Max’s brown eyes were flinty. “He’s unstable.”
Trying to think of options didn’t give her any new ideas. “Should I call the cops?”
She could see the idea didn’t appeal to Rafe or Max. “Why? What would you expect them to do? Get a restraining order? They might not see a man you took out as a viable threat to you.”
“I see your point. I guess that isn’t exactly a great solution anyway. Paperwork only matters if you survive to go to court. So, beyond hiring a hitman for a permanent resolution—which I can neither condone nor afford, so that you know—what options do we have?”
“Sam doesn’t think he’ll try anything here again,” said Max, but he didn’t seem to believe it.
“Maybe not, but that smacks of wishful thinking.”
Rafe nodded. “Besides, your concern is the wider world.”
“Brad is always muttering about his friends in the dark web, the shit they do, the deals he’s involved in.”
“So he’s a real geek?” asked Rafe.
“I don’t know enough about those things to know, but I’d guess it’s more that he would like to be some kind of underworld bad-ass techie.”
“But he might have connections, and he might be inclined to do things to show that no woman can push him around.” She started to speak, and Rafe held up his hand. “Not that you did anything wrong or pushed him at all. You did exactly what you needed to do. You are entitled to protect yourself, and believe me, you get a lot of respect from me for what you did.”
“Total respect.” Max patted her awkwardly on the shoulder for a quick second. “That wasn’t easy.”
They seemed sincere, and that pleased her. “Thanks.”
“I’m just trying to look at the issue from his sick perspective for the moment.” Rafe grinned weakly. “It’s a rather nauseating experience, I’m here to say, but if we’re going to anticipate what he does… necessary.”
“I wanted nothing to do with him from the moment I met him and made that clear.” She honestly couldn’t think of any other way she could’ve conveyed her total lack of interest that would’ve left her with a job.
“And the rejection has festered into hatred. Now seeing you happily talking to anyone else makes the creep feel his manhood is threatened.”
Max nodded his agreement.
“Really?” That seemed silly to her, but she wasn’t a man, and she knew they could be somewhat delicate about their egos.
“It’s a way people have of escalating emotional issues they can’t deal with. He’s weak and pathetic, but we know he’s willing to go to extremes to strike back, even if it doesn’t get him what he seemed to want.”
“So, his next attempt, assuming there is one, could be physical or something else.”
“Sam doesn’t think he’ll try the same sort of things.” Max shrugged.
Rafe said, “He used a clumsy metaphor to make his point, but there is something to his thinking. Brad does seem willing to try new things. Trouble is, none of us seem to be good at knowing how Brad thinks.”
The idea of this menace hanging over her made her tense again. “So, what the hell do I do?”
“Stay alert, avoid being alone with him, and,” Rafe handed her his club business card before Max passed over his as well, “here’s my cell number. Please call if you need help. We mean that. Even if you think youmightneed help. Don’t wait for a tense situation to develop into an emergency.”
“You do mean that, don’t you?”
“We sure do,” said Max decisively. “Call any time.”
“I mean it so seriously that if he even looks at you crosswise or threatens you in any way, I want you to call. I’ll be happy to organize an intervention to confront him with his antisocial behavior.” Rafe’s eyes narrowed, and it was clear he hoped he might have that opportunity.
She looked at his card. “Rafe LaRue… Treasurer.” She laughed. “You’re the treasurer of this biker club? I didn’t realize bikers were that organized.” She smiled. “Just like the Daughters of the American Revolution.”
“Yup. That part of our existence is frighteningly conventional. Even I find it scary sometimes. To make matter worse, or at least more boring, The Road Kings is actually an LLC, a limited liability corporation—we have a lawyer in the club. His work is all what we cheerfully refer to aspro boozo, since we have to buy him drinks. As a corporation, we collect dues and put them to good use. As a matter of fact, we are heavily invested in many good causes.”
“So, you are the treasurer and a computer guy? You don’t look like any systems programmer I’ve ever met before.”