19. Lila

19

LILA

Mike's alarm blared from his phone and woke me up with a jolt. I lifted my head, not realizing what it was at first, until an arm around my waist pulled me back.

"I have fifteen minutes," Mike mumbled behind me, dragging his lips down my back.

"Not enough time to start anything, Officer Russo," I said, my gravelly voice still full of sleep.

"I think you're a little too late on that one," he said, chuckling as he pulled me closer, his already hard cock poking my back.

"Why don't you take a shower here? I'll make you some breakfast while you're in there so you can get to work on time."

I turned around, my bleary gaze snagging on Mike's wicked grin. The extra layer of stubble combined with the hungry gleam in his eyes made him impossible to resist, but if we truly started anything, he'd end up missing the entire morning of work.

"Or you could come in with me, and I could bury my head between your beautiful legs and eat you for breakfast," he whispered, his voice rough as he held my gaze, drifting his hand down my stomach.

"I'm trying to be the responsible one here," I said, catching his wrist before he touched my already wet clit and neither of us would end up going anywhere today. "Rain check on the joint shower. Go."

He growled, narrowing his tired eyes at me as he swung his legs over my bed. I watched him stumble into my bathroom, enjoying the view of his strong legs and the flex of his amazing ass as he disappeared behind the door.

I laughed as I settled back on the bed, tucking my hands under my cheek, when I noticed my bracelet was missing. It was a thin black string with silver beads, not expensive, but I felt naked without it on my wrist.

I glanced around, a guilty twinge in my gut that it was probably lost, because how would I be able to find a tiny string anywhere?

I sighed and stood, rummaging through my dresser for a T-shirt and shorts and wincing from the sting between my legs as I changed position too quickly.

Mike and I had had a fair amount of sex over the last few days, but last night's marathon after we'd come home from the beach had finally done my lady parts in.

I'd told men I loved them before, but I'd never meant it as much as last night. Of all the things still hanging over my head since I'd arrived, I still felt like the luckiest woman in the world because Mike was mine.

It didn't matter how fast it had happened or how little the immediate pull between us made sense. It felt too right to worry about timelines or years between us.

I almost wanted to thank Ted. This move because of him had pushed me to where I was always supposed to be.

I headed to my kitchen and started a pot of coffee. I set my pan onto the stove and turned on one of the burners before I scrambled a couple of eggs in a bowl, smiling as I listened to the rush of the shower.

Before I dropped the eggs into the pan, I noticed something peeking out from under my door.

I didn't receive much mail here since I paid my bills online and gave my rent money directly to Kathy and Terry. My mailbox was right next to my door and hard to miss, so there was no reason to stick anything under my door.

Unless someone wanted me to see it right away.

The frying pan hissed behind me as I stared at the envelope. It reminded me of the gifts that would be right outside my door almost every day from Ted. He'd buy them from the florist but bring them over immediately to make sure they were directly in front of my apartment.

I sucked in a shaky breath and grabbed it. The plain white envelope seemed harmless as I studied it. It felt like a letter inside with an odd bump in the middle, a random gift I was sure I didn't want.

I still wanted to believe it was innocent, but my gut and my racing heart already knew it wasn't.

My bracelet slid out onto the floor when I ripped it open. I picked it up and noticed grains of sand in between the silver beads. I'd lost it at the beach last night and hadn't realized it.

Last night.

It was barely seven in the morning on a Saturday. How would anyone know this was my bracelet and where I lived?

Unless they were watching me.

My hands shook as I unfolded the note. I scanned the blue letters scratched into the paper with angry, deep lines.

Just like my car door.

"Only a WHORE would blow their cop boyfriend in public. Knowing someone is watching. Stupid mistakes get friends hurt."

I gasped, my heart seizing as I let the letter drop.

What did we do? What did I do? I'd wanted to believe so badly that kids had keyed my car, even though I'd known they hadn't.

The fear of being watched had me trapped in my apartment back in Philly. I'd never seen where Ted was, but he was always close enough to know exactly what I'd done, and with whom, to give me a detailed report the next day.

Last night was supposed to be a private moment that we both should have known better not to have out in the open. We only had ourselves to blame, but I felt violated on a whole new level, one that made me want to scrub my skin until it bled.

"Hey, the frying pan is smoking. You're going to trip the smoke alarm," Mike said behind me, his voice sounding miles away as I spiraled in panic.

I registered the tick of my stove as he turned off the burner.

"Lila, what's wrong?" Mike asked, his words slow as he put a hand on my shoulder. "You're shaking. Please talk to me."

He spun me around, searching my gaze with widened eyes.

"That was under my door." I pointed to the letter fanned open on the kitchen tiles.

Mike's brow furrowed as he reached down to pick it up.

"Shit," he hissed.

"It had this in it too," I said, barely able to draw enough air into my lungs to form any words as I opened my hand. "I lost this at the beach last night. We were being watched. For I don't know how long."

For all I knew, I'd been watched this whole time. Maybe Ted was only waiting for Mike and me to be officially together before he came out of whatever shadows he'd been hiding in.

"Hey, it's all right," Mike whispered when he brought me into his arms, running his hands up and down my back. I buried my head into his chest, my hands quivering as I fisted his T-shirt.

"I'm right here," he whispered as he kissed the top of my head. "You're going to have to come with me to the station. We need to show Jude."

"Great," I said, terror and shame rolling through me as my insides shook. "Bad enough he's back. He had to humiliate me this time too."

"If he's back, he's not going to get away with this. Not here. Does this look like his handwriting?"

I shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I never saw him write anything except when he'd scribble his signature. I threw out all his cards without looking, so I couldn't tell you if that's his handwriting or not. But who else could it be?"

I stumbled toward the kitchen table and fell into a seat.

"I can't do this again, Mike. And he's watching you too. Just like I was afraid he would be." My voice cracked as a sob caught in my throat.

"Listen to me," Mike said, crouching in front of me. "He doesn't scare me. You are not alone this time. I'd never let anything happen to you."

"I really thought months of no contact would make him forget or at least not care so much. Now he seems even angrier."

"From what you told me, he gets sloppy when he's unhinged." He squeezed the back of my neck. "Your cop boyfriend is going to help stop this asshole once and for all, so please don't cry, baby."

Mike swiped away a tear snaking down my cheek.

"As far as people knowing that we…" He lifted a shoulder. "It's not great, but we aren't the first to get carried away somewhere by the lake around here. No one is going to judge us or you. He's trying to get under our skin, and we're not going to let him."

Mike's crooked smile only made me cry harder.

"I love you. This son of a bitch isn't going to intimidate us or make us regret one single moment together. Got it?"

A minute ago, I'd thought it was luck that I'd found someone to love this much. As my gaze landed on the folded-up letter, the angry marks visible through the paper, it seemed like the worst kind of curse.

I took a shower while Mike called the station to tell them he'd be late because he was bringing me in to file a report. The hot water rushed over me as I leaned against the tiles, trying to somehow calm down enough to talk to Jude and whoever else had to know about this awful situation.

The prints on my car hadn't come back yet, but "WHORE" was scrawled on the paper the same angry way it had been etched into my car door. I'd hoped for a random act of vandalism, but I had been the target all along.

After I dried off and dressed, I found Kathy and Terry on my couch. I gulped, expecting them to ask me to leave, when Terry ran over to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Mike just told us," she whispered, pushing back to meet my gaze. "I had a feeling something happened to you in Philly. You poor thing."

"I hope you don't mind, but since he came on to their property twice, I had to let them know."

Mike met my gaze with a grimace.

I shook my head. "I was going to tell them about the car today." I held on to Terry's arm as my gaze drifted to Kathy's concerned frown. "If you want me to leave, I'll understand."

"What?" Terry screeched in my ear. "Don't be ridiculous. Let that piece of shit come near our house again. He won't know what hit him."

"That's right," Kathy said. "You aren't going anywhere."

"Thank you," I said, letting go of a long, relieved exhale. "I feel horrible for bringing you any trouble."

"You didn't. So cut that out."

Terry's glare pulled a surprising chuckle out of me.

"I'm going to bite the bullet and buy those doorbell cameras Mike always said we should get," Terry said. "One for us and one for you."

"I'm very glad to hear that," Mike said, shooting me a tiny smile. "I'm going to run home to change for work. Would you ladies mind staying with her until I get back?"

I wanted to fight him and say I'd be fine, but I was too shaken up to be alone.

But Mike had a job, and so did I. He couldn't babysit me, and I couldn't hole up in my apartment, hoping Ted would either move on or get caught.

"I'll be right back, sweetheart." He kissed my cheek and gave my landladies a wide grin. "You're in good hands."

"You two are adorable," Kathy gushed after Mike left.

"Have you eaten anything?" Terry asked, her brow furrowed as she examined my face.

"No, and I don't want to try because I think it will come right back up."

"You need something in your stomach to talk to the police." Terry rummaged through my cabinets.

She pulled down a loaf of bread from the top of my refrigerator and popped a slice into the toaster. I gave Terry a weak nod and took a seat at my table, my empty stomach rolling as I let out a slow breath.

There was a sick sort of relief when the anticipation was gone—and your worst nightmare finally came true.