Chapter Sixteen

Theo

“D anni, this was a targeted attack.”

“Like the last time?”

“Worse.” Danica blanches as the blood drains from her face, her features becoming pale and strained. Tensing at his words, I reach out to place a steadying hand along her back.

“Explain.” My tone is harsh, brooking no argument.

Jonathan glances at me, hesitating only a moment before turning his attention once more to Danica, continuing. “The fire was in your office. And they-” he pauses, shaking his head. “Never mind, you just have to see this.” I bristle as he reaches for her hand, fighting back the irrational urge to punch him for touching her, as he begins leading Danica up the steps to the building. Fighting back the urge to say something I know I will regret; I throw a quick glance at Seb as we both hurry to follow along.

A tingle of awareness passes down my spine, and I feel the hairs on my arms raise as I pass through the doors to Prism Tumbling. This building, this company, is Danica’s dream come to fruition. Years of backbreaking work, blood, sweat and tears; the culmination of many late-night discussions that we had about her hopes and plans for the future.

For the last several years, I have watched from the sidelines as she worked to make her dreams come true. Watched from the shadows in silence as she built this legacy. But I have never set foot inside, never had the chance to see what my beautiful girl created up close and personal. I am in awe of what my girl has brought to life through sheer willpower and determination.

Muted tones in shades of blue and cream define the lobby. To the right, a small room labeled “Sensory City” is filled with half a dozen fabric swings that look like cocoons hanging from the ceiling, velvety bean bag chairs line the far wall and stepping stones of various sizes and shades of blue are sporadically placed across the floor. Across the lobby and to the left is a reception area, and behind the desk, a set of stairs leading to the second floor.

As our group quietly crosses the room, careful not to get in the way of the various emergency personnel, we make our way behind the reception desk and over to the staircase. The second-floor landing is lined with half a dozen doors, all now open, showing various offices and storage spaces. Ignoring those, we make our way to the end of the hall, where the final door stands ajar. The room is filled with half a dozen firefighters and detectives. Several other men, wearing black tactical gear, are working alongside the officers as they take pictures of the space and dust for prints. The air in here is hazy, a strong smell of smoke and faint hint of gasoline permeating my senses.

Crossing the threshold, Danica gasps and I feel my blood run cold at the sight that accosts me. Crimson red paint, dripping down the wall like blood as it spells out the word “whore.” More paint splattered across her desk, completely ruining her computer and monitor. On the wall, beneath the dripping paint is a mutilated picture, pinned in place by a pocket knife. Stepping closer, I note the culprit of the haziness in the room. Directly below the crimson letters is a garbage can, smoke still rising from the charred remains of what appears to be some sort of bird.

I feel a crunch beneath my feet as I step closer and look down to see the floor is littered with charred feathers. Hundreds of charred feathers, littering a path between the desk and the vandalized wall. My eyes follow the path between her vandalized desk area over to the wall, my brain running a hundred miles a minute. With a start, I note the picture that I had glanced over in the initial chaos. Me .

It’s a picture of myself, arm draped around my girl as I kiss her on the corner of her mouth, her eyes bright and smile wide as her hair fans out behind us both while we lounge on my bed. I know the picture well, it is a moment that is burned into my memory, one I think back on often as I lay in my bed, wishing she were there beside me. Only here, on the wall, our faces have been roughly scratched out, and the blood-red paint drips down on the photo, creating a macabre depiction that overshadows the beauty of the moment that was frozen in time .

“Finn should be here in about five minutes.” Jonathan’s statement pulls me out of my stunned observations, and I turn in time to see Danica nodding absentmindedly. He gestures towards the exit, and we all clear out of the room, leaving the professionals to do their job. Danica appears to be in a daze as she trails along behind Sebastian, and I keep close to her side, unable to pull myself away after too long of being forced into the sidelines and shadows; Jonathan completes our little group, as we head downstairs and once again enter the lobby.

Still trying to process everything I saw in her office; I am silent even as my mind reels. My fault. Somehow, some way, they found out that I was with her tonight. This is all my fault.

“No, it’s not.” I jolt, pulled from my intrusive thoughts. Did I say that out loud? “It’s not your fault. Not everything is about you, Theo. You don’t get to just waltz in and shoulder the responsibility of what happened here. I appreciate the ride, but this really doesn’t concern you. You don’t need to be here.” A clear dismissal in her statement, her tone is glacial as she gives me a hard look. “You should take Bash and just go home. I’ll be fine here with Jonathan.”

“The fuck you will! You saw the picture, the writing on the wall. Explain to me exactly, la mia diavoletta, what this is, if it doesn’t relate to me at all. And that bird? Those fucking feathers everywhere?” I can feel the heat rising in me, my chest tightening as I step closer, invading her space, anger coursing through me that this could happen. That I let this happen. It’s my fucking fault. I should have found the bastard years ago. And now Danica, my Danica , is being terrorized? No fucking way is this not my problem.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, little sparrow.” My eyes narrow as I stare her down, and she steps further into my space, her face practically touching my chest as she glares right back up at me, catching me by surprise.

“Theo. This doesn’t concern you. Just leave.”

“No.”

“I-” Her words are cut off as we are interrupted unexpectedly.

“Oh good, we’re all here and caught up, then?” Danica jumps away, face flushed -whether from anger or embarrassment I’m not sure, but she is a goddamn beautiful sight, regardless.

Finn walks up to our little group, glancing from Danica, over to me, amusement written on his face despite the grim circumstances for our meeting here. He hasn’t changed much over the years. Strolling up to our group, wearing dark jeans and a faded Kasablanca t-shirt, you wouldn’t even be able to tell just by looking at him that he is the founder and owner of one of the world’s top cybersecurity firms. But that’s Finn for you, he likes what he likes and always aims for comfort over convention.

Not one for being touched, Finn nods to each of us in acknowledgement. Danica, however, has always been different. Walking right up to her, I watch as she is wrapped up in a bear hug. “Hey KC.”

“Finn!” She squeezes back, face buried in his chest, and it’s clear to see that she is fighting back tears. Finn and Danica have always had a special relationship that the rest of us can never quite match. Jealousy stirs in my gut, and I have to fight back the irrational urge to rip them apart. Jesus, what is wrong with me? It’s just Finn. Get it the fuck together, dude!

“I see you’re still stirring up shit.” Finn pulls back, giving her a quick once-over.

Blowing bangs out of her face, Danica releases an aggravated sound before stepping away completely. “No more so than usual.” She shrugs. “You know. . .”

“This is a bit more than fucking usual, KC. Don’t try to brush this off.” Glancing over her head, he cuts a sharp look to Jonathan. “Jay?”

“Unlike the previous messages, this one has significantly escalated. Doesn’t seemlike they intended to do any real damage to the building. The feathers were all charred beforehand and then dumped around the room, and the fire that was in her office was meticulously contained to the garbage can. Whomever it is knows what they are doing. It’s clear they know how to set the scene for our arrival. Got a team up there now, coordinating with local authorities. I’ll stay here to oversee things.” Finn nods at Jonathan’s brief summary.

“I’ve sent another team out to comb over every inch of Danni’s place, make sure nothing was missed. Baby Girl?” I bristle at his endearment, not missing the sharp glare that Danica sends in Jonathan’s direction. “You shouldn’t go home, at least for tonight. Not until we know it’s secure. I can have someone take you over to my place, get you settled in. I’ll be there as soon as I can, but you should be secure until I get there.”

“I don’t need a babysitter, Jay. I’m fine.” Jonathan starts to say something, but Danica cuts him off before he can get a word out. “This is what we were waiting for. If I go hide in your place, it completely defeats the purpose of everything we have been working towards. This is our chance, and you know it. I’m not staying over Jay, not tonight. I need to be home.”

Mouth flattening into a grim line, Jonathan just gives a curt nod in response. Looking between them, it’s clear that neither one is going to elaborate. “Anyone care to explain what the fuck is going on?” I glare at Jonathan, balled fists resting on my hips, before redirecting my frustration towards Finn.

“Talk. Now.”

From across the short distance separating us, I can feel the tension radiating off my girl. “It’s none of your goddamn business, Theo. Like I said earlier, thank you for the ride, but you can go now.”

Shifting, I fold my arms across my chest, assuming a stance of bored resilience. Raising an eyebrow at her, I just stand there, silently waiting.

Finn glances from Jonathan and Seb, over to me, and finally at Danica. Shaking his head, Finn sighs in annoyance. “Oh my god, you two. This is fucking ridiculous and you both need to get over yourselves. T- aside from you being a possessive prick, always hiding in the shadows, Danni has been dealing with a bit of a stalker situation herself.”

Glaring daggers at my friend, “Che cazzo?!” I don’t know if I am more pissed that he insinuated in front of Danica that I have been stalking her (I mean, technically I guess I kind of have been but she doesn’t need to fucking know that, not like this), or that she has been harassed for God knows how long by some psycho, and no one bothered to fucking tell me.

Finn continues, ignoring my outburst. “Oh please, Danica is well-aware of your nocturnal activities. As if she wouldn’t be, with all the security we have her hooked up with. Why do you think she refers to you as her fucking ghost all the time?”

At this, Danica now also glares daggers at our friend. “Finn, what the hell?”

Looking between Danica and myself, Finn releases an exasperated sigh. “You two are both being idiots. I’m sick of playing middle-man to both of your antics. Danni, Theo has been fucking obsessed with you since you guys broke up, and as you already know , he has been keeping an eye on you from time to time to make sure you are still doing okay.

“Nothing super crazy, but still technically kind of stalkerish. Theo, Danni has had a different stalker that has been harassing her for years, one that my team has not yet been able to nail down. There is a good chance that it directly relates to the notes that you keep getting, though hers are not quite that direct. And if the two of you,” he glares between the both of us, “would just sit down and fucking talk to one another, then everyone could be on the same page, and there is a chance we could have nailed this prick to the wall years ago.”

Throwing his hands up in the air to emphasize his frustration, he shakes his head before continuing. “Now, then. I am tired of the back and forth trying to help you both while having to split my resources. We are all adults, and we are going to act like it. No more of this ridiculous childish behavior.”

“But I-”

“Nuh uh!” Finn interrupts whatever it was that Danica was trying to say. “No excuses, no buts. You have a stalker problem. Theo has a blackmailer problem. You both know about each other’s issues, at least in general terms. You both came to me for help. Now let me do my job, goddammit.”

. . . Wow. In all our years of friendship, I don’t know if I have ever seen Finn lose his cool like this. Out of everyone in our little group, he has always been the calmest and most collected, leaning into facts and logic in circumstances where emotions typically run rampant. In fact, the only time I have ever known him to lose his cool was all those years ago, after what happened with Remy. I blink in surprise, completely thrown off by this side of Finn that I rarely get to see.