CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

 

 

What was he thinking?

Jake couldn’t settle. He’d seen no sign of that prick when he’d left The Crow, and he’d started to think he’d imagined him. Surely he wasn’t brazen enough to turn up at Jake’s gig.

But Jake knew he was back. Charlie had sworn it was him when she’d seen the newspaper clipping so how could he not be on high alert? The asshole was fucking with him. He should go to the police, but honestly, with the stand-up job they’d done so far of finding him, Jake wanted to get to him first.

Now he paced his flat like he’d swallowed some speed—heart racing, agitated to fuck—not only because his nerves were shot, but because he was doing his best to stay put.

Since leaving Charlie’s he couldn’t get her out of his fucking head. As soon as he’d got back to his place he’d showered and had to cut it short because he was thinking about her. He was on his second glass of rum and she was still right there at the forefront of his mind. He’d expected to feel satisfied after what they’d done, maybe he wouldn’t crave her as much. It was bollocks.

Like an arse, he’d left her flat pretty swiftly, but it was only because he wanted more, and he knew she’d have let him have it.

He rubbed his forehead then downed what was left of his drink, slumping on the arm of the chair.

Fuck!

It had only gotten worse. Now that he’d had a bite, he wanted the whole damn pie.

He could kick his own arse for doing what he’d done—for allowing himself to get so involved with her.

What did he expect was going to happen when he finally gave in? The moment he decided to do the open mic night he knew he’d be setting himself up for this shit. He was never any good at self-control. In the short time he’d known her, Charlie had gotten under his skin in a big way, and he couldn’t understand it. Tonight, when he’d seen her sitting there across the room in the pub he’d been fixated on her. There’d been no audience. Everything had fallen away until there had been only the two of them in that room.

Shit. He felt like he was falling.

Life was doing a number on him again; the threat he’d waited all this time for had become very real tonight, confirming his reasons for not wanting to start something with Charlie. It was also why he’d thankfully come to his senses earlier before he’d done something he couldn’t take back.

There was a reason he’d been looking for another place to live, but deep down Jake had still wanted to believe he could stay; just for a little bit he’d wanted to feel normal.

Impossible; if he stayed there he was risking too much, including Charlie and there was no way he could let that happen.

Jake’s stomach sank as images entered his mind that he didn’t want to deal with right now.

He was going to go mad.

On top of all the anxiety he had, he knew Charlie must think he was a complete arsehole after the way he’d argued with her and then lost control like he had. Maybe he should go and apologise.

Was he stupid? He’d done enough.

No. He had to let it go.

That’s why twenty minutes later he was standing in the kitchen staring at nothing, still holding onto everything. She was like a fucking drug and he was doing everything he could to fight his addiction to her. He was losing; his will power dissolving into the alcohol he was drinking.

Next thing he knew, his feet were moving towards the flat door and he was heading down the hall before he could stop himself, ignoring the voice in his head that was telling him to turn back around and go straight back home again. He had no clue why he so desperately had to see her again this minute. Yes he did. Aside from the fact that he wanted to finish what they’d started earlier, he also wasn’t going to settle until he’d spoken to her, to make sure she was okay after what happened and that she hadn’t regretted what they’d done. Why her opinion of him had become so important, he didn’t know.

Of course, he was lying about that too. He was falling for her. It was evident in the way she made him smile, made him feel comfortable. For the first time in a long time he wanted to get close to someone and he very probably would have allowed it if his past hadn’t caught up with him tonight.

Jake thought he was seeing things when he approached her door; it was wide open. He paused, glancing back down the hall. Empty. It was too late for anyone to be about. Frowning, he approached slowly. Maybe he hadn’t closed it properly when he’d left earlier.

Keeping his voice low in case she didn’t know and was sleeping, he said, “Charlie?”

Then he heard her call out, ice filling his veins.

“Help.” Her voice sounded frail followed by a whimper.

Jake flung the door open and just about got a glimpse of a lamp on the floor along with some other things strewn about before he was tackled by someone. It caught him off guard and the bastard slipped free of him, sprinting down the hall with a hood over his head. Jake took off after him. “Hey!”

The guy was well ahead of him as he practically flew down the stairs. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he had a feeling the prick was going to get away so he called 999. When he got out front the man was quite far down the street. Charlie came into his head and he stopped. He needed to know if she was okay. If she was in trouble she could need him right now.

The call connected and Jake explained everything to the woman on the other end of the line as he ran back up the stairs. When he got to Charlie’s flat, he paused for a second, not knowing which way to go. A gentle moan alerted him to the living room. Jake flew towards her voice and saw Charlie slumped on the floor by the coffee table, holding her forearm. He went to her, crouching down to give her a hand as she went to sit up. “Fuck, Charlie. Are you okay?” Then Jake saw the blood and his heart almost died in his chest. “You’re bleeding?”

“I’m fine,” she said and when she moved her hand and held her arm up to him he was relieved to see the wound wasn’t as substantial as his mind had imagined. The slice was about two inches, but didn’t look too deep. “He had a knife.”

“You hurt anywhere else?”

Her hand went to her cheek and she stretched her mouth. “Here. He punched me.”

Jake put his finger tips under her chin and lifted her head. “Let me see.”

There was red all around her cheek bone and he could see a little bit of grey in the middle, the bruising already started. The rage in his chest was overwhelming. “Probably going to have a nice bruise there tomorrow. You should get it looked at when you go to the hospital.”

She groaned. “I’m not going to the hospital.”

“You have a slice on your arm that needs stitches. You really don’t want that getting infected. I’ll go with you if you want. After you’ve spoken to the police.”

When she looked up at him he noticed her eyes were red, and she blinked quickly, still looking a little dazed. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

As she went through the events of her attack, Jake got a damp cloth from the kitchen and when he returned, he started to clean the blood from her other hand, and from close to the wound. Then he reached up and wiped the transfer from her face, the side of her nose and by her ear.

“It was the same guy, Jake. The one who had been in your apartment.”

The blood turned to ice in his veins. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you sure it was him?”

“Definitely.”

Jake’s fury grew to explosive levels. He dropped his hand from her face and stood up, hands forming tight fists at his sides as his breathing became erratic, rage ringing in his ears. The sound of the buzzer was distant now as he tried to process what she’d told him.

Then his mind went back to that bastard standing at the back of the pub. He’d just pushed right past Jake. He’d been so close. “I saw him tonight.”

“What?”

Jake explained how he’d chased him out of there. “That’s why I left so suddenly. But I lost him. He was nowhere in sight by the time I got out of the pub. I spoke to the bouncers but the place was so busy, people coming in and out all the time. It was no surprise they couldn’t help. I took off on the bike and rode around for ages, driving myself mad looking for him. It was pointless though. He could have been absolutely anywhere.”

Looked like Jake had only needed to look around the place where they lived.

But why had he targeted Charlie?

A shiver ran through him. The bastard had to have been watching him.

Admonishing himself wasn’t going to help right then, but Jake couldn’t help thinking that if he hadn’t given up looking he might have been able to stop the fucking asshole hurting Charlie.

Another buzzing sound.

“Jake? That’ll be the police.” Charlie’s pained voice brought him out of his head, his anger lessening when he looked at her slumped back on the sofa, eyes closed, with a face full of distress. This wasn’t the time. He needed to let the police do their job so he could make sure she was ok. Then, depending on the outcome, he would decide what he had to do next.