But she also deserved some pampering after toiling away at the office all day, after a long flight, and staying late on top of it all. Tonight, she deserved to relax and get some good sleep, and finding out she was a Bratva bride wouldn’t be conducive to any kind of slumber.
I’d tell her tomorrow. Maybe the day after. Soon.
Chapter 31 - Clem
There was so much work to be done in the office after our two-week vacation that I didn’t have time for hurt feelings. No time to be tired, either, and a steady stream of coffee and chocolate donuts from the breakroom kept me on my toes.
I barely noticed the sky outside the window growing darker, and was shocked to see how late it was when Rurik finally called. I rubbed my eyes, bleary from checking reports all day, updating schedules, and answering messages.
“Why the hell are you still at the office?” he asked.
The audacity. But he sounded fine, and relief flooded through me. I had been pushing aside the worries that kept popping up throughout the day, without a word from him. Why wouldn’t he be fine, and more importantly, why was I so worried? He certainly didn’t think it was necessary to check in.
His tone turned playful, eager for me to get back and promising me my favorite meal, so I scooted my chair back and took off, the only one left in the office at that hour. My heels clicked against the tile floor, the echo in the dim hallway creeping me out and making me walk faster.
It was completely deserted outside the industrial office building, with the surrounding offices already closed. A lone street lamp cast a circle of light in front of the door, the alley between our buildings in deep shadow.
I peeked down the narrow space, seeing exactly what I expected to see. Two dumpsters and a chain link fence. Nobody was lurking there, waiting to jump out at me, but my skin prickled with unease.
Since Rurik and I drove in together, I had to call a car, and while I waited, I decided to walk down the street to the twenty-four-hour pharmacy instead of wandering alone on the deserted curb.
Now that we were back in LA and I was on my own, the strange message warning me I’d be seeing the sender soon was at the top of my mind. It was better to be surrounded by people if Jordie had actually found me. Which he didn’t. He was probably still back on his butt playing video games. At most, he’d found my number and was tormenting me for some sick fun, but he was too lazy to get on a plane, no matter how deep his obsession with me had become before I broke free.
The brightly lit pharmacy was bustling with people, and I relaxed to the sounds of intermittent announcements of sales over the loudspeaker mixed with bland top forty music. My ride was still several minutes away, so I found myself in the makeup aisle, reaching for perfume samples.
I looked up from sniffing one that smelled of gardenias to find myself face-to-face with my ex. My brain shorted out, certain for a split second that I was imagining him from spending too much time stressing over the messages. I blinked, and he was still there. A lot thinner, which only made him look meaner. The smile he tried to give me was forced, more like a snarl.
“Clementine,” he said. “Oh my darling.”
It was really Jordie. I hated his reference to that old song. His eyes were bloodshot, and he took a step closer. My first instinct was to scream and run away. All the old terror he instilled in me over the years came rushing back, taking over my ability to think. Stumbling backward, I crashed into the perfume display, rattling all the boxes and bottles.
It was a crowded store. Someone was at the end of the aisle, staring at me right now. I was safe. Edging past Jordie as calmly as I could, I turned to walk away. He grabbed my arm.
“Clem, wait.”
“Let me go or I’ll shout for security.” I nodded toward the curious woman at the end of the aisle. In this case, I was glad to have an audience.
He loosened his grip but didn’t let go. “Please just listen. You made a terrible mistake.”
Oh my God, this again. Of course, he thought me leaving him was a mistake; he was a self-centered monster who thought he owned me.
“That guy you married,” he said, his lip curling in disgust at the word. “He’s not who you think he is.”
Wait. He was talking about Rurik? I wasn’t too shocked that he knew about Rurik and me. It was public record, and Jordie was a world-class stalker.
“I know everything I need to know,” I said. I pressed my lips together against an insult. I finally whipped my arm out from under his grasp. The woman had moved on, bored by our little spat that wasn’t erupting into shouting or anything else exciting. Not yet, anyway.
“Do you know he’s in the mafia?”
That caught me off guard, and I actually laughed. That was a no-no around Jordie when he was trying to prove a point, but instead of looking angry, he huffed out a long breath.
“He’s bad news,” he insisted. “Dangerous.”
“Oh, that’s really funny,” I told him. My phone dinged, letting me know my car had arrived, and I shoved past him.
“Look at this,” he said, stepping in front of me and waving his phone in my face. I flinched, my eyes batting shut. But he wasn’t trying to hit me, he was trying to show me the picture on his screen.
What I saw made me stop and stare. “It’s him,” Jordie said.