And there were names on the walls. Graffitied racist names, some of them Dagmar had never encountered before, plastered across every wall possible. Even across the smashed TV screen.
Dagmar felt frozen. Her new home, a place where she was going to build a new life, was ruined. Completely ruined. She didn’t even know what she was going to do about the mess.
“Oh, my God.” Dagmar felt herself beginning to shake. “Steve is going to kill me. He gave me this apartment.”
“Steve’s the last of your worries,” David said grimly. He stepped back her and glowered at the wall. “What you should be concerned about is the stalker coming after you.”
“This has to be Jeremy.” Dagmar couldn’t think of anyone else. “He knows where I live now and he’s angry that I’ve left him.”
“Has he been in contact with you since that night I got him to leave?”
Dagmar ignored David’s comment about making Jeremy run.
“He keeps texting me, at least fifty times a day, but they go straight to my spam mail. And he calls and hangs up when I answer so I’ve blocked his number.” Dagmar ran her hands through her hair. “I never thought he would do this.”
David’s expression softened. He reached her and took her hand, squeezing her fingers as he lowered her hand from her head.
“We often don’t know about people truly until something drastic happens,” he said gently. “It’s not your fault that you didn’t see this coming.”
Dagmar’s mind was racing. She had no idea what to do or where to start. Not knowing what to do, she began to panic.
“I need to call Steve. And Alejandro. They need to know what’s happened.” She scrambled for her cell phone. “This is going to play hell with my deposit.”
David plucked her cell phone from her hands. Dagmar squeaked and tried to reach for it.
“Give me that.”
“You let me deal with Steve. I’ll get everything sorted and get this place cleaned up. You won’t know it’s been ruined.”
“But…”
“No buts.” David’s voice brooked no argument. “And while that’s being done, you’re coming to my place and you’re staying with me. It’s more secure than a hotel and it’s gated. Only way you’re getting in is either by a code that changes every week or if I let you in. No chance of him getting in elsewhere without alarms.”
Dagmar was torn. She was independent. She and her sister had been on their own since being kicked out at eighteen, respectively. Dagmar hadn’t asked for help from her parents in twenty years. She had looked after herself. To have someone say they were going to take charge didn’t sit well with her. She didn’t like asking for help.
But, then again, David was offering without anything in return. He was doing it out of the goodness of his own heart. And Dagmar knew she would be a fool to turn it out.
She sighed heavily and rubbed at her eyes.
“Okay. Fine. But just until this apartment is cleaned up.” She gave the apartment a rueful look. “If Steve lets me back in.”
If he ever saw the apartment, Steve and his brother-in-law would probably blow a fuse. David squeezed her shoulder.
“I’ll make sure they let you back in,” he said solemnly.
Dagmar wasn’t about to hold him to his promise. Promises to her had been broken before.
*****
All of Dagmar’s things were destroyed. There was nothing she could salvage, not even her favorite things. David urged her out of the house and got her to the nearest mall. He steered her towards Target and told her to pick as many items as she needed, no expense spared.
Dagmar had never done that before – she was a budgeting type of person – but when she tried to protest, David insisted. Finally, Dagmar gave in and made her way through each aisle, picking out what she needed. She noticed David following her closely with a trolley and watching her as she looked through the clothes. She fingered a few items that looked good but then moved away. When Dagmar turned back, David had picked those items up and put them into the trolley. His pointed look told her not to say anything.
Dagmar didn’t. Deep down, she liked that she had a man spending money on her. Her ex-husband had never spent money on her, saying she had her own and she didn’t need his. Jeremy also refused, citing that his mother needed the money more. Dagmar was still trying to get used to someone spending money in regards to her but she wasn’t about to argue for now.
It wouldn’t be often she would make the most of something like this.
After a long trip through Target and David paying for everything – he wouldn’t hear of Dagmar paying for it – they got into David’s car and drove to the richer sector in Houston. Dagmar looked out the window and stared at the houses as they got bigger and bigger. She was beginning to feel very out of her depth being in this part of the city. As a paramedic, she didn’t bat an eyelid.
As a civilian, it was another thing entirely.
David pulled into a driveway and they came face to face with a strong gate with an intercom and code system beside it. David opened the window and put the code in, which opened the gates. Dagmar’s mouth dropped open as the house loomed up in front of them. It was huge, up and out. Why would a single man have a house all to himself like this? Surely he could have something just as grand but smaller.
But then Dagmar remembered that this was David Mach. He always did things to extravagance.
David led Dagmar inside and took her up the stairs, leading her to a room at the end of the hall. It was bigger than Dagmar’s whole apartment. Dagmar dropped her shopping bags on the bed and stared around her. This felt like far too much.
“I’ll give my IT boss a ring.” David was still in the doorway. “He’ll be able to find a suitable laptop for you and he can bring it over before the end of the night.”
“What?” Dagmar stared at him. “He doesn’t have to.”
“He will if I tell him to. And if I know you as well as I think I do, you won’t be able to survive unless you have your laptop.”
Dagmar caught David’s knowing smile and she turned away with a groan.
“Fine. Just don’t give me anything too many. I want something that can just do the job.”
“No problem.” David hesitated. “I’ll let you get acquainted. I’ll make that call.”
He left the room and Dagmar sagged onto the bed. It felt like everything was crashing all around her. After having an amazing brief moment the night before, her whole day today had just come crashing down.
This felt like a very bad dream. Maybe the good night’s sleep was part of the dream as well and lulled her into a false sense of security.
It had to have been too good to be true.
Dagmar felt her cell phone buzzing in her pocket but stopped as soon as Dagmar managed to grab it. One quick look said it was Brittany and she had called three times. Dagmar hadn’t realized her phone had gone off that much.
She called Brittany, lying back on the bed. Brittany answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Dagmar!” Brittany gasped. “I heard what happened at the hospital. You okay?”
“I’m fine. The bullet just nicked my arm.” Dagmar gritted her teeth as her arm screamed again. “But I’ll survive.”
Brittany let out a heavy breath.
“Thank God for that. I can’t believe Susie would do that.”
“What makes you think it was Susie?”
“It had to be. That’s why I was calling you. I got a phone call from her. And before you say anything,” she hurried on before Dagmar could tell her off, “her number is blocked. She used someone else’s. And she told me that she was going to get back at you for what you did.”
That seemed to fit with what David had said earlier. He seemed to think it was Susie. Dagmar still thought it was Jeremy but was open to suggestions.
“Would she know which way to hold a gun?”
“Fair point. She has been kno
wn to shoot herself when being trigger-happy during a high escapade.”
“Don’t freak me out, not after today.”
“Sorry. But she could’ve had someone else to do it.”
Dagmar snorted.
“You’ve got a crazy ex-mother-in-law. I’ve got an ex who’s angry with me.”
“Jeremy?” Brittany sounded surprised. “I thought he’d backed off. You hadn’t mentioned him for a while.”
“Physically, he’s backed off. But he’s still there. My phone is almost full with the text messages he keeps sending.” Dagmar rubbed at her eyes. “And then there’s my apartment today.”
“Wait, what? Back up a moment.” Dagmar could tell she had got Brittany’s attention. “What’s that about your apartment?”
“My apartment was completely trashed. A lot of racist profanities were across the walls as well as everything of mine destroyed.” Dagmar fought back the pain of seeing that. “My ex is the only one, besides David, who knows where I live.”
“And obviously David wouldn’t do something as awful as that.” Brittany grunted. “But Susie probably knows by now where you live since you’re on the restraining order as well.”
“I guess.”
That was the problem with restraining orders. They were supposed to protect people but to make sure they were protected the addresses of where they worked and where they lived had to be put onto the order. Unfortunately, that meant the perpetrators would know where to go to hassle the person being protected. Dagmar found it ridiculous.
She rubbed at her stomach.
“This whole thing is just making me sick. I didn’t ask to get involved in this.”
“I didn’t ask you to, either.” Brittany’s voice warmed. “But I’m glad you did. You’ve got a level head on your shoulders. That’s just what we needed that day, Dagmar.”
Dagmar couldn’t argue with that. But the image of seeing Rachelle lying sprawled on the grass screaming her head off still haunted her. It had taken a lot not to freak out at the time.
“But why would Jeremy do that? I thought his mother was the racist one, not him.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he was a closet racist.” Dagmar paused. “Or maybe it was on orders of his mother to hurt me?”
Brittany snorted.
“She’s not the Ice Queen of the West. You don’t take orders like that.”
“I think you’ve got a couple of queens and witches mixed up. Besides, she doesn’t need to order him. He’s a Mommy’s boy, through and through. He’ll do what she says even if she doesn’t do it openly. My work to make him independent without her around didn’t work.” That didn’t sting as much as it had before. “And he’ll be off the rails right now. Steve texted me while I was in Target. He said Jessie slipped into a coma. They don’t expect her to come out of it.”
Dagmar hated Jessie with a passion. The woman was vile. But knowing she was close to dying didn’t make her feel better. She felt guilty, in fact, for feeling glad she was in a coma. Dagmar wasn’t a bad person.
However, Jessie made her feel like a bad person for wishing her dead.
“Oh, God,” Brittany gasped. She said something just off the connection which sounded like she was talking to someone else. From the shouting she was doing, it was probably Melanie. Then Brittany was back. “But why would he attack you if he’s losing his mother? Surely he’d be at her bedside the whole time.”
“Because he wants to lash out at someone and I’m the first person who comes to mind as he’s still angry with me,” Dagmar said bitterly.
Brittany giggled.
“Well, I will say this about you. You don’t have much luck with guys, do you?”
Dagmar grunted.
“Not at the moment, no.” She raised her head when she saw the door open and David come back in. “I’d better go. David’s coming in.”
“What?” Brittany’s sudden shriek made Dagmar wince. “You’re with David? When did that happen?”
“He brought me back after the hospital.” Dagmar mouthed ‘Brittany’ to David and pointed at the phone. David rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorframe. “He’s letting me use his guest room until my apartment’s back in shape.”
Brittany floundered and then recovered, giving a sardonic grunt.
“He’s got the heart of the angel.”
“A bad boy and angel?”
Brittany sighed. She sounded dreamy.
“A billionaire is an angel.”
Dagmar laughed.
“If you say so. Bye, Britt.”
She hung up. David was looking at her curiously.
“What’s that about calling me an angel?”
“It’s just Brittany being strange again.” Dagmar sat up. “What’s up?”
“I’ve called my IT consultant and a new laptop should be on its way shortly. Then I was going to order takeout. Would you like something?”
Dagmar hadn’t been hungry before then. But now her stomach was growling. She rubbed at it and gave David a bashful look.
“What are you getting?”
“Would curry work for you?”
“Perfect.” Dagmar’s mouth started watering. “Chicken korma. Naan, no rice?”
David grinned.
“Coming right up.”
*****
The evening couldn’t have gone any better for Dagmar. The curry had arrived at the same time as David’s IT consultant, Daniel, who brought her a brand new laptop that was even better than her old one. Daniel showed her a few things that were added on and then left, mostly because David was glaring at him.
Dagmar had to laugh at that. While handsome, Daniel was too young for her. But it was nice to have someone jealous over her.
The curry had been delicious as well. And the company. David had been accommodating to her with everything, including the fact Dagmar didn’t drink. He didn’t even blink, just cracked open a couple of soda cans. Dagmar didn’t think she had tasted such a yummy curry before.
David was very good company. Dagmar hadn’t had a chance to talk to him properly before due to other people being around but that evening gave her a chance to find out a lot more about the man. David showed one side to the public, another side to the ladies, and a third side to his family. Dagmar had seen all three sides.
The side he showed to his family came to the forefront the most. He was amenable and easy to talk to. And Dagmar had thought they wouldn’t have anything to talk about, when they actually had a lot in common. David knew how to keep a conversation going and he seemed genuinely interested in what Dagmar had to say, which was the best thing he could have done for her. Neither Jeremy nor her ex-husband had done that for her.
Dagmar couldn’t think of a better way to spend her evening. David certainly took her mind off the fact that she had to face Alejandro and Steve shortly about the apartment. Hopefully, they wouldn’t tell her to vacate. Steve knew her better than that.
They didn’t notice the time until Dagmar looked over and saw it was past midnight. She had been up for twenty-four hours and it was only just starting to hit her. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to work until the following evening, but, even then, her body was starting to give out. Dagmar managed to excuse herself to go to bed and David let her go. From the look on his face, he wanted to come with her but decided against it.
Dagmar was too tired for sex. But had she been in a better condition, she wouldn’t have said no.
She barely had time to get undressed and into bed before she fell asleep. The bed was very comfortable, much more comfortable than the one in her apartment. It didn’t take long for the slumber to become deep.
Then, all too soon, something started ringing. And it wouldn’t stop. Dagmar tried to make it stop but then she found out it wasn’t a dream. It was coming from outside the dream.
Forcing herself awake, Dagmar rolled over. The bedding had tangled among her legs and she saw that she was in just her panties and a vest top. She had barely managed to get the trouser
s on before she fell asleep.
The ringing was still going on. Dagmar rolled onto her front and saw her cell phone buzzing across the bedside cabinet. It wasn’t the number for the hospital and she wasn’t on call. Nor was it a number she recognized.
It had to be a cold caller. Growling, Dagmar snatched her phone up and answered it, prepared to give them a piece of her mind.
“What?”
“Dagmar?”
That didn’t help her mood at all.
“Go away, Jeremy. It’s one in the morning. I don’t wish to talk to you at all.”
“But I want to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Jeremy. I said all I needed to say last week.”
When was the man going to take a hint? Dagmar had told him straight that she wanted nothing to do with him and had wiped him out from her life. But Jeremy just wouldn’t leave her alone. The man was as thick as a brick.
“I want us to be together, Dagmar.” Jeremy sounded pleading. “I love you.”
Dagmar rolled her eyes.
“Jeremy, if you loved me, you wouldn’t have thrown me under the bus with your mother. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have threatened me or trashed my apartment.”
“Wait, your apartment was trashed?”
Now Jeremy sounded confused. Dagmar didn’t believe it for a minute.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t know. That won’t work with me. Now, get lost. Don’t call me again and don’t call me in the middle of the night.”
“Please, Dagmar…”
But Dagmar was already hanging up. She didn’t want to deal with him tonight. That could be dealt with at another date.
If at all. Dagmar would be quite happy if she never saw the man again. He had taken away three years of her life by making her bow down to Jessie, a woman who thought it was okay to treat her like dirt. And Jeremy hadn’t seen anything wrong with it. Any chance of getting him to see sense was completely out the window now.
When Dagmar chose a new relationship – if she ended up with a new relationship – she wasn’t going to be with a Mommy’s boy who thought she would be a second mother to him.
Fallen For A Biker_BWWM Romance Page 9
