opened his car door and her heart stopped in fear. She had no intention of sticking around. She checked for traffic and then turned through the red light, reaching for her bag as she pulled onto the main road. He was going to follow her home and then rape and murder her. Holy shit, she was going to die. She riffled through her bag for her phone and unlocked the screen as she drove. Calling Leo wasn’t an option. He already thought she was weak, and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of rubbing it in. Instead, she clicked on T.J.’s contact and bit her lip as the phone rang.
“Hey, Shay, what’s up?”
Flashing lights glared at her through the rear-view mirror, and she whimpered. “Please help me. A guy from the club came after me in the parking lot. He’s following me home. I don’t know what to do.”
“Baby, calm down.” Concern laced his words. “Where are you?”
“I’m a few blocks from work, on Warrigal Road, heading toward the city.”
“Can you turn around and come back?”
She shook her head and puffed out an anxious breath. “I don’t want to take a side street and risk him running me off the road. Please, T.J. I don’t know what to do.”
“Don’t worry, I’m coming after you. Stay on the main road and slow down so I can catch up. But don’t stop. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay.” Her voice waivered. She lifted her foot off the accelerator, slowing the car well below the speed limit. The guy behind her continued to flash his lights, his arm now waving out the window, his finger pointing to the side of the road.
This was karma. She’d been a raging bitch to Leo, and now she was paying the price. Either her stalker was going to ram into her car and drag her out the door, or she’d have a heart attack while she waited.
Chill. She sucked in a shaky breath, let it out slowly and turned on the radio. The lethargic, early morning music did nothing to soothe her. All she could do was continue to hyperventilate and wait.
As she reached a give-way sign, a horn blasted, startling her. A car sped up beside her on the wrong side of the road, and Leo’s face stared at her from the passenger window. Shit. She didn’t know if she should be relieved or more frightened from the heat in his eyes.
“Pull over,” he mouthed, his lips set in a solemn line.
She did as instructed, driving through the intersection and pulling to the curb in front of the next street light. T.J.’s car parked behind her, and the other guy followed. Before she had time to cut the engine, she saw Leo in her rear-view mirror. He flung open his door and climbed from the car with his shoulders broad with menace. There wasn’t an ounce of softness to his features as he turned his back and jogged to the stranger’s car.
“Oh, shit.” She watched in horror as he yanked the guy out by his shirt and thrust him against the side of the vehicle.
“Shay.”
She screamed and then clasped a hand over her mouth. T.J. stood outside her car, one hand on the door handle while the other tapped on her window until she released the lock. He opened the door as she unclicked her seatbelt and then reached down to help her out.
“Come here.”
She could hear Leo yelling as she went willingly into T.J.’s arms.
“It was just a misunderstanding,” he cooed in her ear.
Misunderstanding?
She tilted her head, listening to Leo verbally abuse the man. “Well you don’t fucking chase after her. You drop the keys with the bouncers and let her figure out she’s lost them. Why did you follow her into the parking lot anyway?”
Keys?
“Travis came to me in the club and said I freaked her out. I felt like shit and wanted to apologize.” The man was almost talking too fast for her to understand, yet all the awkward pieces began falling into place. “I gathered I was scaring her, so I stopped following, but she dropped her handbag and didn’t pick up her keys. I’m sorry. It was my initial reaction to go after
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