Maya Banks - Sweet Temptation

He’d drugged her. He’d followed her to the club, and he’d drugged her, planning to take her then. That he’d been so close to her, that he knew where she lived ... Fear paralyzed her.

She stared down at the note that she’d touched. Stupid. It was evidence and she’d put her fingerprints all over it. But how was she to have known that he’d followed her here? How could he have known where she went?

Micah. She had to get to Micah. But she didn’t want to leave her apartment. He had been here. Right outside her door. He could be there now, waiting and watching.

Now she damned her decision to wait to get a phone until she’d saved enough money for the deposit. She had no way to reach out to anyone without leaving the apartment.

Wait. She could just wait. Micah said he’d be back. But what if he was too late?

Forcing herself to move, she stumbled into the kitchen and got a large plastic bag. Using a pair of tongs, she carefully picked up the note and slid it inside the plastic.

She had to get to Micah’s apartment. It was just a simple walk down the sidewalk. The next building over. Thirty seconds tops.

A weapon. She’d be stupid to step outside her door without a weapon.

She yanked open the drawer where the knives were kept and selected the biggest and sharpest one she could find.

Feeling marginally better about her chances of making it past a possible assailant, she collected the bag, shoved it inside her shirt and walked back to the door.

Rising up on tiptoe, she looked out the peephole, but all she saw was dimmed sunlight and a fuzzy view of the parking lot.

Her heart pounding like a jackhammer, she removed the chain and unbolted the lock. She opened the door a crack and peered out, blinking at the sudden wash of sunshine.

She took a deep breath, gathering her courage around her. With a mental count to three, she bolted out of the apartment, her bare feet hitting the warm cement of the walkway that would take her to Micah’s building.

Micah checked his watch again and tried to control the frustration simmering through his veins. He was impatient to get back to Angelina—he didn’t want her to wake up alone in her apartment—but when Gray had called wanting to come over to discuss Angelina’s drugging, Micah hadn’t wanted to chance Angelina overhearing and it upsetting her again. So he’d gone back to his apartment to wait. Only Gray hadn’t shown up alone. Connor had come with him, and despite the fact that he considered Connor one of his best friends, right now he just wanted Connor removed from the situation with Angelina.

“You and I both know I have a healthy respect for the department. Hell, half of them are your friends, and they went to the wall for Faith when Samuels kidnapped her. But I also know how overworked and underpaid and understaffed they are, and there’s no way they’re going to give what happened to Angelina any more manpower. They’ll question the waitress, and unless she comes up big for them, they’ll move on to more demanding investigations.”

Micah gritted his teeth at Gray’s cold logic. Micah had been there, as had Gray. They both knew how it worked, but it didn’t mean he liked it. He wanted to find the son of a bitch who’d done this to Angelina and nail him to the wall.

“Connor and I are going to poke around and see if we can come up with anything. The club has security cameras. Maybe they got something. PD won’t have time to sift through all that garbage, but we do.”

Micah turned to Connor, only to see the same grim determination on his face. Before he could think better of it, he said, “What’s the deal with you and Angelina?”

Connor blinked in surprise and then his eyes went cold. When he didn’t respond, Micah just got more pissed.

“Answer me. What’s with all the sweetie bullshit, and why do you care so goddamn much what happens to her?”

Connor surveyed him calmly, but his eyes glittered with anger. “Maybe because you don’t.”

“That’s bullshit!” Micah roared. “She’s David’s sister. Of course I care what happens to her.”

“Take it easy,” Gray murmured as he glanced warily between Micah and Connor.

“You know, I don’t even know the man, but I’m really sick of hearing about David,” Connor said bluntly. “He’s dead. Angelina’s not. She’s her own person. Not just David’s sister. Her worth isn’t measured by her relationship to your best friend. You’ve done her a great disservice, and you keep on doing it every time you try to bind her identity to David’s.”

Through the haze of anger surrounding Micah like a storm cloud came the knowledge that Connor was exactly right, and it pissed him off the more that Connor had seen it so clearly, and that he thought to protect Angelina from him.

“Son of a bitch, I hate it when you’re right, goddamn it,” Micah muttered. “You’re such a smug bastard sometimes.”

Connor relaxed, and some of the tightness eased from around his eyes and lips.

“Christ but she has me in knots,” Micah said honestly. “I say I don’t know what she wants from me, but the fact is, I think I do, and that scares the shit out of me. I’m not ready—”

He broke off, embarrassed by the flood of emotion straining to break free.

Connor shoved his hands in his pockets and seemed to take pity on Micah’s floundering.

“Look man, she reminds me ... she reminds me of Faith.”

Gray jerked his gaze to Connor. “What do you mean by that?”

“When Pop and I went to get Faith, after the last time her mom ended up in the hospital with an overdose. Faith was such a mess. She looked so young and vulnerable. We just wanted to protect her. Angelina reminds me so much of her. She seems ... lost. And look, I’m not trying to tighten the screws or anything, but you’ve been a dick to her. She needs help. She needs people to care about her. Just like Faith did.”

“Right or not, you’re pissing me the fuck off,” Micah snarled.

Connor’s lips twisted in amusement. “She’s gorgeous, Micah. Extremely hot, and I’d have to be missing my balls not to at least have a few hot fantasies when I look at her. But she’s yours whether you acknowledge that or not, and I’ve never poached on a friend’s territory. I don’t aim to start now.”

“She’s not ... goddamn it,” Micah muttered.

Gray and Connor just looked at him with a mixture of amusement and sympathy.

“Look I really need to get back over—”

Micah was interrupted when his front door flew open. All three men lunged to their feet. To Micah’s utter shock, Angelina flew into the living room, her eyes wild, stark terror outlined on her face. She was still wearing his T-shirt—the one he’d helped her into right before tucking her into bed—and she was barefoot. But what really drew him up short was the fact she held a wicked-looking kitchen knife in her right hand. Her fingers were curled so tight around the handle that her knuckles were white.

“What the fuck?” Connor murmured.

“Angelina, honey, put the knife down,” Gray said in a firm voice.

Hell, she didn’t even register them talking to her. Micah took a step forward and then another.

“Angel, girl,” he said in a soothing voice. “What’s the matter, baby? Did you have a bad dream?”

She blinked, and then with a cry she dropped the knife and flew into his arms. He caught her against him as she all but climbed up his body in her haste to get close to him. Her heart beat frantically against his chest, and she trembled and fluttered like an injured bird.

Gray quickly retrieved the knife and moved it way away from Angelina.

“Angel, tell me what’s wrong,” Micah said as he ran a hand through her long hair.

“He was here,” she said in a muffled voice. “At my apartment.”

He pulled her face away from his neck so he could better hear her.

“Who was here?” he demanded.

He, Connor and Gray all looked up again when the front door slammed loudly. Nathan stood in the entryway to the living room, his face drawn into a mask of fury.

“We have a problem,” Nathan bit out.

Not now, Nathan,” Micah said. “Whatever it is, it can wait.”

He backed toward the couch, Angelina still wrapped around him like plastic wrap.

“No, it can’t wait,” Nathan argued. He thrust a piece of paper out in front of him, his brows drawn together in an angry line. “Next time you won’t save her,” he read aloud.

Angelina gripped Micah tighter, and she shuddered violently.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Micah demanded. “Where did you get that?”

“It was on the windshield of my truck.”

Micah’s confusion mounted, and then Angelina’s words came back to him.

He was here at my apartment.

Holy fuck. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t wrap his brain around the implications.

Gently he pulled Angelina away from his neck so he could look into her eyes. “What scared you, baby? What made you run over here with that knife? Did someone try to hurt you?”

His voice dropped to a dangerous level. He tried to keep it even and light so as not to frighten her, but he was vibrating with fury.

With shaking hands, she reached underneath her shirt and pulled out a plastic Ziploc bag. There was a piece of paper inside.

“I touched it. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” she said in a small voice. “I’m hoping I didn’t ruin any evidence.”

Nathan glanced down at the note in his hand and swore. “I didn’t even think about that. I thought it was just an advertising flier.”

Gray held up his hand. “Okay let’s slow down here so the rest of us can catch up. What does your note say, Angelina?”

Micah gently took the bag from her and laid it on the couch next to them.

“It said next time you won’t escape,” she whispered.

Four distinct curses rang out over the room.

“Holy fuck,” Nathan breathed. “The son of a bitch targeted her.”

“How?” Connor demanded. “She hasn’t been here long enough for someone to have laid that kind of groundwork.”

Angelina’s fingers formed tight fists, the skin stretching thin over her knuckles.

“Angel?” Micah asked gently. “What are you thinking?”

She trembled again, and it was all he could do not to pull her back into his arms. But he needed answers if he was going to keep her safe.

She looked up at him, fear and trepidation in her eyes.

“I thought I’d escaped. I was so careful. I laid a false trail. I ditched my car and bought another one under a false name. I told no one where I was going. I was careful not to leave a paper trail of any kind. I didn’t use credit cards, and I always worked for cash so I wouldn’t have to give my social security number.

“I don’t know how he found me,” she said helplessly.

They all stared at her in astonishment. Micah opened and quickly closed his mouth, because what he had to say wasn’t pretty. Gray shook his head, and Connor’s brow was wrinkled up in confusion. Only Nathan found his tongue.

“Are you trying to say that the bastard who drugged you has been stalking you before you came here?”

“I’m lost,” Connor muttered.

“You aren’t the only one,” Micah said. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Angelina’s pale features. “Back up and start from the very beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”

She swallowed and tried to move off his lap, but he caught her waist and pulled her firmly against him. Cupping her chin, he tilted her face up until she met his gaze.

“I’m not leaving you again, Angel girl. Now tell me everything.”

So much was reflected in her eyes. Fear mixed with relief. Hope and disbelief. He realized the thing he was most looking for was trust. She’d looked at him before with such faith. He wanted that again, wanted to go back to the time when she trusted him and David to make everything right in her world.

“He started sending me notes—things—a year ago,” she said in a quivery voice.

Stunned exclamations met her statement on all sides. All the breath left Micah in a painful wheeze. He forced himself to remain silent as he waited for her to continue.

“At first it was harmless stuff. Kind of cute actually. I thought he was just a secret admirer. Someone too shy to confront me. He sent a few notes. Flowers. Chocolate and roses on Valentine’s Day.”

“Jesus!” Micah exclaimed. “Tell me you didn’t eat chocolate from some stranger.”

She looked affronted. “Of course not. I’m not stupid. It all seemed so harmless. Annoying after a while, but harmless.”