“Nothing he didn’t have coming.”
Frustrated with his lack of answers, I let go.
Another sigh and he wraps his arm around me, pulling me closer. “Remember how you didn’t ask questions when we were home and I went on a run?”
“This is different. It’s not club business. And I’m involved.”
“No, you’re not. And that’s the way I want it to stay.”
“Chaser—”
“Don’t ask for more answers than you can handle, Mallory.” He taps my temple. “You’ve seen enough ugliness tonight. I won’t put anymore in your head.”
“Did anyone see you?”
“No.”
“Is the guy alive?”
The long pause he takes before answering flips my stomach upside down. “Unfortunately, yes.” His gaze strays to the hallway. “Is she okay?”
“I think so.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m still scared.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen to me, little dove.” He kisses the top of my head. “And even if it does, at least I did the right thing.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“It’s the best I’ve got.”
“Is Andrew okay?”
He considers that question too long for my liking. “No, he’s totally fucking insane.”
I tap his chest. “You know what I mean.”
“He may seem like a big goofball, but he’s hardcore.”
I’m not sure what to make of that. “He has a big mouth. Do you trust him not to say anything?”
“He won’t say a word.”
After a while, we fall silent, and my eyelids start to droop.
“Hey.” Chaser hugs me to him. “Let me tuck you back into bed. She shouldn’t wake up alone, and you need more sleep.”
“What about you?”
He pats the arm of the couch. “I’ll sleep out here. I’ll be fine.”
Reluctantly, I return to the bedroom and settle in next to Audrey.
It only seems like minutes later but has to be hours, voices from the living room wake me.
Audrey rolls over. “Who is that?”
“Chaser stayed over.”
She cocks her head and listens. “That’s Doug. Did Chaser call him?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Oh my God.” She whips the covers back, but a short scream stops her movements. “Fuck.”
“Easy.”
“Easy nothing. I’m going to kill your boyfriend.”
Chaser
Maybe it was shitty of me to call Doug after Audrey begged me not to. But if the guy’s going to be a coward who cuts and run, isn’t it better she finds out now?
Turns out, Doug’s a decent guy. Ditched his meeting and came straight to the house when I told him Audrey had been hurt.
I gave him a vague outline of the night—Audrey can fill in the details later if she wants—but let him know the guy had been taken care of and wouldn’t be bothering Audrey again.
“I don’t know how to thank you for taking care of her,” he says. “And how you handled…I wouldn’t have been able to do what you did. I wouldn’t even know who to ask.”
He almost seems embarrassed, but he shouldn’t. He’s a square, squeaky clean guy. Exactly what Audrey needs and what I’ll never pretend to be. “I’d do the same for any friend.”
“I don’t know what to do.” His gaze strays toward the bedroom. “I’ve begged her to give up the life. Promised to take her anywhere in the world she wants to go.”
“From what I gathered, she was trying to make a clean break. It’s not her fault this guy was a psycho.”
“I don’t know.”
“You love her, Doug?”
“I do, but—”
“No buts. If you love her, don’t give up on her. If you do, it’ll just reinforce everything bad she thinks about herself and what she deserves.”
He seems to turn that over in his head. “I wanted to marry her.”
Not liking the past tense he uses, I try again. “She expects you to leave her over this. Don’t prove her right.”
“You know I’m so naive I really thought I was hiring a date for this stupid event I had to attend.” He shakes his head. “It took a few dates to realize…and it was too late by then.”
“I don’t know if that’s you being naive or the universe helping two people who need each other get together.”
He stares at me. “You’re quite a poet. I need to buy one of your albums.”
I chuckle and slap his shoulder. “Get her out of this toxic city. At least until she’s feeling stronger.”
“I have properties all over the world.”
“Good. Take her someplace nice. Get her mind off of this phase of her life and focused on the next.”
“Thank you.” He holds out his hand, and we shake. “Now, let me do something for you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I don’t need anything from you.”
He tips his head toward the house. “Move in here. It’s furnished—”
“I can’t take a house from you, Doug.”
“I’m not handing over the deed.” He chuckles. “But you and Mallory move in and make it yours for now.”
I doubt I can afford the normal rent he gets for this place but I have to give him something. “We’ll pay you rent.”
“I don’t need your rent.” He holds up his hand to stop me from protesting. “You’ll save me the trouble of finding a tenant and the cost of having someone check up on the tenant and maintenance.”