Page 60 of Dark Encounter
Chapter 22
Grace
Two Weeks Later
I'd hadn't slept well since the situation with Erik a few weeks before. His father bringing me home and forcing me to tell Erik to stay away from me. He was a stubborn bastard, and when my pleas hadn't worked, he'd snatched the phone from me.
A shiver ran through me as I stood in the small kitchen in my apartment. Sadness wrapped around me, and it was hard to breathe, but I would get past it. Jenna and Nate kept promising that it would get better and that if nothing else, they would watch out for Erik.
Nate wouldn't give me much on him every time I asked, and he'd stopped coming to the library which hurt on so many different levels.
"You want me to make you some breakfast." My brother's voice lifted from behind me, pulling me from my thoughts.
I turned to see him wiping at his eyes, his hair a mess. "No. I'm going up to the library for a little while."
"I thought the event was at seven tonight." He yawned and lifted his arms into the air. "Why do you need to go up there now? Seems like you guys have everything ready for tonight, right?"
"Yeah, but I just want to double check everything." I turned back to the coffee pot and held my breath. Thomas didn't know about Erik and me, nor would he ever.
"We're having a big toga party tonight at the Sigma house. We need to do something fun to get everyone's minds off finals and losing Billy and Doug."
"You think it's safe to go back there?" I glanced over my shoulder.
"I can't live here forever."
"Right, but maybe you should talk to someone about protection."
"Like condoms?" He chuckled and left me in the kitchen alone. My brother had fucked up royally by stealing the twenty-grand back from the check cashing place a few weeks before. Where Billy's death looked like a freak situation, now that Doug and his boyfriend were dead, it was more than obvious that someone was after them.
I wasn't sure how reliable Cole was, but he seemed to be the only person I knew at the police station. I needed to stop by before going to the library event or maybe on my way home from checking on everything.
"You want to go with me up to the library?" I finished fixing my coffee and grabbed my keys. "It might be good for you to get out of here for a little while."
"Nope. I'm fine. Everything is dying down, I promise. Either way, I'll have the twenty grand from Dad by the middle of next week. If someone comes after me like they did Billy and Doug, I'll be safe. They don't want my death, Grace. They want their fucking money."
"I don't like it." I stood at the opening to the living room and watched my brother. "Please be careful."
"I will. There's this cop guy that I talked to a few weeks ago. He's been keeping tabs on me. It's going to be fine."
"Alright." I turned and left the apartment, not feeling any better at all.
It was too pretty of a day to drive to the library, so I decided to walk instead. Everywhere I looked I would see something that reminded me of Erik. My mood had completely turned to shit by the time I walked up the long flight of stairs to the library and walked in. I just wanted to see him. Just once. Even if it meant he were on the third-floor reading and ignoring me. To simply know that he was okay would be enough.
If I were braver, I would have gone out to the Bertinelli mansion and knocked on the front door, but I wasn't. I was just me. Mousy, lame, plain.
"Great job on the decorations, Grace. This is honestly the best this place has ever looked." Nelly's comment surprised me. The old goat usually had nothing but criticism to hand out. She reached out and touched my hand. "I know it's none of my business, and I honestly don't want it to be, but your boyfriend showed up this morning. He's on the third floor somewhere."
My heart jumped in my chest. "He did?"
"Yes." Her grimace melted into a smile. "And if you'd like to invite him to the event tonight, I can get you an extra ticket."
"Why are you being so nice?" I glanced around. "Am I being punked?"
"No, child. I just hate seeing you so gloomy. It's depressing." She shrugged and walked to the reference desk. "Just make sure you're here on time tonight and that you're accessible through the whole evening."
"Of course." I turned and jogged up the first two flights of stairs and stopped. What the hell was I going to say to him? I couldn't catch my breath and felt like a complete idiot. Instead of heading up to the third floor, I ducked in between two huge bookshelves on the second floor and knelt down as if looking at a book.
I had to catch my breath first. If he rejected me or ignored me, I would be crushed. Maybe the best option would be to go back downstairs and do nothing. Not go near him at all.
