Kristina laughed out loud, feeling the stress of the last few days fall away… at least for a few short moments. “Thanks for telling me the story, Tucker,” Kristina said. “It’s not one I’m likely to forget anytime soon.”
“Anytime,” Tucker said with a wink. “I’ll see you around then, Kris.”
Kristina nodded and started on the walk back home. She was so engrossed thinking about the conversation she had just had with Tucker that she didn’t realize for a moment that there seemed to be someone just behind her. For a moment she thought it was Tucker, but when she turned around it was someone altogether different.
The man was tall and beefy, with large muscular arms and a shaved head. He had tattoos along his neck and arms, but unlike Keith’s tattoos, which were beautiful and artistic, these ones looked crude and somehow threatening. When she turned around to look at him, he didn’t turn from her gaze. He looked straight at her, as though he wanted her to know that he was following her.
Kristina felt her heart beat race upwards, but she refused to quicken her pace. She didn’t want to give the brute the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten under her skin. She didn’t turn back to him, even once, after that. Much as she wanted to, she didn’t want him to know that she was nervous. Instead, she kept her normal pace and listened hard to see if he was keeping the distance between them or if he was closing in on it.
The ten-minute walk back to campus seemed as though it had been ten times as long. Kristina turned the corner into one of the campus lawns. Students milled around, several more sat on the grass in groups with food and drink or books and bags, talking, laughing, and studying in packs. Grateful for the crowd, Kristina milled around and moved towards her dorm. She was climbing the steps on her dorm building when she allowed herself a glance backwards, but he had disappeared.
Kristina went inside and moved to one of the windows. She stayed in the corner and peered through the window, looking carefully for any sign of him. She had just decided that he had probably turned tail at the student lawn and left when she saw him some distance away, standing in the shade of a large tree. He was looking straight at her building; even worse, he was looking straight at her.
Kristina jumped backwards so that she was no longer in his line of sight. She felt her skin crawl and goosebumps filled her skin. She turned and ran upstairs to her room where Marie was at her laptop doing some research.
“Hi,” Marie said as she turned around. “How was class?”
“I don’t have any classes scheduled for this morning,” Kristina replied. “I had work today remember?”
“Oh right,” Marie nodded. “How was work?”
“Uneventful,” Kristina said shortly.
“Are you ok?”
“What?”
“I asked if you were ok,” Marie said, wrinkling her brow and looking at Kristina closely.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kristina asked, trying not to sound defensive.
“You just look a little flushed.”
“I set a brisk pace on my walk back to campus,” Kristina replied, the lie coming easily to her lips.
Marie seemed to accept this, as she turned back to her laptop screen. “Don’t you have a class in a bit?”
“In fifteen minutes,” Kristina nodded. “It’s only the building over though, I’ll leave in a bit.”
“Which building?”
“Frasier building,” Kristina replied.
Kristina took a moment to walk down to the bathrooms. She had a quick cat wash and swapped the light teal sweater she was wearing for a dark hoodie. She combed down her hair and went back to the room to gather her things. She thought about mentioning the man who had followed her back to campus to Marie, but she knew how Marie would react to that. She would instantly blame Keith, and that was the last thing that Kristina needed at the moment.
Pushing back the sense of panic that was clutching at her heart, she set off for her class. She walked down the steps and took the most direct path that would lead her to the Frasier building. She had been walking barely a minute when she became aware of a presence behind her. She stumbled over her own feet, but she managed to regain her balance almost immediately. She kept walking without looking back, but by the time she got inside Frasier building realization had set in and she knew she needed to tell Keith about this.
She moved into a quiet corner of ground floor and took out her cell phone. She dialed Keith’s number quickly and counted the number of rings until he answered with baited breath.
“Kristina?” his voice was clear and concerned. It was the first time she had ever called him.
“Keith?” Kristina asked, unable to keep the panic from her tone.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sensing the panic immediately.
“I think I’m being followed,” she stammered, the reality of saying the words out loud made it more real and more terrifying for her.
There was a split second of silence on the other end. “How sure are you?” Keith asked in a new tone that Kristina barely recognized.
“Pretty sure,” she replied. “I just finished my shift and Seton and Lee. I spoke to Tucker for a few minutes, and then I started walking back home. Halfway there I noticed that someone was following me.”
“Did you get a look at the guy?”
“Big, burly, and white,” Kristina replied. “He had tattoos on his arms and neck, and his head was shaved.”
“Any other characteristics you noticed?”
“No,” Kristina said. “I didn’t look for too long. He didn’t seem to care that I saw him.”
“How long did he follow you?”
“Until I got into my dorm,” Kristina replied. “When I was in the building, I looked outside from one of the windows, and I caught him staring at me, as though he knew I would look.”
“Are you still in your dorm room?” Keith asked urgently.
“No, I had a class to get to,” Kristina replied. “I’m here now. But… I think he followed me here, too.”
“Did you see him?”
“No,” Kristina said, wishing she had glanced behind her now. “But I could feel him.”
“Did he speak… did you hear him say anything?”
“No,” Kristina shook his head. “But Keith… he looked like…”
“Yes?”
“A gang member,” she said softly, lowering her voice to avoid being overheard by the other students milling past her. “He looked like a biker. But I knew he wasn’t a part of the Dragons. I’ve seen everyone in your gang now, and I can recognize all of them. This guy… was from a different gang altogether.”
There was a moment’s pause before Keith spoke. “When does your class finish?” he asked.
“I… In two hours’ time,” Kristina said.
“Where is it being held?”
“Close to my dorm,” Kristina replied. “Frasier building.”
“Ok,” Keith said, and she could almost imagine the look on his face when he spoke. “I’ll meet you outside in two hours once you’re done with your class.”
“I… You’re going to… walk me home?”
“Yes.”
“Keith,” Kristina said softly. “I appreciate that but… it’s not far at all. I can manage getting myself home. I just thought you should know…in case it was… who I think it was.”
“And who do you think it was?” Keith asked.
“Kovic,” Kristina said. “Or someone who works with him.”
“I’ll be there in two hours’ time,” was all Keith said.
“Keith—”
“No arguments, Kristina,” Keith interrupted her before she could insist that he didn’t have to babysit her. “I’ll see you soon.”
Before she could say another word, he had hung up. She put away her phone and stared at her hands for a few moments wondering if she had done the right thing by calling Keith. Her panic had been real though—and so had the man who had been following her. Kristina wondered for a moment if Marie had be
en right, and she had been completely naïve and stupid for thinking that she could stay out of the gang politics and keep her relationship with Keith separate from all that.
Kristina took a deep, steadying breath and made her way to class, feeling a huge sense of relief knowing that Keith was going to be waiting outside for her when she had finished.
Chapter Sixteen
Keith
“And who do you think it was?” Keith asked, feeling his stress levels rise just thinking about a man, any man following Kristina.
“Kovic,” she replied cautiously. “Or someone who works with him.”
She was a smart girl and she had picked up on lots of little things that she should have been kept in the dark about. Keith knew there was no chance of hiding much from her now. “I’ll be there in two hours’ time,” he said.
“Keith—” she started, trying to dissuade him from going to her.
“No arguments, Kristina,” Keith interrupted abruptly. “I’ll see you soon.”
He hung up and moved towards the back of Seton and Lee where he knew the others were. “Tucker,” Keith called. “I need a word with you.”
“Keith,” Tucker said moving forward. “When did you get here?”
“Just pulled in,” Keith replied dismissively. “You spoke to Kristina today before she left?”
The smile on Tucker’s face faltered slightly. “Yeah… why… what’s wrong?”
“She was followed on her way back home.”
Tucker lost his smile completely. “Fuck,” he said, understanding the situation immediately. “You think Kovic’s trailing her?”
“One of the Chains certainly is,” Keith nodded. “And if that’s the case, it’s by Kovic’s orders.”
“Fuck,” Tucker said again. “But why Kristina? She’s a cute girl, but she has nothing to do with our business. She’s completely removed from it.”
Keith felt his face grow hot with guilt. She didn’t have anything to do with the Dragons or the gang wars, but she had been dragged into it nonetheless, purely because of her involvement with him. It was the same thing that had happened with Natalie, but this was worse because, this time, Keith knew better. He knew better and he had still allowed it to happen.
“Are your families’ protected?” Keith asked, sidestepping Tucker’s question.
“Everyone here who has a family has them looked after,” Tucker said.
“Good,” Keith nodded. “I’ve got to go now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Tucker nodded in confusion, but he waved him off without another word. Keith took off in the direction of the campus, and while he was riding there, he realized how familiar the route had become. It was second nature now; he didn’t even have to think about it. He left his bike outside Kristina’s building and walked in the direction of the building she had named. The campus was filled with signs and it was easy enough to find.
As Keith walked through the paved campus streets, he looked around, observing his surroundings with more focus than he would normally use. He was not unaware of the stares and glances he received. Women looked at him with curiosity and lust in their eyes, and the men had the wide-eyed suspicion of the intimidated written all over their faces. On another day Keith would have been amused by that, he might have even flirted with some of the women or shot threatening stares at some of the guys, but he had no patience for any of that on this day.
His thoughts were preoccupied with Kristina and her safety, and everything else just seemed unimportant. He looked around carefully trying to catch someone who didn’t belong in the throng of college students, someone who looked a lot like his kind. On the heels of that thought, Keith had to pause a moment. He was a different kind, certainly different to all the people that he had passed today. This was the world that Kristina belonged to, and at the moment, he was an intruder in it.
He waited at the steps of the building, looking up at the impressive architecture and thinking that Kristina probably knew exactly what kind of architecture it was. Keith, of course, had no idea. He had never been too keen on studying, and he hadn’t wanted to waste his life on trying to remember things he would never need in the real world. There had actually been a time when he had thought less of those who chose to pursue their education, but he was forced to see that there was a certain charm about it.
Suddenly, Keith was aware of how much he didn’t know. He wondered if that was the real reason he preferred to let Kristina talk. Perhaps it was his fear of appearing stupid in her eyes that kept him silent so often in her presence. Keith stared around him, trying to catch a face he might recognize, but there was no one around. He wondered momentarily if Kristina had imagined the incident. Then he wondered if she had made it up. Immediately, he omitted that theory. She would never make something like that up. She was not some silly little girl looking for attention. Keith was certain that if she had called him, it was because she had been genuinely shaken.
Almost an hour later, Kristina appeared at the top of the stairs. Their eyes locked on one another immediately, and Keith could tell she was happy to see him. He waited patiently while she descended the steps to join him at the bottom. She smiled at him but he could see the panic and worry in her eyes as they darted around looking for the stranger who had followed her earlier that evening.
“Is he here?” Kristina asked, almost frantically. “Did you see anyone you recognized?”
“No one,” Keith said gently, taking a step toward her. “And I’ve been here for over an hour.”
Kristina looked up at him. “You didn’t have to come so early.”
“I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss you.”
She smiled as her eyes softened at the gesture. “You really didn’t have to come,” she said.
“I wanted to,” Keith said shortly, fighting the urge to lean in and kiss her.
“Shall we… walk towards the dorm then?” Kristina asked uncertainly.
“Yes,” Keith nodded.
They started walking, and Keith could see Kristina scan the area, always searching and constantly watchful. “You seem shaken,” he said before he could stop himself.
As he had expected, she got defensive. “I’m not,” she said fiercely, and then her tone softened. “Well… that’s not entirely true.”
Keith smiled. “It’s ok to admit that you’re scared, you know,” he said gently. “It’s not a weakness.”
“How would you know?” Kristina asked. “You’ve probably never been scared in your entire life.”
“You’d be surprised,” Keith said softly.
Kristina was quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t mean to imply that you haven’t… been through things. I guess I just can’t imagine you being scared of anything.”
Keith shook his head with a small smile. “I guess I can understand that… and I’ll admit the whole point is for people to look at me and feel that way. But it’s just an illusion, Kristina. I bleed just like any other man. My scars are emotional just as much as they are physical.”
Kristina looked as though she wanted to say something but she stopped short at the last moment.
“What?” Keith asked.
“I… was just wondering… how deep those scars go?” Kristina asked.
“Deep,” Keith said after a moment.
He thought she would ask him another question, but she fell silent after that, and he didn’t press her. They reached her dorm room in silence, and he caught her staring at his bike.
“You’re lucky, you know,” Kristina said in a distant voice. “To experience that kind of freedom.”
“Freedom?” Keith repeated.
Kristina shook herself out of her reverie. “Sorry,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “I just meant… that riding must have been freeing for you, a way to get away from the world for a little bit.”
“It is,” Keith nodded. “You like it, don’t you?”
Kristina smiled. “I more than like it,” she replied. �
��I may actually love it.”
“I can teach you to ride one day,” Keith said without thinking, and he instantly regretted it.
“Really?” Kristina said, as her eyes lit up.
Keith felt the words dry on his tongue, as he realized that the last thing he should be doing was making promises to this woman. He glanced around at her lily-white world, removed from the muck and politics of the underworld, and he knew he didn’t belong there. More importantly, he knew she didn’t belong in his world.
“Actually… riding is dangerous,” Keith said as gently as he could manage. “It’s probably best you stay away from motorcycles anyway.”
Tempted: The Numb MC Page 36
