Page 57 of Tempt

Iassumed the man standing on the corner was one of Theo’s guards, but now that we were halfway through lunch and he was staring at me through the window, I had a very uneasy feeling about him.

This man was in dark jeans and a loose navy hoody like I’d seen Joe wearing earlier, but this guy wasn’t wearing a ball cap or sunglasses. He wasn’t walking casually or reading a paper. He’d been standing there for about five minutes, staring right at me.

We were back at the little café owned by Susan. She wasn’t there this time, but her niece and nephew were, along with a friend.

I didn’t want to cause any problems so I carefully tugged at Theo’s finger and drew his attention up to my eyes. “So I have a question and I want you to be calm about it.”

He frowned for a split second before he froze and plastered a small fake smile onto his lips, catching the warning tone in my voice. “Go on.”

“I’ve been around your men enough to know how they operate, so I’m going to assume the man standing outside the window staring at me isnotone of your body guards.”

Theo’s fingers curled protectively around mine. “What does he look like?” His voice was thinner. Strained.

“Maybe six feet. Balding on top, small chin, and dark eyes.”Those eyes… that was what was giving me the creeps. That and the staring.

Theo leaned back casually in his seat. “Keep talking. Something interesting with your hands.” He set his phone on his lap and started working at something.

Talk? About what? I grabbed onto the first thing that came to mind and ran with it. “So I know this probably isn’t on your radar, but it’s Thanksgiving in two weeks and my friends are flying in to spend it with me. Margaret gave me a long weekend. I’m off Wednesday through Sunday. It’s my friend Elizabeth and her sister Lily. But now it’s also Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Adam, so only Lily is staying with me.” I just babbled and babbled. My hands waving in front of my face until my phone vibrated in my pocket. I jumped. “Hold on.”

I wasn’t surprised to see it was a text from Theo. It was a picture of a man who looked exactly like the one still staring at me. I could tell because I had excellent peripheral vision. “Yep, that’s him.” I said with a fake smile.

“Fuck. Keep talking.”

And so I did. My heart rate went through the roof and my voice seemed to get louder with each word, but I kept on talking until Theo made eye contact with me. “He’s looking at you right now?”

I nodded. There was no mistaking what I’d seen. I didn’t need to look again to check. You don’t forget the cold, intense stare of someone you don’t trust.

“When did you first notice him?” Theo asked.

“At the corner on the way here. He was leaned up against the lamppost looking at his phone. When we turned the corner across the street, he looked right at me.”

He nodded slightly and swallowed. “I didn’t even notice.”

“So that’s him?”

“Oh yes, that’s him.”

I shifted in my seat. “So we’renotsafe?”

“Apparently not.” His jaw ticked. “I think I have a mole on my team. There is no reason that man should be standing outside like that.”

And then my heart rate kicked up a little higher. “Theo, where are your guys?” Even if Toni had followed us here, Theo’s bodyguards should have taken care of him by now. Where was Joe?

Oh god… what if Toni had hurt them?

“I don’t know,” Theo said.

And that’s when I got very, very worried. “What’s your plan?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “How fast can you run?”

Things happened very, very quickly after that. Theo asked the staff to quietly sneak out the back and wait for the police. After a minute I excused myself as if I were going to the bathroom. I was supposed to make a run for the hotel while Theo had Toni distracted.

Unfortunately I was never one to follow directions. Instead I snuck into the abandoned kitchen and grabbed the sharpest butcher knife I could find—which in the little sandwich shop wasn’t nearly as scary looking as I’d hoped. So I grabbed two.

And then I pressed myself against the wall and listened.

“Get off the fucking street.” I heard Theo call out to Toni. His accent was thicker than ever.

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