Maya Banks - Sweet Temptation

She drew in a breath. “And then it changed. It was like I did something to make him angry. The tone of the notes changed. At first they weren’t outright threats, but they gave me the creeps. It escalated from there. I found my tires slashed. He’d leave messages for me no matter where I went. And then he made outright threats.”

“Why the hell didn’t you go to the police?” Micah demanded. “For God’s sake, you’re David’s sister.”

She looked at him with hurt in her eyes. “I did go.”

“And?”

Her lips tightened. “As I told you, they weren’t exactly lining up to do anything for the sister of a man they thought had betrayed you. You didn’t stick around for me, so why should they? The only one who took me seriously was Chad Devereaux.”

A mixture of anger and sorrow hit Micah in the chest. Anger at himself and his department. Sorrow that she’d suffered because of his desertion.

“Chad did what he could, but we didn’t have much to work with. He checked in on me for a while. Did regular patrols by my house. The notes and the ‘gifts’ stopped. I hoped he’d gotten tired of playing his game, but in reality he was waiting and growing angrier and more desperate. He broke into my house and destroyed everything.”

She shivered, and Micah tightened his hold on her.

“It was awful. There was such rage behind his actions. I knew that if I’d been there when he broke in, he would have killed me. I couldn’t stay there any longer. I packed light, liquidated my assets and left town, laying a false trail north.

“I went all the way to Chicago because I wanted it to look like I’d relocated there. I started a bank account, established a residence, and then I bought a car under an assumed name and drove here. Until the time I went to the ER, I didn’t use my real name except with you all. But he’d already found me. Somehow he tracked me here,” she whispered. “The first day I went to work in the café, when I got off that afternoon, I was missing some photos from my car. I honestly thought I had moved them or packed them somewhere, but now I’m not so sure. It could have been him.”

Micah could remain silent no longer. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me all this sooner?”

A shuttered look fell over her face. “Would you have been any happier to see me? I thought I’d dealt with the problem. I thought I’d left it behind. I didn’t come here because I wanted you to solve my problems, and I think if you stop running long enough you’ll know why I came.”

Gray softly cleared his throat, and color worked into Angelina’s cheeks as she turned in his direction. It was as if she’d forgotten all about the others. And hell, so had he.

“Angelina, you just said you’d always planned to come here. Did you tell anyone that?” Gray asked. “Think hard about this.”

She pursed her lips in concentration and slowly shook her head. “There was no one to tell.”

Micah dragged a hand through his hair and met the stares of his friends. Anger was alive in their eyes, and the message was clear. They considered Angelina theirs just as they did Faith, Serena and Julie. No way they were going to allow some psycho asshole to hurt her.

“I feel the need to point out that it’s entirely possible that this isn’t the same whack job,” Connor said.

Angelina shook her head. “It’s him. I’d recognize the handwriting anywhere, and he always uses that same paper. It’s stationery. Plain, but the texture is different than regular paper.”

“Did you save all the other stuff or did you turn it over to the police?” Micah asked.

“I wasn’t going to turn over my only evidence to them when they weren’t ever going to take me seriously.”

“Did you bring it with you?”

“It’s under my bed,” she said. “Do you want me to get it?”

“I’ll get it,” Connor said. “You just stay put where it’s safe.”

Micah nodded his agreement. If it was up to him—and he was going to make damn sure it was—she wasn’t leaving his side until they nailed the fucker responsible for terrorizing her.

When Connor left the apartment, Micah pulled Angelina down to his chest again and stroked her hair in a soothing pattern.

“I should get back to the house,” Gray said uneasily. “Faith is alone.”

Nathan balled up his fists, a mixture of rage and fear tightening his features. “Julie’s alone at her place too. If this joker knew enough to pin a note on my truck, he’ll know about Julie too.”

Angelina sat up, her eyes so sad that it took Micah’s breath away. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning to Gray and Nathan. “I never thought in a million years he’d come here or I wouldn’t have brought this to you, I swear it.”

Gray stopped by the couch on his way to the door. He reached out and briefly touched her cheek. “Don’t be taking blame that’s not yours to take. Our girls are tough. We just want to make sure they know what’s going on so they can be careful.”

She nodded miserably, and Nathan and Gray hurried out the door, leaving her alone with Micah.

Restlessly she stirred in Micah’s arms. She shoved and scooted as she tried to get up, but Micah held firm.

“Angel,” he said in a soft voice. “Stop pushing me away. I already feel you putting up the walls and distancing yourself.”

“Just let me up. I need to breathe,” she begged.

Reluctantly he let her go, and as he’d anticipated, she put the entire room between them as she paced a tight line in front of the television.

Connor walked back in, holding a box. He set it down on the coffee table in front of Micah then took a seat in the chair next to the couch.

Angelina wouldn’t even look at Micah when he opened the box. She turned away, tense and worried, her arms wrapped protectively around her slim figure.

He tried to tune her out, tried to think and act like a cop even if it had been several years. He tried to look at the stack of letters objectively, but as he read, rage took hold.

As she’d said, they started innocently enough, but he still found them creepy from the onset. And then it was as if a switch had been flipped. They went from seemingly harmless to an explosion of rage and violence.

A chill slithered down his spine as he read the countless promises, the threats. No longer was the man trying to be subtle. He outlined in stark clarity just what it was he’d do to her once he had her in his hands.

Jesus. It was a miracle he hadn’t gotten to her before she left Miami. Only because of her sheer intelligence and determination had he not kidnapped her from the club. Thank God for Nathan.

“What do we do?” Connor asked when Micah put the last of the notes back into the box.

Micah blew out his breath in an effort to control the wash of emotion that threatened to overtake him. He was angry—oh yes, he was pissed beyond belief—but he was also scared.

Before he could answer or even think of what the hell to say, Angelina turned, her eyes no longer reflecting fear or upset. No, determination burned deep and red-hot.

“The logical thing for me to do is leave,” she said evenly.

Neither Micah nor Connor had any liking for her statement. Both got this pinched look on their faces, and Micah reddened, looking like he was about to erupt.

“Don’t be stupid,” he growled.

Angelina sighed. “I was stupid to come here, Micah. I thought I was playing it smart. Had a plan in place. Was meticulous in its execution. I’d hoped I could come here, start a new life and forget the past. That was stupid. Leaving is smart.”

Micah gaped incredulously at her. Connor frowned and eased up from his chair.

“Think I’ll just go into the kitchen and let you two hash this out.”

Micah waited until Connor had left the room and then rose from the couch, crossed the room and took her shoulders in his hands.

“You aren’t leaving, Angel. Where the hell would you go?”

“Back to Chicago first. After that? Anywhere I want.”

He looked up at the ceiling, his cheeks puffing out with his breath.

She reached up and loosened his hands on her shoulders then stepped back, eager to put distance between them. He unnerved her when he got this close.

“Think about it, Micah. I’ve put a lot of people in danger here. Your friends. Their wives and girlfriends. I like Faith, Serena and Julie. They don’t deserve to have this brought to their front door. I’ve only been here a few days. Just a blip on the radar. I’ll be forgotten in a week and everyone can get on with their lives. It just makes sense.

He stared disbelievingly at her. “You really believe all that bullshit, don’t you?”

Her eyes narrowed and she frowned. “Look, I’m not being a martyr here, Micah. It’s stupid to involve all of you in this. It’s not your problem. It never was. I’m not an idiot. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. Did he scare me? Hell yes. I was terrified. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to be an easy target for him. I’m not a victim. I never will be. But I’m not stupid either. And I won’t allow your friends to get involved in this.”

“They’re your friends too,” Micah said.

She shook her head and sighed. “They’re loyal to you, Micah. They love you. They feel a certain responsibility to me because of my association with you.”

“Bull.”

“Let’s not argue,” she pleaded. “I need help planning a way to get out of town unnoticed. The sooner the better. He wouldn’t expect me to put together a plan this fast. If I could leave tonight, I’d get a jump on him while he’s still so pissed about missing me at the club.”

Micah closed the distance between them again. “You don’t get it, do you? You aren’t leaving, Angel. I bailed on you once. It won’t happen again.”

“Guilt is bullshit,” she snapped. “I don’t need it. Don’t want it.”

“Fuck guilt. Guilt isn’t what I’m feeling right now. I’m so pissed I can’t see straight. You think I’m thinking about David right now? Or Hannah? Or the fact that I walked out on you when you needed me the most? Hell no. I’m thinking about what would happen if that bastard got his hands on you. I’m thinking about how the fuck I’m going to keep you safe. I’m thinking about how I can keep you close and not take you over.”

Her belly fluttered in awareness and a tingle snaked its way up her spine. He looked so furious, so intense. So focused on her. She shivered as goose bumps raced across her arms, her breasts, beading her nipples into tight little knots.

“You’re so sure that I’m a mindless puppet who’d be content to let you pull my strings, that I’d be some brainless rag doll. No wonder you don’t want me, Micah. I wouldn’t want me either if I thought those things.”

“I don’t think that,” he growled.

Her mouth twisted. “I’m capable of making my own decisions. David didn’t raise me to be a fool. I know precisely what I’d be walk ing into with you, and yet you’re so determined to be noble and save me from myself. Personally I think it’s all bullshit. You’re not saving anyone but yourself. You’re scared of the way I make you feel because you don’t want to feel anything. Okay, fine, but quit being a coward and pretending this is all about me and what I’m not getting. Man up and tell me you don’t want me, but quit making excuses.”

For a moment she thought she’d pushed him too far. He stepped forward and she retreated. They repeated the process until her back met the wall and there was nowhere else to go.

He pressed against her, his body melding with hers.

“Oh, I want you,” he said in a hoarse, raspy voice. “I want you so goddamn much I ache. But I can’t give you what you deserve, Angel. All I can offer you is sex. Fucking. I can’t be any more honest than that. You deserve more than that from a man—any man. I want you. No doubt. But I can only give you so much.”

“If that’s all you have to give then that’s what I’ll take,” she said calmly.

Micah swore and looked away. “Goddamn it, Angel. Tell me no. Send me packing. Tell me you never want to see me again. Find a man who can give you everything, body and soul. Tell me no.”

She reached up to touch his lips. “I’ll never tell you no, Micah. You think I don’t know you, that I don’t understand you, that I can’t handle what you’ll throw at me. You’re wrong.”

He placed his hands on either side of her neck, his thumbs brushing her cheeks, his fingers thrust into her hair.

“Be sure, Angel girl. Be very sure this is what you want. I’ll own you. There’s no part of you that won’t belong to me.”