RIVER

Our dinner would have surprised me if he asked me a bunch of questions, but I was deeply grateful that he did not push the issue. We ate in peace. I couldn’t live another day with another humiliation than I already had, so I limited my words to thank you and good night. I was not fishing for a compliment, but he did not even comment on my pot roast, considering he knew his way in the kitchen.

I learn something about Krew that probably only a few people knew about it. He disliked pitch black. His house was a showroom. I didn’t have to wonder if he preferred lights on over lights off. Whoa! Where did that come from? Why did I have to think of something obscene? Utterly inappropriate for an employee. He also clearly detested mashed potato. He didn’t drink anymore, and it was a real winner.

He called it a night early, but for sure, he would go back to his boring office and work his ass off. I, on the other hand, went to my room after I helped to tidy up his spotless kitchen.

Suddenly, nostalgia hit me in the butt—my life had drastically changed in a matter of a day when I decided to run away than facing my own nightmare as Krew would put it.

I doubled check the windows and bathroom, drew the curtain close, and took a deep breath before I got into my new bed.

I knew for a fact that I would not win against Briar. When I talked to the cops, they looked at me as if I was insane. Who would believe me anyway? I was a nobody. Considering what I had done to the Selik in the past, they must have heard about it, and they never took my complaint as a serious matter.

Krew tightened his security systems, added cameras, and chose a room closer to his. I felt a lot safer around him than for the past few weeks of my life. I was grateful, despite what I had done to him, he gave me safety and security that anyone could never do.

I checked the time on my new phone before I closed my eyes. It was only passed ten.

I ran and ran into the woods like a mortally wounded animal. It was dark. The icy breeze bristled against my skin, prickling me.

The pine trees were thick, shadowing the light as I blindly ran through the path. The light seemed out of reach. I was running out of air, my lungs constricting.

Under the new moon, a shadow kept following me. I could sense him—he was closer, so close that I could feel him behind me. I didn’t know why I knew he was a man. It seemed that I knew him, but if there was one thing I sure of, he was dangerous.

I kept going. Something in my head told me to keep going, and that was what I did. Until I missed my step against the root protruded on the ground. I tripped, and he caught me.

“No!”

“Let go of me!” I was catching my breath, kicking, and hitting the muscular body who was holding me tight. Shockingly, he was warm against my cold skin, considering he was just chasing me, and he was real. The man was absolutely real, and the smell assaulting my nostrils was quite familiar.

“Hey, hey, hey. River, it’s me.” The man pulled me closer to him, tighter that I could feel his own heartbeat. I could smell him. It was his smell—pine, woodsy, and comforting. “It’s okay. It was just a bad dream. Calm now. I would never let anything bad happen to you.”

I was still shaking, crying, and terrified. I was also sweating, yet he was holding me tight, running his fingers through my hair. It was too late to realize that I was gripping him, hugging him back as if I found my haven in him—with Krew.

Crap.

I pulled away before I got too carried away. I was still grateful that he was here when I needed someone to hold on to. I wiped away the beads of sweat around my forehead and blinked away the embarrassment, but I didn’t feel like it anymore as I saw the deep worry in his eyes.

The light was already on. I woke Krew up, probably from screaming. I could feel my parch and aching throat as I swallowed.

God, I can’t do this. I couldn’t keep doing this.

“I’ll leave in the morning.” That was the first words came out of my mouth as I rubbed my eyes.

“What are you talking about? Why?” His brows knitted together, confused.

“I can’t do this to you.” I pulled the blanket up to my chest as things became more clearer now.

“Do what exactly? How long has it been, River? Have you seen a doctor? Have you talked to someone about this?”

“I can’t discuss this with you.” I shook my head and pulled my knees, tucked my chin on. I felt ashamed. What was I thinking coming over to a stranger’s home and asked for help? Clearly, I wasn’t thinking straight.

“Why not? You’re here with me now, in my home, and I can protect you, if for once, you’d be honest with me.”

“I can’t—”

“You can’t be honest or you won’t talk to me about it? Then how am I fucking going to help you?” His voice was firm. He rose from the bed, and I could feel he was vibrating with anger. “Let me get you some water.”

“I can’t involve you into my mess.” I rushed out my words.

He paused and scoffed. “Too late, don’t you think? I already am the moment you stepped into my house. You have to trust me, River. If you want this stalking to be over, you need my help. Whether you’d like to admit it or not, you need someone like me who has deep pockets and influence to help you against your stalker.”

“I know that. Why do you think I chose to go to Krystyn?” I spat out, though, I felt a surge of hope.

“Then let me help you. Talk to me. This isn’t healthy anymore. You can’t live like this, hiding from your predator while he is out there. You have to live a life free from distress, not always looking over your shoulder to make sure that no one is following you. Trust me, I’ve seen my sister struggled. As long as you will allow me to help, I will. Now when did it start? Don’t you ever think of lying to me again.”

I met his flaming eyes, then I remembered he did a background check on me. “I dated him for over a month.” There was no use in lying anymore. “Then he just appeared at my job without any calls. I did not remember telling him where I worked. One time, he was already in my apartment, cooking in the kitchen. Journey was really mad at me, telling me that I should have asked her first if I gave a key to someone. Which I never did, by the way.”

“I could tell that he knew a lot about you.”

“Exactly.” Astounded, I stared at him. I realized Krew was right. Why didn’t it come to my senses before?

“Then what happened next? Did he go physical? Did he force you?” His voice was raw, it stabbed me right into my gut. He was getting angrier. I could see how hard he tried not to, but blood was already rushing in his cheeks.

I swallowed hard as I stared at him while he was impatiently waiting with tense and silence for my answer. “No.”

“River.” He did not believe me. He glared at me with distrustful eyes, his nose flaring before he murmured something I wished I had a heightened hearing.

“I was attending an event with my boss, and he suddenly appeared uninvited. I almost got fired. Good thing my boss knew me better, that I would never lie when my job is at stake. She believed me. That’s how I broke up with him. That’s also how it started. I talked to him to stop seeing me, and he didn’t take it pretty lightly. I changed my number, changed the lock in my apartment, but he still managed to get inside. I informed my landlord, but he did nothing. Then I talked to the police, but they couldn’t move further for a temporary restraining order without any concrete evidence.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he did not usually text or call me. I crashed at my co-worker’s for a few days, but I had to go back to my apartment one way or another. Then last week, he found me, threatened to hurt Journey if I would inform the cops again.”

“That’s pretty dire. I promise I would protect you as long as you stay with me. And obviously, you’re not going anywhere.”

I looked down. I didn’t know how to thank him.

“Let me handle him.”

Here we go again. “What does that mean?” I couldn’t let him do something drastic for me. I just wanted this stalking to end legally, not involving threats and blood.

“You just have to trust me, River.” I do. Far-fetched, but I did, even though he didn’t believe me.

I fell silent, staring wide-eyed up at Krew. “Why? After what I did to you, why are you doing this?”

“You’re not the first person I offered help.” Of course. Now, I was one of his charity cases. His answer was a punch to my gut. He did this out of kindness to help a helpless person. What else was there? He was a good samaritan—the good neighbor.

“I donated a huge amount of money to the advocates of abused victims in the country anonymously, so what a small money I could spend to help you lock up this psychopath before he makes another innocent life miserable.” He stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

Great.