Page 65 of Playing with Forever
Brandon. It’s Brandon.Brandon was my stalker.
I slowly looked up, trying desperately to stay calm and keep my expression neutral, and I found myself staring at a complete stranger. The man sitting across from me was Brandon, of course he was, but he was not at all the man I knew. Something completely shifted, and now I could see a dangerous, gleaming light in his eyes, a tightness to his face.
He knew that I knew.
I swallowed hard. I wanted to flee, terror gripping me, but I ignored it. I’d never backed down before and I wasn’t going to back down now. Whatever happened, I was going to go down fighting.
I stood up, and he did the same. A standoff, it felt like, judging by the way his gaze narrowed in on me. I calculated the distance to the door, but knew he could easily intercept me, so I remained where I was for now.
“You’re my stalker,” I said, calling him out on his shit. “It’s you.”
“Of course it was me, Andrea.” Brandon sounded completely unashamed. Pleased, even. Relieved, like he was happy that I knew. “Who else would love you enough to do what I’ve done?”
“Love?” I gaped at him in shock. Yep, definitely delusional, but weren’t most stalkers? “That’s what you call it?”
“That’s what it is.” Brandon shrugged and gave me a smile that was no longer cute, but creepy. “I’m so glad that it’s all out in the open now. It’s been exhausting waiting for you to figure it out. To open your eyes and see what’s right in front of you. I’ve been patient,lovemust always be patient, but even I have my limits.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Of course I know you,” he said, tapping his fingers on the conference table. “I know everything about you, even the parts that you don’t want people to see.”
“You have noideawho I am,” I snapped. “Following a person around doesn’t mean you know them! So you saw my shoulder tattoo, and you figured out where I live. That doesn’t mean you know jack shit aboutme.”
Antagonizing Brandon probably went against everything you should do when facing a potentially violent psychopath, but I figured I just had to keep him talking until Chase arrived. I only had to hold out until then. And I wasn’t very good at being diplomatic.
“I know jack shit, huh?” Anger vibrated through Brandon’s voice and flared to life in his eyes. “I know exactly what you get up to, you little slut. Visiting an exclusive sex club and letting that asshole put his dirty, filthy hands all over you. You can do so much better than him, Andrea.”
I was sure my horror showed all over my face. Brandon had been doing far more stalking, and for far longer, than I’d realized. I wanted to throw up.
He started around the table. “I tried to be nice. I really wanted to be a gentleman, but clearly you like it rough, and dirty, and I’m more than happy to accommodate those desires, too.”
I backed up instinctively, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might rip straight through my chest, but I forced myself to stay upright. Alert. In control.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said, forcing my voice to stay level, despite the terror coiling through me. “If you touch me, there’s no coming back from that. My boyfriend is former military and works at a private security firm. He’ll make sure you never see daylight again.”
“You meanex-boyfriend,” Brandon sneered, moving closer. “He threw you away like trash. I’m the one who’s been here for you. Watching out for you. Loving you. Iseeyou. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”
He was unhinged. Fully gone. There was no kindness left in his eyes, and I knew I had no choice but to try and make a run for the door. I started in that direction, but Brandon was faster. He lunged in front of me, grabbing my arm and yanking me back. I cried out in pain.
“What’s the matter, baby?” Brandon asked, his voice eerily soft. “Isn’t this how you like it?”
I glared at him. “Let go of me,now.”
“I know you don’t mean that,” he said, shoving me back against the conference table. “Now I know exactly what you want.”
He grabbed my throat and I gasped as my airway closed off. I clawed at his arm, but couldn’t dislodge his hold. Brandon leaned in close, eyes bright with what my terror-addled brain could only describe as madness. “You. Are. Mine. Got it?”
“Fuckyou,” I gasped out, and I brought my knee up as hard as I could between his legs.
Brandon doubled over, crying out in pain, his hands grabbing his crotch. I sprinted for the door, kicking my heels off as I ran. I didn’t bother with the elevator but lunged for the emergency stairwell, running down them. I could hear movement above me and I knew that Brandon, even with the injury, was hot on my heels. And now, even madder than before.
I hurtled down to the lobby. Of course, ofcoursethe security guard wasn’t there. Probably doing his rounds now that most people had left for the day. I screamed with frustration, tears pricking my eyes.
Behind me, I heard the door to the stairwell slam open. Fuck, I didn’t have much time. I sprinted for the front doors, rushing out into the parking lot—and right into the path of a car. The car screeched to a halt and I felt my entire body sag in relief as Chase emerged.
“Andrea—”
I saw his face change to unconcealed rage as he looked behind me, and the next moment I was shoved aside, put behind him, as Brandon emerged from the lobby the same moment Chase charged toward him. Chase moved faster than I thought possible. He grabbed Brandon by the wrist and used Brandon’s forward movement against him, twisting his arm and flipping Brandon over on himself.
