Chapter 18

Chapter

Eighteen

December 23 rd

5:01 P.M.

Everything was perfect.

That’s how Donovan felt as he shut down his computer and prepared to take the first proper vacation he’d had in years. Running a business the size of his required near-constant dedication. Long hours and sacrifices, those had all become the norm for him these last few years.

Not that he was complaining.

Donovan knew how lucky he was. That he’d had a mom who loved him, that she’d made the best life she could even when she didn't have a lot to work with. Their stepdad was such a great guy who didn't just love his mom but also loved him and his siblings. They’d never had to worry about money again after moving into their stepdad’s home. He’d gone to good schools, an Ivy League college, been able to travel the world, and his father’s connections had allowed him to build a successful business and become wealthy in his own right .

All of that meant a lot to him, but none of it compared to how Jessica and Freddie made him feel.

They filled him in a way that nothing else ever had. They gave him a purpose that made him feel like a well-rounded person. They completed him. Seeing their faces each morning was the perfect way to start the day, and he loved being the last thing they both saw at night before they went to sleep.

And the best thing was he had an entire lifetime to enjoy those little moments.

Now, he was heading home to spend the holidays with his girl and his little boy, and he couldn’t be happier. Jessica was probably healed enough that she was okay to go back home, and they’d decided that she would after the holidays, but for the next two weeks they were going to stay in his penthouse. He’d tripled security, upgraded his system, and he was confident that his stalker wasn't going to be able to get to them there.

Their own little Christmas vacation. Just the three of them, in his penthouse, he’d made plans for several things they could do, both him and Jessica as a couple as well as family things. He couldn’t wait.

The building was quiet as he walked through it. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and he’d decided everyone was to take the whole day off. They’d had a Christmas lunch today, he’d handed out bonuses, and everyone else was home already.

Vacation time had begun, and as much as he was looking forward to a quiet staycation, he was also planning all the places he wanted to take Jessica and Freddie. There were so many amazing countries in the world, so many spectacular cities, he couldn’t wait to open that up to them. That was one of the things he’d loved the most as a kid, the toys, nice house, and new clothes were all great, but nothing compared to taking your seat on a plane ready to travel the globe.

That was a feeling he wanted to share with the people he already considered his own little family.

When his phone buzzed, he pulled it out, expecting the text to be from Jessica. She and Freddie were decorating the penthouse today. He’d dropped them off on his way into his office this morning, and he’d already received at least three dozen pictures of Christmas trees and tinsel, garlands and decorations. Every time he replied with a warning for Jessica not to overdo things.

A warning she didn't seem to be taking seriously.

As much as he was enjoying seeing the smiles on her and Freddie’s faces, it had only been five days since she was knocked unconscious. She was still suffering the side effects of the concussion, and he was worried she was going to set herself back. That was the last thing he wanted with Christmas just two days away.

These memories would last them all a lifetime, and he wanted their first Christmas together to be a special one.

One look at the phone told him this was not another Christmassy photo.

It wasn't Jessica’s name on his screen.

The message was from an unknown number.

Which of course meant he knew who it was from.

His stalker.

At least Jessica and Freddie were safe at his penthouse with an alarm, armed guards both down in the building’s lobby and at the top of the lift outside the front door to his home. No way could his stalker get to them.

They were safe.

Safe .

The reassurances did little to calm his racing heart as he read the text.

I warned you and you didn't listen

The cops had told him not to engage with the stalker, that it would only be giving them what they wanted. They wanted his fear, they wanted his attention, they wanted to know they were getting to him, that they were affecting his life.

But this time he wasn't sitting back and being passive.

He’d had enough of this, he wanted it finished, wanted to end this now and move forward with his life.

Leave them alone

They have nothing to do with this

I told you not to date her

What happens next is on you

There was something in the tone of the message—odd though that sounded since they were just words on the screen—that had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

Turn yourself in

Sooner or later you're getting caught

Don’t make this harder on yourself

You're the one making it harder on yourself

You should have listened

This is all your fault

Where are you?

Standing outside your front door.

The bottom dropped out of his world.

If the stalker had made it to his door, that meant the guards he had watching over Jessica and Freddie had somehow been neutralized, leaving his family alone and unprotected with him on the other side of town and no way to get to them in time.