All my instincts finally kicked in.
“Take your hand off me,” I hissed.
Eric smiled, like he was indulging a toddler throwing a tantrum. “You don’t mean that.”
I stepped back, preparing myself for a fight, when I noticed movement behind him.
The bedroom door opened and a tall, broad figure emerged from the dark room. I tried to suck in a breath because I should have been screaming bloody murder, calling for help or at least running for my life. But there was no fucking air in this room, and my feet were still cemented to the floor.
Oh my God, this was so bad. Having two men with questionable motives inside my apartment was infinitely worse than having one.
My thoughts were racing as I tried to make sense of the situation. The chances of this being just your run-of-the-mill criminal with astonishingly bad timing breaking into my apartment were slim to none.
The TV was still rambling on in the background, swallowing up any sounds the figure might have made as it moved across the threshold.
The door clicked shut behind him and it was like a starting gun, kicking off a race.
Eric’s hand dropped from my face and his head snapped toward the sound.
“What the—”
The other man entered the room with measured steps. Once he stepped into the light, I saw he was wearing a mask. Green crosses slashed across his eyes and a wide, eerie smile covered his mouth. There was no way of telling who was underneath it.
He didn’t say anything at first, just continued to advance.
Eric stumbled back immediately. “I-I wasn’t … this isn’t—”
He turned, like he was going to run — fucking coward — but the masked man caught him before he made it two steps. One gloved hand fisted in the back of his sweater vest and yanked him back to drive him straight into the wall hard enough to rattle everything hanging on it.
I flinched, rooted to the spot.
Apparently, I really wasn’t a flight kind of person.
“Oh, don’t let me interrupt,” the intruder said mildly, almost bored. “You were just explaining how she’s safe with you, yes?”
Eric struggled, panic setting in fast now. “I didn’t do anything—”
“Mm.” The masked man hummed. “That’s interesting, because my men have been watching you follow her for weeks.”
My brain stuttered. “What?”
The mask’s sinister smile turned my way briefly, like I’d just spoken out of turn in a meeting.
“Yes. I know.Shocking.” His attention turned back to Eric. “They’ve been very patient,” he continued conversationally, tightening his grip just enough to make the smaller man choke on his next breath. “Letting you build your little routine. Your little …obsession.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” he cut in calmly. “It’s actually impressive how well you blend in. Disturbing, but impressive.”
Then he shifted his grip and punched Eric straight in the face. I gasped as blood shot out of Eric’s nose, but the masked man showed no mercy. He reared his fist back again and again as though it barely exerted him at all.
I stood there, frozen, trying to process literally any of this.
“I was going to let them handle you,” he went on, like we were discussing something mildly inconvenient. “But then I thought…”
Another hit.
“No.” A pause. “This ispersonal.”