours after he’d sent her tumbling into the street. He hadn’t intended to push her, at first. Once he had, he kind of liked the rush it gave him.
Finally, something he was in control of.
Even better would be if she accepted the giant bouquet of flowers he’d bought her to say sorry, even if he didn’t really mean it. He figured it was a good way to get inside.
Except she hadn’t been there to let him in.
Eventually, he’d crept closer. Across the street and up the fire escape perched outside her apartment. It had taken him half the night to work up the courage to force her window open and climb through it so he could leave his surprise for her. The flowers had gotten banged up in his trip, but he’d set them out anyway. It was the thought that counted.
Then, curious, he’d crept through her space, learning more about the things she liked and what she surrounded herself with. Maybe he could win her over after all if he knew more about that.
While he was there, he couldn’t help but peek into her dresser until he stumbled across her underwear drawer. He ran his hands through the pretty things inside and felt himself getting hard.
It was only fair that he use Kari’s panties to get himself off since she was constantly leaving him in this state. Turning him on without giving him any relief.
Marty shoved a lacy pair down his pants. He wrapped his hand in them, then started to jerk. It didn’t take long before he was crumpling the sticky mess he’d made of them into a ball. He was stuffing them in his pocket when a noise caught his attention.
Was that the door? Shit!
Someone was here.
Marty bolted, the scrap of fabric falling from his fingers, instantly forgotten.
He climbed out the window and onto the fire escape. Thankfully, Kari only lived on the second floor, which made it pretty easy to get in and out. You couldn’t be in his profession and not have picked up a trick or two.
Maybe he should switch to being a defense attorney. Sometimes people didn’t understand the situation and how stuff could get out of hand. Circumstances pushed you to do these things. He’d tried to play nice with Kari, and look where it had gotten him.
Now he was being forced to go to lengths he never would have thought of before. And it was all her fault. Hers, Ford’s, Brady’s, and Josh’s. They were all to blame for this mess.
Cooper and his fuck buddies too.
They were all going to pay for what they’d done to him. How they’d shunned him and destroyed his career. They would see that they had screwed up royally.
Marty should run. He should climb down the ladder and disappear, but he couldn’t resist watching for a moment to see how Kari would react to his surprise.
Maybe she would come to her senses and beg him to stay.
It was the last chance he was going to give her to see things his way.
10
It took every last bit of strength Kari had to unlock her door and push it open. It wasn’t as heavy as the reinforced one at the entrance to Ford, Brady, and Josh’s place, but she’d always felt secure here.
When she trod inside far enough to see her living room, she froze. Rose petals were scattered all over. On the furniture, the floor, and even the walls.
How had the guys managed to do that so fast? Was it an apology? Had Brady wanted to prove she was wrong about the nature of their relationship?
Kari’s heart flip-flopped in her chest. Could she have gotten it mixed up? Did her knee-jerk reaction have more to do with her own anxieties than reality?
She picked up one of the petals and let it fall through her fingers. A vase caught her eye. That’s when she noticed the bouquet inside, and the fact that several of the flowers were crushed or broken. Blood-red petals around her took on a sinister vibe when she realized they had been brutally severed from the ruined stems scattered nearby.
Something wasn’t right.
Kari took her phone from her purse and unlocked it. But who should she call?
Ford? No.
The police? That seemed sort of extreme.
She had a flash of herself trying to explain her weird instinct. “Yes, someone came into my apartment and left me kind of shitty flowers after the whole world saw me get hit by a car. No, I’m not sure they’re not a get-well-soon present from my landlord or my neighbor who has my spare key.”
They’d think she was nuts.
So she called Andi.
“Good morning, Kari!” Andi was entirely too happy. It was jarring considering the panic bubbling up within Kari right then.
“Hey.” Her voice trembled. “This is kind of crazy…”
“Are you okay?” Andi asked, her entire tone changing as she caught on to Kari’s discomfort.
In the background, Reed immediately started barking questions. “Who is that? Kari? Is something wrong?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Was it? Kari still couldn’t tell. She inched forward and peeked around, noticing her photo albums were out of order on a nearby shelf, and she could swear she had left her slippers a few feet closer to the couch.
“I think so. Maybe? It’s just…someone’s been in my apartment,” Kari whispered, though she couldn’t say why. “Would you stay on the phone with me for a second? I’m kind of rattled.”
“What makes you think someone was in there?” Andi wondered. “After yesterday, I don’t blame you for being afraid. Why don’t you turn around and wait for one of us to get there? We’ll check it out with you. I’m getting dressed now. Reed is already putting his shoes on.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. Don’t laugh, all right?” Kari was starting to feel silly about panicking. “Whoever it was left flowers. Lots of them. Some of them seem sort of ratty or something. Like they’re cheap or have seen better days.”
She trailed off, afraid of sounding like a snob. It was one of those things she could sense but couldn’t quite put into words.
“You think they’re from your guys?” Andi wondered. “Sounds like something they’d do to impress you. But I’m a little confused. I thought you were staying at their place for a while.”
“I really don’t see how it could have been them.” She thought about it some more.
Sure, piles of money could make the seemingly impossible happen sometimes. But arranging something like this in the scant time it had taken for her to catch a cab and cross town… If someone had been in a hell of a hurry, that might explain the damage. Already rattled from her confrontation, she struggled to think straight. Nothing made sense anymore so she confided in Andi. “I just left there. I got in a…thing…with Brady.”
“Your first fight? Oh, that’s cute!” Andi was trying to cheer Kari up. It wasn’t working. Cold sweat slipped down her spine. If she had another panic attack, what would her new friend think? “Then I definitely wouldn’t put it past him to send flowers to make it up to you. They have enough money to make it happen, even that fast.”
Andi confirmed what she’d already been thinking, which meant Kari was probably overreacting.
“You’re probably right.” She willed herself to relax. Kari took a deep breath, then another, before releasing a super-awkward, nervous laugh. “I’m sorry I bugged you this early.”
“It’s no problem. Are you sure you’re okay?” Andi asked. “I can pick up some donuts and come over so we can commiserate over how dumb guys can be and why you’re absolutely right about whatever it was you were arguing over.”
Kari began to reassure her friend that was unnecessary. Except right then the loose floorboard in her bedroom squeaked like it did every time she stepped on it while opening her window. She jumped a mile high. “Who’s there?”
“Oh my God!” Andi shouted on her end of the phone. “Reed, call the police. Now!”
Kari was frozen, unable to move her feet or make a single sound other than the rasp of her hyperventilation.
Then Andi was screaming in her ear. “What’s happening?”
Through the doorway, she saw the curtain flapping, too strongly to be disturbed by a breeze. No, someone was climbing out of her apartment. Kari rushed around the corner, her head whipping from side to side as she took in the empty bedroom. Was that her underwear on the ground? Why was it wet?
“There’s someone on my fire escape. He was watching me. I think he was… Oh God, I’m going to be sick.” Kari groaned, still stuck in place.
“Get the hell out of there!” Andi shrieked. “Run!”
Kari should have thought of that herself. She was overwhelmed.
Terrified. Disgusted. Paralyzed.
She shook herself out of it and pivoted, sprinting for her door. When she crashed into someone in the hallway, she screamed and thrashed.
“Holy shit!” the person said as they tumbled to the ground together, her phone skittering out of her hand.
“Kari, is that you?” her next-door neighbor, Max Green, asked from where he’d landed fully on top of her. It took her a second, and a few jabs of her knee at him—sorry, Max—to realize that he wasn’t some creeper haunting her.
Kari nearly passed out from relief. She went limp. Couldn’t speak. So instead she pointed to her phone where Andi’s frantic screams were coming through, garbled but audible despite the distance.
Max lunged for it, then listened. “Hey, this is Max Green. I’m Kari’s neighbor. I have her. She’s safe. When will the cops be here?”
She could have lost it completely then. Instead, she was filled with rage.
Not only had her body been violated, but now her home had been too. Kari was sure of exactly who that had been outside her window and whose DNA was smeared all over her panties on the floor inside.
“Shit!” Kari scrambled to her feet. “I have to get those.”
“What? Where the hell are you going?” Max lunged, trying to grab her. She dodged and busted through the door of her apartment. Not her smartest move ever, but she was willing to risk it to prove—irrefutably—that Marty was the person terrorizing her.
Sure enough, as she rounded the corner, that monster was sneaking back inside to clean up after himself.
Fuck no! Kari raced past him and threw herself on top of the used underwear, huddling over them as he came closer.
“Jesus Christ!” Max roared. “She ran back inside and there’s some dude in there with her. We need help. Now! Send more cops. Send the building security. Send anyone!”
Marty halted his advance, no more than a few feet away. As she looked up, she realized he had a heavy stoneware flowerpot in his hands, which were raised high. Kari wrapped her arms over her head, though it would hardly be enough protection to prevent her mini-herb garden from doing what that taxi hadn’t.
Max came to the door with a snarl. “Get the fuck out of here before you make this worse for yourself, you creepy bastard! Do this and your life is over, too.”
Marty looked at Max, then at Kari—protecting the evidence she desperately needed to make him pay. He took one more step toward her before Max charged.
Faced with such bravery, Marty changed his mind. He dropped the pot with an ominous crash. Shards of pottery accompanied the sound, making it seem like an IED had gone off mere feet from Kari’s face.
He fled like the coward he was, leaving her and Max staring in shock.
Kari couldn’t help it then. She burst into tears.
The last thought she had before the world erupted into a chaos of sirens and Max’s relentless questions was: I wish Ford, Brady, and Josh were here with me.
11
Brady pounded his fist on his leg. “Fuck. This is all my fault. I didn’t handle things right.”
“You were tired and pissed. Frustrated. Hell, even scared. You can’t keep blaming yourself every time something goes wrong. We’re still figuring things out. We’ll get it right even if it takes a couple tries.” Josh talked Brady down as Ford concentrated on driving.
He navigated his personal sedan through the city streets at a speed that might require their legal skills if he got caught by the cops. Thankfully, the car was both elegant and fast as f
uck.
As much as Ford understood the perfect storm that had brewed between Kari and Brady, he also had a crazy sense of dread and urgency spurring him to fix it as soon as possible.
Brady had woken him and Josh with a shouted stream of curses the likes of which Ford had never heard from his usually rational friend before. When they’d rushed into the kitchen and found him about to yank his hair out, they’d pried out a half-assed explanation of what had gone down.
They hadn’t even waited long enough to rouse Bronson before chasing after Kari.
They weren’t going to lose her over some bullshit misunderstanding.
She should be with them. In their house—protected, cherished.
Ford realized part of why she’d left had to do with the emotions they were stirring up as their relationship evolved. It was too early to admit what he suspected…that it was love. The real thing. He was constantly stopping himself from thinking it or, God forbid, saying it out loud and spooking her. Worse, he wondered now if hiding his feelings entirely could have been even more dangerous than revealing them too soon.
There had to be some middle ground. It sounded like she didn’t understand exactly how committed they were to the bonds they were building and why they were being so damn cautious.
With other women they’d dated—okay, fucked—it hadn’t been like this.
Of course, Kari didn’t know that. But he planned to enlighten her. Then take her home, hopefully for good.
It was insane how wrong it had felt to wake up and realize she was missing. From the bed they’d shared the night before, from their house, and from his life.
His guts had knotted so tight he couldn’t even sneak a bite of that incredible meal she’d left cooling on the counter. Hopefully they could hash things out and have her back in time for some make-up brunch they’d use as fuel for another evening like the previous one.
How could she have doubted what they had after that? Ford knew he’d been convinced the moment she had taken both him and Josh at once, linking them within her, that she was exactly what they needed to be happy. Finally and forever.
