“No. I’m really okay. Just a little shaken, I guess.” I took another sip of water and tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it felt stiff on my face. “I just don’t know why anyone would bother with my car. There was nothing of value inside anymore.”
Eli seemed to hear the words I implied but left unsaid for the sake of privacy. I’d moved everything of any value out of my car when I’d started staying with Eli. There weren’t even old receipts or junk mail in it anymore.
“You should go back to your meeting. We can handle this.”
“I already told them all to go home when I got Hayden’s message. We can reschedule it for tomorrow. It’s not as important as your safety.”
“But I’m fine. I’m not injured or anything,” I argued.
“Someone vandalized your property, Charlotte. That’s personal.”
“Or it could’ve been an accident or someone wanting to steal something.” I couldn’t bring myself to admit that he was right. That I felt violated in a way I couldn’t quite make sense of.
“No offense, but if theft was the motive, they’d have chosen a newer vehicle.”
Well, he had me there. My car was a piece of shit, and I knew it. As did everyone else in a two-block radius when the engine was running. Before I could come up with some kind of response, another man in a security uniform entered the room with a laptop.
“The closest camera managed to catch the vandal, Mr. Brighton. We didn’t even have to scan back very far. It happened less than two hours ago.”
“Can you make out a face?”
“It’s a pretty good visual. Maybe you’ll recognize him, Ms. Douglas?”
“It’s definitely a him?” I asked, frowning. He nodded, and Eli looked grim.
“Let’s see it, then,” Eli said, taking the seat next to me while the man cued up the video and turned the computer toward us. He slipped his hand into mine and squeezed it gently.
An image of the parking garage appeared on the screen, and it took me a moment to orient myself to the camera’s perspective. My car was visible in the upper right hand corner, sandwiched between a Lexus and a high-end Toyota. Eli nodded silently as though the evidence had proved his point. No one would’ve targeted my beater with a mind to steal something. After a few seconds, a familiar dark sedan with tinted windows pulled into the frame and parked a few spaces down. My blood ran cold.
“Shit.”
The whispered curse slipped from my lips of its own volition, and I knew with startling certainty who was about to climb out of that car. Eli’s momentary confusion at my reaction dissolved into fuming anger the moment my suspicion was confirmed.
“Motherfucker!”
“Sir?”
Eli held up a hand, and the guard fell silent as we all watched the screen. The man took a baseball bat from the trunk of his car, walked the short distance to mine, and swung it hard at the driver’s side window. Though there was no sound on the video, I imagined the shattering crunch it would’ve made. He bent over to look inside the car, but he didn’t appear to have removed anything. His steps were quicker as he returned to his own vehicle, stowed the bat, and drove off.
“His name is Brent Sullivan,” Eli growled, his face reddening slightly with his fury. “We need to call the fucking cops right now. This isn’t the first time he’s harassed her.”
“The police have already been contacted, sir. But we didn’t report it as an emergency since no one was injured, so it might be a little while.”
Eli’s grip on my hand tightened as he began to bark instructions at the security staff, but I tuned them out as I clicked the mouse to start the video again, watching in dazed silence. So much for just being paranoid, I thought sadly, watching Brent poke around in my car through the shattered window. I was now almost certain the car I’d seen outside the thrift store a few weeks ago had been him after all. And I was willing to bet he’d been the one who had tailed us from the shelter to Eli’s apartment building the night before that.
“Put the order in with my usual dealer, and I want a replacement delivered within an hour,” Eli was saying. I looked away from the screen in confusion, pulling my hand out of his grasp.
“Wait… replacement what?”
“A vehicle. Something newer and safer,” Eli answered, as though ordering cars like pizza delivery was the most natural thing in the world. “And your parking space will be reassigned to one of my guest spaces. They’re right by the elevator, and they’re rarely all needed at the same time. I can stand to lose one.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… Eli, you don’t need to buy me a new car. I can figure something out.”
“Angel, it’s no trouble. You know I’ve been worried about you driving that damn car anyway.”
“That’s beside the point,” I argued, frustrated. “I have insurance for the window, and the repair shop can give me a loaner. Cancel the new car and calm down.”
I was trembling slightly, and I’m sure he could hear the lingering note of fear in my voice, but I was determined to hold my ground. I loved how protective he was, but he couldn’t possibly be serious. Buying me a car?! We’d been together less than a month!
Eli drew himself up to argue, but a quick glance at our audience seemed to change his mind. I didn’t much care for the thought of arguing in front of his employees either, but he was being ridiculous.
“And my parking space is fine where it is,” I added stubbornly. “I don’t want special privileges. You know that.”
The man who had been on the verge of ordering me a new car was a second too late stifling his laughter, and I glanced at him reflexively. He smiled back at me apologetically but with a good deal more respect in his eyes than he’d had five minutes ago. I looked back at Eli and pursed my lips. He seemed torn between giving me what I wanted and doing what would make him feel better.
I knew he wasn’t used to being contradicted at his own company, but I thought it best to head him off quickly. Next, he’d be assigning me a damn bodyguard. Still, I hadn’t really meant to take him to task in front of his staff.
“Hold off on the car for now,” he said quietly to his still-smiling employee. “And see if we can get an ETA on the police…”
Thank you, I thought, breathing a small sigh of relief. My eyes flickered back to the security footage, which was still playing on a loop, and I watched Brent assault my car all over again. It was an odd sensation… having my personal property vandalized. Especially something I’d actually lived in for months. It was as though a part of me had been violated in a way, and to my dismay, my eyes began to sting and water. Knowing it had been Brent made it even worse. I’d scrubbed away the memory of his touch weeks ago, but now I could almost feel it again. Tainting me…
Eli snapped the laptop shut, pulling me out of my thoughts and then into his arms. I’d begun to tremble visibly without realizing it, and he shushed me as he stroked my hair.
“We’ll press charges, Angel. We have all the evidence we need. He won’t get away with it.”
I sighed, allowing his voice to soothe me and his hands to erase the ghost of Brent’s touch. God, I’m a mess. One minute, I was in a daze. The next, I was irritable and speaking out of turn. Now, I was on the verge of tears.
The arrival of a pair of police officers was a welcome distraction. Officers Menchak and Hutchison filled out a report and took the video footage into evidence, explaining the process that would lead to Brent’s arrest for destruction of private property.
“How long will he be held?” Eli asked, now back to holding my hand rather than my entire body.
“He’ll probably make bail, unless he’s got any priors the judge takes an issue with. We can let you know when he’s picked up and when the arraignment is set, ma’am,” the officer added, glancing in my direction. “For the sake of your personal safety, we’d advise staying with a friend or family member if possible.”
“There’s security at… the place I’m staying.”
Eli gave me an odd l
ook when I faltered halfway through my reply. Should I not have said that? I’d been about to say ‘our apartment building,’ but the presence of other RPC employees had tripped me up. Not only was it his apartment rather than ours, but I wasn’t sure whether he was okay with his staff knowing I was living there for the time being. True, it was listed in my personnel file, but that wasn’t quite the same as announcing it outright.
The cops finished their business, answering as many of our questions as possible, and Eli helped me to my feet. He’d arranged to have my car towed to a repair shop. I knew he’d probably just end up paying the bill, but I didn’t have the energy to argue about it anymore. At least he’d only ordered a tow truck and not a brand new BMW.
It was now too late to get any quality time with my mom before the end of visiting hours, so he took me back to his apartment, his worried eyes glancing frequently in my direction. He held my hand as he drove, but my mind was a million miles away.
The setting sun had turned the sky into a beautiful watercolor painting, streaked with pinks and oranges, but I hardly registered any of it as I gazed out the window. Brent’s face seemed to float in the air before me, obstructing my ability to see anything but the predatory sneer that matched the one he’d worn as he pinned me against my car and loomed over me. I could still feel the echo of his painful grip, nearly hard enough to bruise the delicate skin between my legs… My stomach churned in revulsion.
“Angel.” The word sounded like a plea in the quiet interior of his car. “Talk to me. Don’t shut me out. You’re not alone with this, okay?”
“I know. Thank you,” I said softly. “I was just thinking about the last time I saw him up close. That night you stopped him from hurting me.”
“He will never get that close to you again.”
I wanted to believe that, but I had no intention of placing the responsibility for my safety on Eli’s shoulders. As much as I loved him, as much as I trusted him… I had to be able to look after myself. He’d come to my rescue in too many ways already.
“Donovan said he kept the security video from that night in case I decided to press charges. I’d thought Brent getting fired would be punishment enough… that he’d move on. Now I feel stupid for just letting it go because he clearly hasn’t. Maybe if I’d filed assault charges right away, he wouldn’t be able to get out on bail so easily after busting my window. Or maybe he wouldn’t have done it at all. Maybe—”
“There’s no knowing what he would’ve done,” Eli interrupted, stroking his thumb across my knuckles. It felt nice, but I needed more. I wanted to curl up in his arms and let him hold me all night. “Is it too late to press charges?”
“No. It’s only been a month, and the statute on assault and battery is four years. And we have evidence.”
“Okay. So, we can get the video from Donovan tomorrow and go to the police station. Maybe we can file in time for the judge to consider it at the arraignment.” His voice had taken on a practical, reassuring tone, and I tried to let it comfort me the way he intended.
“Maybe. But unless he has relevant priors, the judge may still agree to set bail.”
“One step at a time, Angel.”
Eli pulled into his designated parking space, and we headed up to the apartment. He tried to talk me into eating something, but I had absolutely no appetite, so he ushered me into his monstrous bathtub instead.
The hot water was comforting, but being in Eli’s arms helped more than anything else could have. I breathed a ragged sigh as he stroked my damp hair and pressed kisses to my temple. My eyes closed as the tension began to ease gradually from my muscles, but after a few minutes, his hand stopped moving. I looked up at him curiously to see a confused and somewhat guarded expression on his face.
“What did you mean when you said, ‘the last time you saw him up close?’”
Twenty-Two
Eli
Charlotte’s words had rewound themselves in my head until I spotted something I’d missed the first time. She looked confused, so I clarified.
“In the car, you said you were thinking about the incident in the restaurant parking lot, when I punched him. But you said it was the last time you saw him ‘up close.’ Have you seen him since then?”
Understanding dawned on her features, followed swiftly by hesitation and a hint of guilt. I sat up in the tub and adjusted our positions so I could look her in the eye. My heart was pounding, and the anger I’d been struggling with all evening threatened to show itself again.
“When? And where?”
“Don’t be mad.”
Too late.
“I’m not mad at you, Charlotte, but I need answers. You saw him again? Recently?”
“Not… not really. I thought I saw his car. But then I… I don’t know, I thought I was just being paranoid, and…”
“When was this?”
“A few weeks ago.” My eyes widened in alarm, and she rushed to explain the rest. “Do you remember that night we were tailgated on the way back from the shelter? The day after we visited my mom?”
“You thought that was him? Why didn’t you say so?”
“Because I didn’t think of it until the next day. It was my first day at RPC, when I went shopping after work. I saw… what looked like the same car when I came out of the store.”
I growled. Actually growled. Charlotte backpedaled a little.
“Or at least, I saw a car that looked like Brent’s, and I realized the one from the night before could’ve been the same vehicle. It was just a couple days after the whole thing at the restaurant, and I got spooked. So, I took off… but he didn’t follow me.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” The question came out louder than I intended, and I took a deep breath to calm myself.
“Because I thought I was just being paranoid. I didn’t actually see anyone inside because the windows were too dark. It’s a common make and model, and I’m sure there are hundreds of them in the area. I figured if it had been Brent, he would’ve followed me when I left. So, when he didn’t, and I didn’t see him or the car anywhere after that…”
Son of a bitch. This asshole has been stalking her for at least a month, probably longer. And we never realized it. I was livid. Absolutely fuming. Not to mention sick with worry at the thought of him coming anywhere near her. Sullivan had vented his anger at her car today, but it could’ve been so much worse. Fuck!
“I’m sorry,” Charlotte said, practically whispering.
My eyes darted back to her, and I inwardly cursed myself again, realizing what my face must’ve looked like at that moment. I framed her jaw with my hands and pressed my lips to her forehead, breathing in the clean scent of her shampoo.
“I’m not mad at you, Angel. I’m absolutely pissed at the nerve of this fucker. At the fact that he’s been following you, that your safety has been in question, and I never realized it… Hell, I’m even a little pissed at Donovan for hiring the asshole in the first place. But not you, okay?” She still looked remorseful, and I sighed. “Let’s get out and go make something for dinner. We’ll both feel better with something in our stomachs.”
Charlotte nodded and let me help her out of the tub, looking utterly exhausted as she dried herself off and went in search of pajamas. I followed her into the bedroom and pulled two of my t-shirts out of the dresser, and she caught the one I tossed in her direction with a weak smile. She loved wearing my shirts almost as much as I loved seeing her in them.
We made a light, easy dinner of soup and sandwiches and sat down together at the bar. The tension in her slight frame had begun to ease, but she still looked downcast, poking at her food more than eating it. Had my momentary lapse in anger management upset her that much, or was she still thinking about Sullivan?
“It’s gonna be okay, Angel. I’ll keep you safe. I’m sorry if I raised my voice with you earlier. I’m just… worried.”
Charlotte glanced up in surprise but didn’t answer, looking thoughtful as she swallowed a mouthful of
vegetable soup.
“I know. I’ll be fine. And I know you’re not mad, even though you probably have every right to be. You’ve done nothing but take care of me since the first time we met, and I should’ve told you what I saw. Or… thought I saw. I just didn’t want to freak you out for no reason. You’ve had enough drama to put up with on my behalf.”
“Baby, it’s not like that. You make it sound like being with you is some big inconvenience. While I’d gladly put up with just about anything for you, trust me when I say I don’t feel like that at all.” I held her gaze for a long moment until she relented with a crooked smile.
“I’d put up with a lot for you too.”
“Good to know,” I chuckled. We traded playful shoulder nudges back and forth while we ate in silence for a few more minutes.
“When we were in the security office earlier… Did I say anything I shouldn’t have?” she asked. I frowned in confusion at her question as well as the nervousness I could hear in her voice.
“I don’t… think so? What are you talking about?”
“You gave me a weird look when I told the cops that there’s security on site here. I didn’t understand why,” she shrugged. Oh, yeah. That.
“Uh…”
“Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
“No, of course not. It was just… The way you phrased it threw me off, I guess.”
“Why?”
“You said ‘the place where you’re staying.’ I don’t know, it just… It sounded like this is just a temporary place to crash for you. And even though I know that’s how it started, I…”
Fuck. This is not how I thought this conversation would go.
“I’ve been meaning to bring that up,” Charlotte said cautiously, abandoning all pretense of eating her meal. I put the remains of my sandwich down and spun my chair toward her. “We, um… We haven’t talked about it in a while, but I wanted to tell you that I should be able to afford a place pretty soon. Maybe—”
Fortune's Angel (Fates Aligned Book 2) Page 17
