Page 66 of The Forbidden Billionaire
“Why? Are you sleeping okay?”
“Sleep is for the weak,” he says, lips twisting. As the elevator dings, he gestures for me to precede him, and we walk out.
“You’re not sleeping well?” I ask, concerned.
He’s quiet for a moment as we walk along the corridor. As we arrive at my door, though, he says, “Let’s just say my mind is on other things.” He touches his key card to the pad and goes inside.
I wait in the doorway while he does his checks and hear him say, “All clear,” as he returns to the doorway, reporting back to whoever’s in the office. He stops in front of me, but I don’t move.
“Tell me what’s bothering you,” I ask. “Come on. You can talk to me. I won’t tell anyone.”
*
Luke
I look away, across the room to the view of the city out of the window. My heart bangs, but I stay composed. “It’s just a stressful time, that’s all.”
“Do you mean at work?” she asks.
“Partly.”
She looks puzzled. “Actually, now that I think about it, there have been a few more security officers around again lately. I’m sorry, I haven’t paid much attention because of what’s been going on. Has something happened?”
I curse myself under my breath. I shouldn’t have admitted it was something to do with work.
“You can tell me,” Aurelia says again. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
Jesus. How do I let her know that I want to confide in her more than anything without telling her what I’ve sworn to keep secret?
Luckily, the office has been so busy with all the events of the past few weeks that she obviously hasn’t realized the step-up in security. She’s just assumed it’s something to do with the increase in people coming and going due to the possible Rutherford partnership. She hasn’t realized it’s all to do with her.
Nearly two weeks ago now, we started seeing an increase in the amount of emails and social media messages we were intercepting. Clearly, whoever was responsible wasn’t afraid and wasn’t easing off. Ella put an officer on Dominic Blackthorne full time in the hope of proving he was responsible, but we don’t have a single shred of evidence, and I’m still unconvinced that he’s the perpetrator.
And then, on Monday, another gift arrived.
It was the first to be sent to her apartment, rather than the office, and it was so innocuous that we missed it completely. Aurelia arrived that evening, and told me as we made our way into the elevator that she needed to call in at reception because she’d had a message saying she had a parcel.
I felt my first flare of warning, because we hadn’t intercepted any such message. “What message?” I asked casually.
“Oh, someone left a note on my desk at work saying there’d been a call,” she replied dismissively. The elevator doors opened, and I followed her out and across to reception. “Have you got a parcel for me?” she asked Roy, the guy behind the desk.
“Yes, ma’am.”
While he turned to retrieve it, she took out her phone, so she wasn’t looking up when he came back.
I took the small white Jiffy bag from him and turned away a little to examine it. She’s used to that and didn’t complain as I opened the envelope and pulled out a small white box. It was the kind that jewelry comes in, and it wasn’t sealed, so I opened the lid.
Inside was a silver self-defense whistle with a red bow around it, and a card with a heart on it. My heart pounding, I flipped it over. It said,You won’t need this if Luke keeps doing his job.
“What was it?” Aurelia said from behind me.
I turned back to her, pocketing the card before she could see it. I couldn’t just hide the package because she’d get suspicious, so I showed it to her. “I forgot to tell you that Ella thought you might want one of these after the incident with those guys outside Ivan’s place,” I say.
Aurelia took it out of the box, examined it, shrugged, and slid it into the pocket of her jacket. “Okay, thanks.” She turned away then and walked back to the elevator, and didn’t give it another thought, as far as I know.
As soon as I’d checked her apartment, I drove back to the office and called everyone back in. “He knows my name,” I told them all, “and that I’m teaching her self-defense. He knows I’m her CPO.”
It shocked us all to realize the stalker isn’t just watching Aurelia; he’s watching me. He knows I’m trying to protect her.
