In the Shadows (The Club, #10) Read online

  She unlocked the car doors for him when he finished inspecting the rear tire on the passenger side. He slid into the seat, closing the door and letting her lock them both inside. The tension around her eyes gave away the real depths of her fear, but did nothing to slow the iciness taking hold inside him as the adrenaline surged.

  “My car’s sitting funny,” she said, voice trembling.

  “Your rear tire’s flat. Someone slashed it.”

  “Shit.” She closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip. He wasn’t positive, but it seemed like she was trying to keep from crying.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, deliberately pitching his voice lower to keep from frightening her.

  Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Nothing the police don’t already know about.”

  “Viv–”

  She wouldn’t look at him. But she also wasn’t ordering him to shut up or denying that anything was happening.

  “Are letters like this normal for you?”

  Her laugh was short and sharp. “God, no.”

  He couldn’t get the words he’d just read out of his head. It’s almost time for us to meet. And only one will walk away, love. The handwriting was jagged, furious, in smudged, dark pencil. Maybe the cops would get a print off of it.

  “Someone’s stalking you,” he said.

  She stared over the dashboard into the darkness beyond the lot. “I know.”

  “How long?”

  “A few months, I think. Honestly, I don’t remember any more. It feels like it’s been forever.”

  “So the guy I chased tonight...”

  “Was probably him.” She looked at the envelope he’d placed on the dashboard. “I’ve never seen him before,” she admitted. “He’s getting braver.”

  “Bastard,” Zeke growled.

  Now he wished it had been a normal night, a night when his Sigs were still comfortable weights against his sides. He hadn't brought them because he'd been working that delivery with Preston and there was no reason to be carrying for it. But if he had...a simple shot in the knee—that's all it would have taken—and Viv would have been free from all of this. “Is this the first time he’s tried to contact you outside the bakery?”

  She blew out a breath and relinquished her grip, flexing her fingers before clasping her hands in her lap. “Yes.”

  “Do you think he knows where you live?”

  She swallowed hard. “I...I don’t know. Maybe? Detective Mancini made sure my apartment building was on one of the patrol routes after I got the fifth or sixth letter, so I assumed that would keep me safe.”

  “Let me take you home tonight. Make sure no one’s hanging around before I head out. I can bring you back here tomorrow and help you change out that tire.”

  He could tell she wanted to protest. It made sense. He didn’t exactly look like Mr. Friendly. Her neighbors were as likely to call the cops on him as they were on the twisted sicko who was fucking around with her. But he didn’t want her left alone. Not until he was sure she’d be safe.

  To his surprise, she put a hand on his and said, “That would be great.”

  ***

  Zeke made her call Detective Mancini on the way to her apartment once she was buckled into his car. When she got to the letter, he plucked the phone from her hand and finished out the conversation, arranging a time for her to go into the station to turn it in. He also ensured that an officer would stop by the public lot and inspect the damage to her car so a report could be made.

  She was grateful for Zeke’s interference. He was calm and measured, two things she most definitely was not. The hard truth was that the nerves she’d forced down had returned with a vengeance by the time they pulled into her apartment’s parking lot.

  “Which one is yours?” he asked her, peering at the semi-dark stairwell.

  “I’m the third one over.” She pointed. The movement forced her to lean in, an action mirrored by him a moment later as he tried to see where she was pointing.

  It brought them within inches of each other. His lips were there, tantalizingly close. She was so busy staring at them, wondering if she was brave enough to close the gap that she didn’t realize he was staring right back at her.

  “Viv,” he said in a low, husky voice.

  “Yes?”

  “May I walk you in?”

  “Okay.”

  He stayed at her side as they walked toward the stairwell. It was sweet how he kept her tucked against him when they turned corners. When they reached her door, he waited for her to unlock her apartment before following her inside.

  She turned on the lights, glad she’d cleaned up. It was small but comfortable, a place for her to go when she wasn’t at Divine Twins. Still, it wasn’t exactly homey, except for the kitchen.

  “Well, doesn’t look like anyone is hiding in here,” she said, gesturing at the space.

  Zeke nodded slowly. “Are you comfortable with me taking a look around?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  He headed toward the back of the apartment first, the bedroom. He reappeared, mouth set in that unreadable line, and checked the bathroom before returning to the living room. He only popped his head into the kitchen, grunting at something he saw, before rejoining her near the door.

  “You’ve got a window in the bedroom,” he stated.

  “I usually keep it closed and locked, especially this time of year.”

  “Another window in the bathroom.”

  She shifted her weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable with the line of questioning. “Why are you bringing up the windows?”

  “Because between the stairwells and the balconies, it’d be easy enough to climb up to your bedroom.”

  When she flinched, he frowned and reached a hand out toward her. “Sorry. I’m shitty at this. Look, I just don’t want you walking in to any surprises, okay?”

  “It’s not like I can board them up.”

  “No, but we can get alarms for them.”

  “I can’t afford alarms. Besides, I’m renting this place–”

  “They don’t have to be fancy or expensive. The main purpose is to scare off whoever’s trying to get in, or to alert your neighbors that something’s wrong. We can go look at them tomorrow and then you can decide if you want them. Will that work?”

  “Why are you doing all of this for me?”

  Zeke shrugged, forehead wrinkling slightly. “No one deserves this. And if I can help, I will.”

  She was going to push the issue, press him to answer why, but he stepped closer to her and all thought of arguing left, along with the air between them. His eyes were fixed on her lips, the line of his body drawn tight.

  “Viv, I’ve got no damn right do this, especially right now, but I’m going to kiss you. So if you don’t want that to happen, you’d better tell me.”

  Wow. Those clipped, factual words should not have been any kind of turn-on. Too bad her nerves frizzled somewhere between her clit and her brain and she just stood there dumbly waiting for him to make good on his warning.

  Did he ever.

  He was shockingly gentle. Fingertips grazed the column of her neck, sliding down to rest against her collarbone. His lips brushed hers, tentative until she sighed and her mouth parted. He stepped in, still not touching her anywhere but where his lips and fingertips were. The lack of contact made her tremble, eager to press herself to him. His tongue caressed her lower lip and she could only wait in breathless anticipation for him to finally grab her, dig his hands in to her hair, and take the kiss he must want—

  “I’ll call you tomorrow. Lock your door.”

  It wasn’t until the door closed that some dull, sluggish part of her brain recognized that she was still standing in her apartment—eyes closed, lips parted, heart beating erratically—utterly alone.

  ***

  He finally got up the balls to call Vivian around nine that morning. It hadn’t been easy. He hadn’t slept worth shit, the image of her parted lips, flushed ch
est, and take-me-now expression burned into his mind all night. He had no doubt that if he’d waited around any longer, they would have ended up in bed. And as tempting as the prospect may be, he didn’t want her to do it out of some misguided sense of appreciation, or worse, hero-worship.

  She answered on the second ring. Her voice was breathy and his cock immediately shot to attention, tenting the denim of his jeans.

  “Zeke?”

  “Morning.” God, he hoped his voice didn’t sound as strangled as he thought it did.

  “Detective Mancini called. An officer stopped by my car this morning. I just have to go to the station to sign the report.”

  “I’ll take you there.” He pulled on his boots, pinning the phone between his ear and shoulder.

  “Don’t you have work today?”

  “Nope. I’ve been putting in extra shifts, so I got today off.”

  “Do you mind dropping me at the station? I can get a taxi to one of the tire places and get my car fixed up so you’ve got the rest of the day free.”

  “Viv–”

  She fell silent when he said her name.

  “I’d like to spend some time with you today. If you don’t mind, I mean.”

  “No...I mean, it'd be nice to spend some time with you too.”

  Yeah, if he’d thought her breathy voice was sexy, it had nothing on this new one. Low, sultry, with a purr that wasn’t affected. Oh shit, he was in trouble.

  He tried to cover. “What else do you want to do today?”

  Please let it be me.

  “I’m not sure. The bakery’s closed today, but I could go in and do some paperwork.”

  “Do you want to?”

  She sighed. “Not really. There’s always paperwork to do.”

  “Tell you what...Let’s stop by the station and take care of your tire, then we can figure out the rest of the day.”

  Somehow, it was possible to hear her smile through the phone. “Deal. I’ll see you in a bit?”

  “I’ll be there in twenty.”

  Technically, he made it in fifteen. He called Vivian and waited for her to come down to the parking lot. She was wearing some kind of sweater dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and a bright silk scarf that set off the darkness of her hair.

  Unbidden, a vision of her spread across his bed, scarf tied around her hands, seared through him. He groaned and clamped his hands on the steering wheel, ordering himself to get his raging libido under control.

  She slid into car with a murmured greeting and a flash of pale thigh. She pushed a fallen lock of hair back behind her shoulder and turned to reach for her seatbelt. When she turned back, he gave in to the stupid urge and clasped her chin in his fingers, freezing her in place.

  She met his kiss with a surprise that quickly burned into equal fervor. She tasted of sugar and cream and coffee and he wondered if her skin tasted sweeter. He placed a hand on her knee, sliding it slowly up her thigh, reveling in the smoothness of her skin. The woven strands of her dress were soft against the top of his hand and she made a strangled noise when his fingertips brushed against the curve of her hip, tracing the scalloped lace edge of her panties.

  She deepened the kiss, her tongue caressing his, her hands clutching and releasing his forearms as he followed the silken fabric down. Her trembling legs eased open, making room for his hand and he gently stroked the fabric, amazed at the heat of her responsiveness. She moaned when he teased his finger along the final barrier between them. It wouldn’t be difficult to push her panties to the side and slide his fingers over her slick, swollen flesh—

  The ring of her cell phone broke through their haze. Her cheeks red, lipstick smudged, Vivian fumbled for her purse, digging out her cell phone. Zeke knew he should pull back, remove his hand, but her dishevelment tugged at something deep in his gut. He had done that to her, gotten her that hot and bothered.

  She answered with shaky hand. “Hello? Detective, hi.”

  He finally withdrew, forcing himself to place his hands on the steering wheel once again. The conversation’s one-sidedness limited his understanding, even though he attempted to listen in.

  “We’re actually heading down there right now...Yes, he’s with me.” She glanced over at him. Her eyes darkened and her tongue darted out, licking her lips unconsciously. “Oh, believe me, detective, I plan on keeping him near me as much as possible.”

  Near. On top of. Under. Whatever.

  She finished up the call and returned the phone to her purse, still watching him. “Detective Mancini wanted to talk with you at the station.”

  “I’m sure she did.”

  Neither moved.

  “She’s under the impression that you’re a good person for me to keep around.”

  Zeke’s lips twitched. “She’s a smart woman.”

  Vivian took in a shaky breath and reached, without looking, for her seatbelt. Once it was clicked in, she said, “I liked that.”

  When he didn’t say anything, she continued in a rush, “What we were just doing. I liked that. I...I don’t do things like this, but with you...I want to do...”

  He turned on the car. “Anything you want, Viv.”

  Her look was pure doubt. He placed his hand on her thigh, making sure she held his eyes as his fingers crept higher, a teasing reminder of where they’d just been. He said again, lower, “Anything. I think it’s high time we move past eye-fucking each other across the street.”

  Her soft noise socked him in the gut.

  He straightened. “But not now. No matter how badly I want to take you back into your apartment and bend you over the back of your couch, we’ve got other shit to take care of. Station first. Then car. And then...” He trailed off, cock straining at his fly from the answering heat in her eyes. “Then we have all day and night.”

  Chapter 5

  The station wasn’t too busy when they finally made it there. She fixed her lipstick in the car, while Zeke waited patiently. He even held her hand when they crossed the parking lot. The officer at the front desk called Mancini when they arrived, buzzing them back a few minutes later.

  The detective greeted them and led them to an interview room. She shuffled through her stack of papers and handed the report over to Vivian.

  “Our officer went out and inspected the scene this morning. As reported, the rear passenger tire was slashed. No further damage was done to the car, but it’s clear this wasn’t an accident.” Mancini raised an eyebrow and fixed Vivian with a serious look. “Considering the note that was also found at the scene, I highly suggest you find a closer parking spot. Preferably somewhere with cameras or larger crowds. I’m concerned this guy wants to force you into a situation where you will be alone with him.”

  At her side, Zeke tensed. She placed a hand on his thigh under the table and nodded. “I’ll find somewhere closer to park.”

  “As you know, previous notes haven’t given us anything useful,” Mancini continued. “But in light of these new interactions, we’re hopeful the suspect makes a mistake soon. The key is to ensure that we limit opportunities for contact.”

  Thoughts of all her duties rose. “I can’t stop working,” she protested.

  Detective Mancini held up a hand. “I agree. Your life needs to continue in as normal a routine as possible. If drastic changes are made, your stalker may vanish until a better opportunity presents itself, or may become violent.” She instantly grimaced. “I don’t want to worry you and I don’t believe that will happen, but I think you should know the facts.”

  “I appreciate that,” Vivian assured her.

  “Since I’m still sitting here without cuffs on,” Zeke suddenly said, “I can assume I’m not a person of interest?”

  Detective Mancini turned her attention to him, eyes narrowing slightly. “You are not, Mr. Harding. You have quite an impressive past.”

  He didn’t respond. If anything, his expression grew more neutral.

  “I also noticed that you have your licenses up to dat
e. Considering your history, I feel safe in assuming that you understand the implications if our suspect is found injured.”

  Vivian didn’t know what was in Zeke’s past, but the way his lips curved up and his shoulders relaxed as he leaned back in his chair made her wonder exactly what it was he did at The Club.

  “I appreciate the warning, Detective,” he murmured. “And if that’s all you can tell us at this time, I’d like to get Viv to the store so we can look into some security upgrades for her apartment.”

  Detective Mancini’s lips thinned, but she gave a curt nod and rose from her chair. She shook hands with them both, promising to call if she got more news. Vivian was so busy puzzling out the conversation that the sensation of Zeke’s hand on her lower back made her jump a little.

  He looked down at her, concern tightening the corners of his eyes. “I’ll explain in the car.”

  “Sure.”

  Once they were back in his car, he placed both hands on the steering wheel and looked out through the windshield. “I was enlisted,” he announced without preamble. “That’s what she was talking about.”

  “She seemed to think you were dangerous to the guy who’s stalking me,” Vivian said.

  “That’s because she’s not a moron.” His fingers tapped restlessly. “I guess it’s better that way. She’ll get the job done right at least.”

  Vivian watched him, slowly piecing together her observations. “When you say enlisted, I’m guessing you don’t mean as a regular soldier.”

  “No.”

  “Special forces?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  “Worse?”

  “Depends on your viewpoint.”

  “Did you help people?”

  “Not sure.”

  The absurdity of their curt back-and-forth made her chuckle. He glanced over, forehead wrinkling slightly. “What?”

  “I’m seriously going to have to pry this information from you, aren’t I?”

  At least he relaxed. “I don’t like talking about it. That’s all.”

  “I can understand that. Are we heading to the store now?”

  He nodded, started the car, and pulled out into traffic. They didn’t speak as he drove. Instead, she traced her fingers over the back of his hand, strangely content. The past few weeks she’d dreaded being in others’ company, afraid that one of her customers may be her stalker. Not having anyone to trust was wearing on her more than she realized. Now that she had someone she could rely on, facing the situation was much easier to bear.