CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

An insistent vibration and pinging woke Lamisi from sleep. The morning sun streamed through a crack in the curtains when she opened her eyes. The heft of Blaise’s arm blanketing her kept her in place. It had been the best night of her life. No regrets lingered.

The buzzing of her phone demanded that she leave their cocoon. When she shifted, he groaned and pulled her closer. The annoying vibration on the dresser wouldn’t allow her to snuggle in. By the frequency of the dinging, someone urgently needed her.

Her heart picked up its pace as a number of nasty scenarios rampaged into her mind of the people she cared about being injured.

The phone shook with more incoming messages even as she picked it up. Lamisi slid her finger across the numbers which would unlock her screen.

Thirty-four messages. And more coming in. Did she want to open them? The prickly sensation and goose bumps on her arms said no.

“What’s going on?”

She let out a screech. Whirling, she placed a hand against her chest as she gulped in air.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Blaise’s raspy voice reminded her of the first time they’d spoken, and her stomach flipped.

“It’s okay.”

He pointed at the still vibrating phone. “Is there a problem?”

A glance down at the device indicated that she now had a total of forty-five messages. “It’s blowing up with messages. I think it’s Deola.”

The muscle in his jaw clenched. “I should’ve called her last night to tell her to cut it out.”

Her core pulsed at the memory of what they’d shared. Nothing had ever made her feel so alive and connected with another person. For the rest of her life, she’d cherish having been with him.

Lamisi focused on her phone and tapped on her message button. She gasped as she noticed that the messages were from different numbers. TrueCaller had identified none of them. What had the insane woman done?

Swallowing her fear, she looked through the titles of the messages without having to open a single one. Each message held one word as she scanned down. The total message repeated until the phone came to its fill.

‘Leave. Him. Alone. Otherwise. Next. Time.’

Hands shaking, she drew on her courage. Daring to open one text revealed the same singular word which had been in the title. When she opened the next six, they all held one word.

The next set of phone numbers were different. So were the next. And the next. Just like the guy who had sprayed her, Deola had gotten people to do her dirty work for her.

Eyes glued to the screen, she shook her head in disbelief. “She’s certifiable!”

“I’m calling her right now.” Blaise’s tone held a level of rage that sent a chill down her spine. “This will stop.”

A snort ripped out of her. “What good will that do? The woman wants you, and nothing will stop her.”

Certain defeat hit her where only moments ago she’d held hope. She’d known it last night. Wasn’t that why she’d made love to him? To experience being with him for one night. Their first and last time together.

‘Next time…’

Would Deola attack her family? Friends?

Lamisi couldn’t risk it, no matter how much she cared about Blaise. She had too much to live for to let another woman destroy her or anyone she loved.

“Once I talk to Deola—” Blaise broke into her thoughts, “—she’ll understand that she and I aren’t and never will be a couple. Ever.”

Lamisi swallowed the lump in her throat. They had met less than a month ago. Why should letting him go hurt so much?

“She’ll keep coming after me until I’m out of the picture so she can have you for herself.”

Blaise tapped his chest. “She can’t have me. Once I let her know definitively, she’ll back off.”

“Right. Just like she did the times you told her before.”

“This will be differ—”

She flung up a hand. “Yes, it will. I won’t be in her way. Blaise, I can’t do this. It would be stupid for me to think I can ever escape her. She has too much money and influence, and knows how to use it to get what she wants.”

“No, Lamisi. You are not breaking up with me. Not over this. We’re good together, and you know it. I’m not just talking about in bed.”

Boy, did she know. Unable to look into his earnest eyes, she spun and paced to the window. Commuters on their way to wherever they needed to be greeted her blurred vision.

Hands on her shoulders seeped a warmth into her that she couldn’t resist. Lamisi rested her back against him. Making her choose between herself and Blaise was cruel.

He wound his arms around her and rested his chin against her shoulder. Their cheeks pressed, and she closed her eyes, breathing him in. This was where she belonged. In a perfect world, she would be able to stay.

She jumped as the shrill sound of her phone broke into her longing. Would her cell going off be a perpetual cause for fear? It would if she stayed with Blaise. Always looking over her shoulder wasn’t the way she wanted to live. Not the way anyone should have to live.

“My alarm.” She tore herself away from him to turn it off. “We need to get ready to leave so we don’t miss our flight.”

“Lamisi, we can work this out. Trust me. Deola will back off.”

She tilted her head and took in his stunning features. Dark eyes stared back with a softness that spoke of the pleading that hadn’t come from his mouth.

“When I was ten, I almost died. Typhoid fever created a hole in my gut. I had an emergency operation.” She rubbed her arms to ward off the chill that came over her. “After the surgery, my wound got infected. I spent weeks in the hospital being poked, prodded, and in so much pain that I’m sure nothing could come close to it.”

He blinked at her as if wondering the purpose of the story.

“I hate hospitals. I don’t use that word for anything else but hospitals. Passing by them freaks me out. It takes an impossible amount of coaxing for me to go into one.”

“You went in with me when I sprained my ankle.”

“Yes.”

“You liked me even back then.”

Yes. But that wasn’t the point.

“Whatever Deola has in store for me will not end well. You’re a good man, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, but I have to think of myself first. Life is too valuable.”

The sentiment she’d spewed came nowhere near what she truly felt, but if he knew that he possessed her heart, he’d become vigilant in his attempt to persuade her to stay with him. She was barely hanging on to her decision as it stood. No matter what convincing argument he came up with, she knew that walking out of this hotel in any kind of relationship with him would put her in danger. Her life mattered too much.

“I care about you, Lamisi. Give us a chance. We’ll get through this and come out stronger for it.”

Such a romantic. She’d miss that about him.

Rather than reject his offer, she took the couple of steps separating them, cupped his face, and raised herself to kiss his lips. Just like when they’d made love, she took in all of him, understanding, even if he didn’t, that it would be their last time together.