Heart of Stone - Book 1: Fighting Fate

He frowned, a look that tugged on her heartstrings.

How ridiculous! Her temper must be playing tricks on her, especially with that near-fainting scare she had—which he caused, no less!

“That would be an unwise decision.”

She snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

His eyes followed the movement of her arms for a brief second before meeting her glare with a stern expression. “Look,” he said, drawing himself up and leaning closer to her so he could speak in a lowered voice. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with. So, you might as well go back to where you came from while you still can.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you threatening me?”

“No. I already told you,” he grunted with a hint of exasperation. “I’m delivering a warning. If you know what’s good for you, you will leave the city immediately.”

“Or else what?” she countered, unfazed, and getting annoyed. “Are you in the mob or something? Are you going to send one of your goons out to chase me out of town? I’m from Chicago, where the mob runs the city. Don’t think I don’t know how to take care of myself!”

His face remained serious and unflinching. “You will lower your voice and stay calm.”

That was it. Time to get away from this freak of nature. Scoffing, she pushed against the bench to get to her feet, but he jerked her back down.

About to protest, he interjected before she could say anything. “I think you need more time for the oxygen to reach your brain.”

Her mouth fell open before snapping it shut. Stiffening, she clenched her fists at her side and fought back the urge to smack him in his dreadfully gorgeous face. “Excuse me?”

He shrugged and leaned back again. “Fine. Go ahead and stand up. Don’t expect me to catch you if you get light-headed and dizzy though.”

She gnashed her teeth together and glared at him. “Fine. Two more minutes and then I’m leaving.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his throat despite his face remaining unchanged. “Back to Chicago?”

“Of course not,” she said, folding her arms across her chest again and leaning back on the bench.

Leaning forward, he rubbed his hands together and cast her a sideways glance. “You should.”

“Have you ever been to Chicago? It’s way more dangerous than it is here,” she said.

His lower jaw rotated left than right before he leaned back again, and replaced the poker face he previously wore. “Every city has its dark corners.”

The meaning of his words hung in the air as if they carried more secrets than she should know.

She ran her tongue over her teeth as she regarded him.

When he said nothing more, she sighed. “Look, what’s your deal?”

Despite the hardness of his stare, she thought she glimpsed sadness in those cold blue eyes. “You have to go back.”

“Wow, okay.” She slapped her thighs before shrugging. “I’m going to leave now. It was nice talking to you.”

If he picked up on her condescending tone, he didn’t act like it. “Good.”

She stood up, grabbed her fabric softener on the ground next to him, turned around, and marched away. Her free hand balled up in a fist at her side as she gritted her teeth.

She had gone about ten paces before he called after her. “Hey.” He waited for her to turn back and face him with a glare. “Don’t go out at night.”

She shot him an as if face. “I’ll get right on that.”

Turning around again, she continued storming away, furious with the way he talked to her like she was a child. A child! Who did he think he was telling her to go back to Chicago? Don’t go out at night? What, was the boogieman roaming the city streets at night or something? Who says that?

She could feel her blood beginning to boil over as her thoughts raced with his strange words and behavior. The guy was a sociopath!

She barely registered the time that passed before she got back to the apartment. She looked around the space, full of his stuff. There wasn’t anything here to hint of her presence. She could leave and no one would have known that she had even been there.

Dan would be upset though. She finally got a job that enabled her to move in with him, he would be devastated if she left now. They’d come so far, why go back to square one?

But there was a weirdo walking around the neighborhood! She could run into him again and who knew what he would do next time. Today had only been a warning, he made that very clear, but what about next time? What would he do if she ran into him again? She didn’t want to chance it, but there was only so much she could do to avoid a stalker.

Grumbling to herself, she dumped her purse in the closet and the fabric softener in the on-site laundry room that doubled as a storage room. It was a tight squeeze, but it served its purpose.

She prattled on about the strange man to herself, even if he was a sexy beast to boot. Why did she feel so weird around him? It was as if she were drawn to him, yet terrified by him at the same time. It made no sense! It was either one or the other, not both.

She could feel her body temperature rising as she paced around the apartment, thinking about how his eyes stared right through her. The depths they held startled her. Like he’d lived through so much, seen so much, experienced so much. Behind the stone-cold façade, there was a hint of suffering and sadness there.

She shook her head to try and rid herself of the grip he had on her. He made her so mad, yet flustered at the same time.

When Dan came through the front door, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Relief washed over her and she ran across the living room to the front door and threw herself at him.

Heart-pounding, stomach flip-flopping, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely.

Dan wasn’t about to argue. He locked the door behind him and returned the kiss, deepening it as he gripped her waist and pulled her tightly against him. Slipping his tongue into her mouth earned him a moan.

She could feel him growing hotter and she reached for his tie and loosened it, unbuttoning his shirt and slipping her hands against his lean torso.

As they began to make their way to the bedroom, their desire mounting as their clothes slipped away from their bodies, Aubree couldn’t help but feel as though something wasn’t quite right.

She wanted him, needed him, and yet, as their bodies joined together, there was something missing.

And as they reached their climax, the stranger’s face appeared in her mind and it was all she could do to hold back her scream.