CHRISTIAN
I’d slepta total of three hours last night. The anticipation of Kage’s hourly texts made anything more impossible, and I’d crashed that morning after he confirmed Stella got through the night okay.
I lived by my systems. Seven hours of sleep a night, evening workouts three times a week in my private gym, and complex work and important meetings in the morning when I was sharpest, followed by duller tasks in the afternoon.
My discipline had catapulted me to where I was today—CEO of a Fortune 500 company with a vast intelligence network and a direct line to almost every major power player in the world.
In the span of twenty-four hours, Stella had thrown those systems into complete disarray.
I’d slept until noon, rescheduled my meetings for after lunch, and skipped my workout so I could do a more thorough scan of her apartment for secret cameras or surveillance devices before she returned home.
My disrupted schedule should’ve pissed me off, but the rush in my blood when her front door opened felt a lot less like anger and a lot more like anticipation.
Despite my vow to stay away from her, her absence proved more of a distraction than her presence. I’d spent all day hounding Brock for updates until I caved and texted her myself.
I leaned against the wall as Stella stepped inside, her head bent over her phone.
“Security tip number one: don’t look down at your phone until you’re in a secure location.”
She jumped and screamed until she saw me.
“Christian!” She placed a hand over her chest, her face two shades paler than usual. “What are you doing here?”
“Scanning your apartment for hidden cameras. There are none,” I added when she paled further.
“You can’t enter my apartment without notice! That’s an invasion of privacy.”
“Privacy doesn’t exist when it comes to security.” Everyone wanted privacy until they were in trouble. Then they gave up keys and passwords like they were nothing.
I’d merely skipped the inevitable back and forth with Stella about access and jumped straight to the protection part.
“Sounds like something a tyrant would say.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Her glare lit the air between us with aggravation. “Christian, let me put it in plain terms. It is illegal for you to enter private homes without prior permission, even if you own the building.”
Hmm. I suppose it was.
Too bad I gave zero fucks about the law.
Legality did not mean right, and illegality did not mean wrong. One only had to look at the fucked-up justice system to realize the law was nothing more than a house of cards, created to give its citizens a false sense of security and weakened by doorways open only to a select few.
I had to keep up the appearance of a civil, law-abiding citizen, but as anyone knew, appearances can be deceiving.
And sometimes, we had to take justice into our own hands.
“Do you know how…” Stella’s knuckles turned white around her phone. “Do you know how many nightmares I’ve had of coming home to find an intruder in my house? Of being attacked while I’m in the shower or sleeping? Our homes are supposed to be our safe havens, but I…” The tiny crack of her voice caused a strange twist in my chest. “How can I feel safe knowing someone could walk in here any minute and I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t…”
Her words gave way to shallow, panting breaths. I could see the anxiety blooming in her eyes until the black of her pupils swallowed the green of her irises.
Fuck.
I’d known she might get upset, but I also figured she’d want someone looking out for her. Take the reins and handle her security so she didn’t have to worry about it. I wanted—no, needed—to watch over her.
It was a rare miscalculation on my part.
I rubbed a thumb over the face of my watch, strangely restless from both my error and Stella’s palpable distress. Figuring her out was a constant challenge.
A tight sensation unfurled in my chest until I had to push myself off the wall and walk toward her to ease its grip.
“You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.” I placed my hands on her shoulders, steadying her. “Stella. It won’t happen again. Now breathe for me.”
I softened the edge of my voice from a command to a request.
The air was thick with recrimination, and something sharp and foreign pierced my gut at the tiny shivers wracking her body.
What was it? Guilt? Remorse? Regret?
I couldn’t tell, so I focused on Stella instead.
“That’s it,” I murmured when her breathing finally evened out and color returned to her face. “Just like that.”
She closed her eyes and exhaled one last deep breath before she stepped back. A chill set in at the loss of warmth.
“I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate it,” she said. “But you have to let me know what’s happening. This is my life.”
A brief pause before I answered. “I understand.”
“Thank you.”
Just like that, the tension in the air dissolved.
Stella’s ability to release a grudge as quickly as she picked it up was as baffling as it was impressive.
I never forgot a slight. Ever.
“You said you had updates for me. Did you find who sent the note?” Her hopeful voice sent a pang through my chest.
“Not yet.” My jaw flexed. The forensic analysis had turned up nothing. “But we’ll find him. Don’t worry.”
I tilted my head toward the couch and waited until Stella was seated before I got down to business. “You said last night wasn’t the first time you’ve received such a note. Tell me what happened before.”
In order to track the asshole down, I needed as much intel as possible. Information was gold, and right now, I was grasping at straws.
“Don’t leave anything out,” I added. “Even the smallest details can be important.”
Stella twisted her necklace around her finger, her expression distracted. Several beats passed before she finally spoke.
“It started two years ago,” she said in a low voice. “I came home one day and found the first letter in my mailbox. It was mostly about how beautiful they thought I was and how they’d like to take me on a date. I was freaked out that they knew where I lived, but the content wasn’t particularly alarming. It sounded like something a high schooler would write to his secret crush. But the letters kept coming, and he started including candid pictures of me along with them. That was when I really freaked out. I installed a new security system and bought a taser, but I still didn’t feel like it was enough. Every time I left or entered my house, I…”
A small bob disrupted the delicate lines of her throat. “I was living with Jules at the time, which helped a bit. But I was also worried about her getting caught in the crossfire if anything happened. I told her about the notes and she insisted we go to the police, but they were dismissive of the whole thing. They basically told me to stop posting so much about my life and whereabouts on social media if I didn’t want creeps reaching out to me.”
Her voice grew smaller with each word, as did her posture until she was curled up in a sitting fetal position.
I didn’t have to be a mind reader to read the subtext.