Page 9 of Monster's Madhouse
“I’ll call him and tell him to come over to the club. We have enough security and guys around there that if this Reid guy shows up, he won’t know what hit him.” Monster could hear the menacing tone in his own voice, but he meant just what he had said. If her stalker showed up at Monster’s Madhouse, they’d tear him apart.
Blitz nodded, and he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. It rang a bunch of times and went to voicemail. “Shit,” he grumbled, ending the call. Monster pulled over to the side of the highway and sent Drifter a text message that said for him to come into the club when he’s finished at the funeral home. Drifter quickly replied that he had a viewing going on until about five, but he’d be by after everyone was gone.
“He’s not answering?” she asked.
“No, he’s got a viewing going on but promised to come over later tonight. For now, you’re stuck with me,” he teased.
She smiled, but it didn’t touch her eyes, and Monster knew that she was still worried. “I can make sure that Josie doesn’t go home. In fact, I’ll have her take an Uber to the funeral home, and Drifter can bring her with him,” Blitz said. “I think it’s best if shedidn’t spend time here at your bar,” she admitted. He wanted to protest, but he knew that his guys could get pretty rowdy, so he left it alone.
Monster pulled into the club’s parking lot and around to the back of the building. He wasn’t taking any chances with Blitz—not again. He planned on sticking to her like glue, and if she didn’t like it, then that was just too bad.
“Are you sure that my being at the club isn’t an inconvenience?” she asked. He wanted to admit that her hanging around his place was a major inconvenience, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Plus, it wouldn’t be an inconvenience in the way that she meant. Blitz would be a total distraction, and even though he really didn’t mind, the thought of the other guys being distracted by him made him a little crazy.
The one thing he was sure of was that he was going to get the truth out of Blitz about her stalker. He’d need every detail she could come up with to keep them both safe.
Once he got her into the clubhouse, she seemed to relax a little bit. Monster poured them both a shot of whiskey, and she grabbed hers and tossed it back like a pro.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No, I’m not okay,” she shouted. He looked around at the few men who had come in early to get ready for church and decided that maybe they should talk in his office. He downed his shot and grabbed her hand, leading her back to his office, shutting the door behind them.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m giving us some privacy to talk about what’s going on and why you didn’t tell Drifter or me that you have a stalker. You didn’t think that was important information?”
“Sure, I did,” she insisted. “I just didn’t think that it was information that either of you needed to know. I thought that my leaving town would erase me from Reid’s memory, but I was wrong.” He wasn’t sure how any man would be able to erase her from their memory. Blitz was hot with a body built for sin. There would be no forgetting any part of her once she was gone.
Blitz’s hands wouldn’t stay still. She kept wringing them, pacing Monster’s hardwood floors like they were on fire. Monster leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching her with eyes sharp enough to slice through steel.
Finally, Blitz stopped pacing. The words tore out of her like broken glass. “I can’t believe that he’s actually here.
“You said that he was stalking you back home. How about you give me some details about the guy so that I can do some research?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. “His name is Reid, and he’s been stalking me back home. I just never imagined that he’d follow me here. We went out a few times, and when I ended it, well, let’s just say that he wouldn’t let me go.”
“Were you two together for a long time?” he asked. “Was it serious?” Monster wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answers to his questions, but he needed to know that kind of stuff if he was going to be able to keep Blitz safe.
“We lived together for a little while. I was a fool and thought that it was okay that he was moving things along so quickly. He told me that he loved me after dating for a short time, and I didn’t say the words back. How could I when I wasn’t even sure what love was? Being raised in the foster system, I learned to question everyone’s motives, especially when they said that they loved or cared for you.”
“I get it,” Monster said. “I was raised in the system too, and trusting people wasn’t easy.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “So, you understand. You would know how it feels to constantly question everyone and everything.” He crossed the room to sit down on the sofa, and she did the same.
“He made me feel so guilty about not saying those words back that I asked him to move in with me,” she said.
“Huh, well, I didn’t see that coming,” Monster said.
“I have no idea what came over me, really. We lived together for a while, and I thought that things were going well until they weren’t. He started showing up everywhere I was. I’d go to get a haircut, and he’d show up at the salon. I’d go to the grocery store, and he’d be there. He said that I must have told him that I’d be there, but some of the visits were unplanned, spur of the moment, and I knew that I hadn’t told him that I was going to the store, or anywhere else. He was always there. And now—” her voice cracked. “Now he’s here. In town. You saw him today, standing in the parking lot at the grocery store, right?” She asked as though needing confirmation.
“I did,” he whispered, pulling her onto his lap. He couldn’t help it—he just couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself when she was around him. The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut through the air, but Monster wanted to give her time to figure out what to say next.
“Did he ever hurt you, baby?” he asked. She snuggled against his body, taking the comfort that he was offering her.
“Not until I turned down his marriage proposal. Just weeks after he moved in with me, he asked me to marry him. I thought that he was joking at first, but he wasn’t. And when I laughed at the idea of marrying him, he hit me. The only reason he stopped hitting me was because my neighbor called the cops.” Monster wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer.
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner about him?” Monster asked. “You know that Drifter and I would have helped you, baby.”
“Because—because I didn’t want to drag you both into this. You’ve already got enough on your plates. And what if—” Her eyes dropped, voice barely a whisper. “What if he goes after Josie? I planned on going back home before any of that could happen, but then, I didn’t count on you and Drifter.”
