My shoulders fall. “Thank you. You’re too kind.”
She rounds the corner and gives me a big hug. “You just let me know if you need anything.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Deb tries to guide me to my usual spot, but I duck out from under her arm. “Um, I think I’m just going to walk today.”
Her gaze goes to the window.
“I don’t mind the rain,” I tell her, forcing a smile to my face. “It’s cleansing.”
She chuckles. “Always the optimist.”
“I try. Thank you again for the coffee.” I hold the cup up in front of my face before stepping back out into the rain.
I walk down the street, heading toward my apartment. At least my brother is at peace now, something he never experienced while here on earth.
The rain continues to patter softly against the umbrella, and that is what I focus on. I’m not going to let my mom pull me into any of the drama surrounding his death, and I’m sure there is plenty of it. Maybe I’ll go to the lake tomorrow. That is something my brother and I loved to do when we were kids. It will be my own little way of saying goodbye.
Someone holds the door open to my apartment building. “Thank you,” I say without looking to see who it is. I give my umbrella a good shake before closing it, and then I step inside.
As soon as the door closes behind me, dread wraps itself around my heart. I can smell trouble from a mile away, and this man reeks of it. Without looking at him, I hurry up the stairs. His heavy boots follow, my fear increasing with each step we take.
My hand fumbles around inside my purse as I search for my keys. “I don’t know who you are, but if you’re here because of my family, I don’t have anything to do with them.”
He doesn’t say anything, which spurs me into action. I pull my keychain from my purse, keeping my fingers tightly wrapped around the pepper spray hanging from it.
When I spin on him at the top of the steps, he doesn’t react. He just keeps walking toward me until his body is pressed against mine. I beg myself to pull the trigger, but I don’t. I don’t do anything but let him push me against the door to my apartment.
He plucks my keys from my hand, taking the pepper spray with it. His gaze holds mine as he slides the key into the lock.
The door falls open and I tumble inside, falling on my ass. The man towers over me as I begin to crawl backward.
“I told you I don’t have anything to do with them. If they’ve wronged you in some way, I’m sorry.”
He squats down to my level, resting his forearms on his thighs. His eyes rake over me, and mine do the same to him. He’s wearing a leather cut. Fuck … he’s a Bloody Scorpion.
“Your brother owes my club a shit ton of money,” he says, no beating around the bush. He tears his eyes away from me to look at our surroundings. “And from the looks of it, you have none.”
“I haven’t seen my brother in years,” I tell him, watching his face carefully for any sign of empathy. When I don’t find it, I switch tactics. “I live paycheck to paycheck. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”
His gaze returns to mine. “Help me? I don’t need any help, sweetheart.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“I see that.”
“Okay then.” I slowly push to my feet. “I’m sorry I couldn’t …” I choke back the wordhelpbefore it slips from my lips.
He rises with me, amusement lighting his eyes. “Oh, don’t be sorry quite yet. We accept other forms of payment.”
Again, he openly ogles me.
I wrap my arms around my waist which only makes him laugh. He heads to the door, turning his back to me. “Come on, we’ll figure it out.”
“I’m … I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He stops with his hand on the doorknob. “You sure you want it to play out this way?”