Page 65 of Stalker

“I will kill that motherfucker!” Penny was halfway out of her seat.

“Sit down. Not the point of the story,” I chastised. “Anyway, a stranger came out of the blue and broke David’s wrist. Then I jumped in his car because I really didn’t want to go home. We went to bar and had a couple drinks then he took me home then…” I was talking as fast as possible, but I knew the moment the light went on in their eyes they knew what I was saying.

“Holy shit,” Penny exclaimed, slapping her hand over her mouth immediately.

“Yeah, I know. I can’t bid on him,” I insisted.

“Why not? Was it any good?” Josie was almost choking with laughter.

“Um. Yes. Okay, the best I ever had, but that’s not the point.”

Penny tapped my arm. “Then what is? He’s hot. He’s rich and he’s…”

“Dangerous,” Josie finished for her. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

“What do you mean dangerous?” I pressed. Every inch of my skin was on fire, my core throbbing.

“Come on. The Blackwell Group? Dark Nights. Haven’t you ladies played that game before? It’s rough.” Josie was sweating.

“You’ve played that hot, hot, hot game?” Penny asked, learning over. “You naughty girl, you.”

A sweep of red swept up from Josie’s neck to her face. “Once or twice. Okay? Sue me. People talk. He’s supposedly into some kinky shit and if that game is any indication, wowzer.” Josie made the statement, but there was no look of fear in her eyes.

There was no logical reason or possible chance my two worlds had just collided.

Unless…

What if I’d been right about someone being in my house?

And the hunt. The werewolf. Oh, my God.

“A little slow tonight, girlie. Don’t you keep up with the times, girl? The dude is richer than sin. He’s the whole package. Handsome. Wealthy. Respected. The perfect persona of a bad boy gone wild. If you throw in a little kink, then I’d say he’s your kind of man.” Penny narrowed her eyes and craned her neck so she could catch a full glimpse of my face. “Well, holy shit. You like the guy. Admit it.”

The bidding had already started. I’d never felt more uncomfortable in my life.

Or more excited.

“Wow. You do!” Josie laughed.

“Fine. A little, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“He did save a woman’s life in a park not that long ago.” Penny made the statement like the act was no big deal.

Pieces of a very twisted puzzle were falling into place. There wasn’t a chance in hell there were this many coincidences.

“So I heard. Then Daddy managed to get the perpetrator out on bail, but Mr. Monahan was brought back into custody.” I’d yet to talk to Cash about his case, but from what little I’d caught in the news, the press was all over Drew Monahan, painting him as a serial killer. From what I’d heard in the way of gossip by the water cooler at the office, the evidence against him was damning.

She narrowed her eyes when she looked at me. “I should have remembered you know every criminal in the city. The guy is a serial rapist.”

“I think he’s worse than that,” I offered, which was about all I could say at this point.

“From what I read, Mr. Blackwell stopped the guy before he committed the act and almost killed him. That makes him a hero, Cass.” Josie was insistent, but I noticed doubt in her eyes. She’d dealt with enough psychopaths in her life; she would know better than most how easily they could fool anyone into believing they were decent people.

A hero.

I certainly knew every human being had two sides. I tried to keep from glancing at him every few seconds but found it difficult. The man was like an enigma, drawing you in without even trying.

“Yet you said you thought he was dangerous.” I looked her directly in the eyes. Since the start of our friendship, we’d always had a way of communicating without talking. It was uncanny, sometimes disturbing. Tonight was one of those nights.

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