Page 40 of Perfect Stalker

Her eyes widen. “You would have killed anyone I dated?”

“Yes.”

“That’s...” She shakes her head. “That’s insane.”

“I tried keeping my distance.” I move toward her, each step narrowing the space between us until the scent of her perfume fills my senses. My body responds to her proximity like a compass finding true north. “Then I saw how they treated you at ‘Silver Fox Productions.’”

She crosses her arms, brows drawing together. “What?”

“Your former colleagues?” Dark satisfaction spreads through me as I contemplate their fate. One corner of my mouth lifts in a predatory smile that holds no warmth. “The ones who spread rumors about you sleeping your way to promotions? Who ‘accidentally’ deleted your presentations before meetings?” I tap my fingers against my thigh. “They won’t find work in entertainment again. Not after how they hurt you.”

Jenny’s mouth falls open. Her fingers grip the edge of her sweater. “What did you do?”

“Made some calls.” I shrug, remembering the pleasure of crushing their futures with a few well-placed phone calls. “Sent some messages. They’re blacklisted now. No production company in Atlanta will touch them. Or New York. Or Los Angeles. Or Toronto.”

She shakes her head, brown curls swaying. “You ruined their careers because they were mean to me?” She doesn’t seem angry. More…intrigued.

“Da. I’d do anything to protect you. I would have stayed in the shadows longer, trying to keep you safe from my world, but when the men I hired to watch Stephen and his father revealed Stephen’s father arranged his return…” I clench my hands into fists. “I had to act.”

Jenny tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, studying me intently. The silence stretches between us, broken only by the soft hum of the penthouse’s climate control system.

“I suppose...” She wraps her arms around herself. “I suppose I’m glad you’re not hiding it anymore. The watching, I mean.” Her lips press into a thin line. “That doesn’t mean I approve of your stalker tactics though.”

“I understand.” I lean against the marble counter, maintaining enough distance to keep her comfortable. “My methods were...unorthodox.”

“Unorthodox?” She releases a sharp laugh. “That’s putting it mildly. You bought an entire apartment building just to spy on me.”

“Just the apartment, not a whole building, and it was to protect you,” I correct. “There’s a difference.”

“Is there?” She raises an eyebrow. “Because from where I’m standing, it seems like you were playing God with my life. Making decisions about who I could see, where I could work...” She shakes her head. “Did you ever consider just talking to me?”

The question hits harder than I expect. “Many times.” I drum my fingers against the counter. “The night of the Christmas party at ‘Silver Fox’ last year. When you were promoted to executive assistant despite their every effort to block it in February. The day you wore that red dress to the quarterly review meeting in June.”

Her cheeks flush. “You remember what I wore?”

“I remember everything about you.” The words come out rougher than intended. “Every smile. Every tear. Every time someone hurt you.”

She crosses her arms. “Like when my coworkers were mean to me? So you destroyed their careers?”

“They deserved worse.” My voice hardens. “No one hurts what’s mine.”

“I’m not yours.” Her chin lifts defiantly. “You don’t own me, Ivan.”

“No?” I push off the counter, closing the distance between us. She stands her ground, though her pulse jumps visibly at her throat. “Then why are you here? In my penthouse? Under my protection?”

“Because Stephen?—”

“Because you need me.” I stop inches from her. “Because deep down, you know I’m the only one who can keep you safe.”

Her nostrils flare. “That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair,malyshka.” I reach out, trailing my finger along her jaw. She shivers but doesn’t pull away. “If it was, we would have met differently. I would have courted you properly. Taken you to dinner. Dancing.”

“Instead, you stalked me for a year.” She steps back, breaking contact. “Watched my every move. Controlled my life from the shadows.”

“To protect you.”

“You keep saying that.” She wraps her arms around herself. “About Stephen...” She swallows hard. “He contacted me again.”

---