He’s somewhere toward my feet. Pretty far from the sound of it, but definitely in the room with me. I don’t recognize his voice, nothing that makes him special enough for me to figure this out. No accent or lisp to distinguish him from another.
I don’t want to ask, but I’m curious. I want to know why he picked me. Why I’m the one being stalked. Honestly, there’s nothing about me that makes me different from others out there. There are prettier underground fighters. Blonder ones. Taller ones. A million things that could make them a better choice.
You don’t get to choose who you like, Viv.
I swear my inner voice is rolling her eyes at me. I mean, she’s not wrong. You like who you like. If it was so simple to just like someone else, no one would have heartache. No one would be jealous. Hell, there would be no stalkers.
But that isn’t how life is. You fall for who you fall for. Most of the time, you have no idea it’s coming. Have no clue when it’ll happen or how. You just wake up one day andbam, Domino’s important to you.
I gulp and shiver at the thought of him. I miss him. I clench my hands because I need to remind myself that I can do this. I’m strong and capable. I can figure this out.
But Iwouldn’t hate it if he burst in right now and saved the day. You know, saving me the time of having to do it myself.
I give it an extra minute before I realize it’s wishful thinking. He might come, eventually, but not right now. And since I seem to be stuck and not going anywhere myself, I might as well try to figure out what the hell is going on.
“Who’s they?”
“Naughty, naughty. Tut, tut, tut, princess. Ask nicely.”
I grit my teeth. I really hate it when people call me princess. No idea when it started, but we all have a word that just grinds our gears. Some hate the wordmoistorcunt. I’ve got no issue with those. But comparing me to a stuck-up girl who needs someone to figure out her life so she can be waited on hand and foot? Yuck. Double yuck.
I bite my tongue to keep from telling him off. Mostly because I’ve got no leg to stand on, literally, to argue for him to talk to me in a way that doesn’t make me want to vomit.
“Please tell me who they are.”
He sighs with happiness. “I just knew you’d take direction well. Such a good girl, aren’t you, my princess?” I hear him move, and I tense. I can only imagine where he’s going.
I wait. I listen. He makes very little noise. Not enough for me to know what direction he’s going, just that he’s moving.
“They”—I jump at the sound of his voice right next to my ear—“are bad people. People who hunt and hurt others.”
“And you… you’re not bad people?”
Please say no. Please say no.
“I was.”
Fuck. Yes, he is. Of course he’s bad, Viv. He killed Shovel, remember?
“I was just like them. We worked together. They found a target, and I tracked the target. Then others would take the target.”
Is this human trafficking? Is he part of the group that took those missing people I heard about on the news and radio a few months back? Not a ton were taken, but enough to be newsworthy for a minute or two. Some said they were just runaways. Others cried for their loved ones and begged whoever took them to bring them back. The news stopped reporting it, so I assumed it was done. Either people stopped being taken, or the police put a stop to it.
But what if it only stopped because the tracker was only interested in one person?
In me?
“Who was the target?”
His hand touches my arm and moves down. Never touching the important bits, but still gliding over me like he has a right to touch me.
“It changed. Men, women, children. Whoever they asked for.” His hand slides back up my body, and his knuckles caress my face. Then I feel his breath on my cheek as if he leaned in. “But don’t worry, princess. You were never a target for them. Only for me. And I’ll make sure no one harms you. You’re my girl now.” He kisses my cheek as I flinch away.
I lose his touch as if he stands back up. “You’re being rude, and it’s not that attractive.”
“What makes you think I’m trying to attract you?” I’m genuinely curious. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to think I clapped back at him or threw attitude.
“I know it’ll take time for you to come around. I understand that. It’s only natural. It’ll take time, and I have that. We have all the time in the world now.”
