“Bulldoze?” He frowned.
I smirked. “Yes, bulldoze. I let you in faster than anyone. Partly because of this amazing connection between us, but mostly, at the time, because you treated me like I wasn’t a delicate little flower everyone had to tiptoe around. You made me feel seen in a way I hadn’t for a long time. You didn’t keep anything from me. You were always honest. I need that from you, Arran.”
“You have that from me.” He held me by the arms and dipped his head to look deeply into my eyes. “I will never keep anything from you again.”
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, I nodded, and he sagged with relief, pulling me into his arms where he held me while we quietly pondered what this new threat could mean.
* * *
Not long later, after a call to Beth, who told us the flower order was made online but that she couldn’t give out details unless the police were involved, Lachlan and Mac arrived.
They were grim-faced as they walked into my lodge, and I was engulfed in one hug after the other, my promises that I was doing okay seeming to fall on deaf ears. Yes, I was freaked. Of course, I was. But I was determined to remain calm while we figured this out.
After they studied the card and then shared a look, Lachlan turned to us. “Nylah contacted me this morning. She discovered a video of you and Eredine on a social media platform. Nylah’s software program only detects keywords, and so she does a more complex check herself once a month. The video was posted by that annoying fucking journalist who was hanging around Ardnoch this summer. It’s a montage of you and Ery kissing, walking together, and talking on Main Street. She named you both in the actual video. Nylah has deleted it, but she said it was up for two weeks before she found it, and it had over half a million views. I was going to come and tell you tonight, but then this …” He gestured to the flowers.
And there went my calm.
Full-on panic threatened to take me out. Buzzing sounded in my ears as I stumbled away from them, trying to catch my breath.
“Ery?” Arran touched me, but I jerked away, feeling claustrophobic.
The flowers and the card took on a whole new meaning now.
He’d sent flowers and gifts and creepy cards to Kia before—
“It’s him.” I turned to glare at Lachlan. “It’s Ezra, isn’t it?”
Lachlan held up his hands, palms outward, as he walked toward me, as if approaching a frightened animal. “The first thing I did was check his whereabouts, and he’s in Washington. I didn’t want to mention this, but I’ve been trying to dig up as much dirt on this guy as possible over the years. It hasn’t been easy, but he’s hurt a lot of women, Ery. The evidence is mounting, and I hope that soon we’ll have enough witness accounts to go after him.”
“You said you wouldn’t dig!” I cried, not reassured at all. “You’ll bring him here!”
“He doesn’t know it’s me. I’ve hired private detectives who are very discreet and good at what they do. This isn’t something I went into lightly. And it’s taken me a long time to get close to where we are right now.”
“Why didn’t you tell her this? Or me? I asked you directly, and you lied,” Arran said in a quiet manner that sent a chill down my spine. He looked at Lachlan like he wanted to rip off his head.
“I lied because I was worried you’d tell Ery, and I didn’t want her to panic or get her hopes up.”
“She’s not made of glass, Lachlan. She can handle knowing the truth. You shouldn’t have kept this from her.”
Mac joined the fray. “This isn’t likely to be Ezra. Arran has been receiving these odd emails for years, and this is the only time Ery has been mentioned in them. It’s rational to assume whoever is sending the emails saw the video online and is using Ery to scare Arran. That’s where our focus should be.”
His words penetrated, and I forced myself to process what Mac was saying. He was probably right. Everything added up to this being the person harassing Arran. Yet I was still so pissed at Lachlan.
“Fine.” I clenched my fists. “We’ll focus on that. But, Lachlan …”
He gave me a tender, worried look.
Yet I had to say this.
“I am more than grateful for what you’ve done for me—”
“Ery—”
“No, let me finish.” I held his gaze. “Nothing you ever do will take away that gratitude. But you have to stop treating me like I’m a delicate flower that will break in half at the slightest breeze. I’m a grown woman. Your brothers and sister are grown-ups too. And while I think we will all always need you, you are not solely responsible for fixing our problems. I’m not fragile, and they’re no longer kids who need a parent. It doesn’t have to be all on you. Let us be a team now. Keep us in the loop. Make decisions with us, not for us. Okay?”