Chapter 14

Danika couldn't sleep. Seeing Ezra had shaken her to her core. As much as she wanted to believe his presence in Savannah was just a coincidence, she knew better than to ignore the warning signs. Ezra wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.

She had hoped her exit from London would throw him off her trail for good. But somehow, he'd tracked her down. Danika doubted the money she was making would be enough for her to disappear again. As terrifying as the idea was, she knew she needed help.

Danika grabbed her phone and stared at the device for a full minute. Maybe she should have called earlier. James had offered to help her, but she'd thought she could do it on her own. Life never worked out the way she thought it would. It hadn't when she'd left home, nor had it worked out when she'd moved to England with Ezra. Everything had gone to shit, just like now.

Maybe she shouldn't involve James in her life again, but she needed help. She decided to wait until later to call him. She kept her eyes out for Ezra while she was at the coffee shop. A part of her expected him to come in and demand she go back to London, but hours passed and he didn't turn up.

Luckily, she hadn't renounced her citizenship. Somehow, she'd been able to stay in England and hadn't gotten in trouble. Now that she was back here in the States, Ezra couldn't use immigration status against her. But he could use other things against her.

By day two of not seeing him, she felt better, like maybe she didn't need to run. He hadn't shown up at the coffee shop again, and she hadn't seen him as she'd walked to or from her jobs. Maybe it had been a total coincidence that he was here in Savannah.

Why would he be traveling for work? She knew he was trying to expand his business, but she had no clue what that meant. While she'd been with him, she didn't think he'd been traveling to the USA. She was sure he would have said something to her, even if it was just to rub her nose into the fact he'd gone to the States and not invited her.

Guilt started to twist through her as she weighed her options. Maybe she was overblowing everything. He wasn't here now. Contacting James seemed like too much. Handling Ezra would be easier here in Georgia because he wasn't a citizen of the USA. She could do this without crying for help from James.

Days passed, and she relaxed. Maybe it hadn't been Ezra at all. By the end of the week, she relaxed and was looking forward to her four-hour shift at the bar. She clocked in and started waiting tables, taking drinks to guys who thought they were cute and drunk women who were part of various bridal parties. She'd learned early on to just humor the guys. Most of them were harmless, and they tipped better when she flirted .

"What are you doing later, babe?" one of the groups of guys asked as she brought out another round.

She wanted to tell them to stop it with all the babe talk, but she smiled and answered, trying to keep her voice sweet. "I have an early shift tomorrow. I'm going home to get some sleep."

"We could help you with that." They all laughed, and she resisted rolling her eyes.

"I don't think you would actually help."

After that table, she took care of the women in a bridal party, all of them wearing sashes like they were in some beauty contest. They were at least nice, and few of the women flirted with her, and none of them were ever aggressive about it.

Close to midnight, the atmosphere in the bar shifted. She felt it rather than saw anything. The bartender must have sensed it, too, because he flipped on a set of lights he usually left off until right at midnight.

"What's up?" Danika asked him.

"Don't know. Something feels off."

She nodded and headed out to collect empty bottles and glasses. If she wasn't afraid of Ezra finding her, she would stay in Savannah for a while. Maybe James would move here. Who was she kidding? James wasn't close by, and he wouldn't move here?

As she picked up the empty bottles and glasses, customers moaned and complained about it being almost midnight. She shrugged and said it was the bartender's decision. A few customers cursed her as they left, but she knew they didn't really mean it. Besides, keeping everyone safe was more important than disappointing a few people who wanted to party way past midnight. There were other bars in the city where the partying kept going, but this wasn't the place .

"Everyone, time to shut down," the bartender called out while she was on the other side of the room cleaning a table.

Danika was ready to go pick up the last table when she spied someone sitting in the corner of the bar who looked familiar. Her breath caught, and her head started to spin. Was that Ezra? Had he found her?