her face and then finger-combed her hair back before winding it into a loosely coiled bun. “There was a lot of that psychology bullshit inside.”
“Was it helpful?”
She chortled. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
She shrugged. “I guess for some people it is.”
“But it wasn’t for you?”
“Not the way they wanted it to be,” she replied cryptically.
Before I could ask her what she meant by that, her name was called. She picked up her scuffed leather purse, one of the few things I had managed to save from her apartment. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck, sis.”
She smiled at that and left me behind in the waiting room. I couldn’t help but marvel at the turn our relationship had taken. Maybe all she needed was a good night’s rest in a safe place. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t going to question it. As long as we were moving forward and growing closer, that’s all that mattered.
Tucking the brochures into my purse, I pulled out my phone and opened the texts from Ivan. He had sent me a mirror selfie, naked from the waist up, flexing his incredible muscles to apologize for our minor tiff over the vehicle financing. I sent back an invite for a work quickie later followed by a string of naughty emojis. He answered back quickly—he was on his lunch break—with his own emojis to confirm.
Hiding my smile and the flash of arousal that our messages caused, I swiped out of the message and noticed some texts farther down the list from a number I didn’t recognize. Apprehensive after the unsettling voicemail I had received at the gala, I reluctantly opened the messages and was greeted with a chilling set of photos. Someone had been close enough to snap photos of Ruby and me at the dealership.
But it was the photo of me, sitting right where I was in that moment, that made my stomach churn with fear. I swallowed nervously and looked around the busy waiting room, half expecting to see masked men looking right back at me. My gaze lingered on the men waiting for their appointments. The ones who weren’t white I disregarded immediately. There were seven who fit the description of the men from the parking lot attack, but I couldn’t exactly march up to each of them and demand they show me their phone.
My gaze drifted to the hallway and the elevators. The man who took these photos could have already left. I hadn’t been paying attention earlier, so it would have been easy to snap a quick photo and disappear. Or, maybe it wasn’t a man. Maybe it was a woman.
Trying not to lose it, I pushed down the natural feelings of panic and tried to think logically. No one was going to try to hurt Ruby or me in the middle of a building teeming with cops and security guards. They might try to snatch us outside, but I was ready for that and would be paying attention. No, this was someone trying to get under my skin.
“You okay?” Ruby asked when she returned to my side.
“Look.” I held out my phone, and she snatched it from my hand, scrolling through the photos and then glancing anxiously around the room.
“We need to get out of here.” She thrust my phone back at me. “Text Ivan. Tell him we’re coming to the gym. Forward those photos to him.”
Relieved by her no-nonsense response, I followed her instructions and then matched her steps to the elevator. We got stepped into the car alone and rode down in tense silence. When we stepped out of the building, she asked, “Did Ivan text back yet?”
I checked my phone. “No, but the afternoon training block has already started. His phone is on his desk or got tossed to the side of the mats. He may not—”
I stopped mid-sentence when Ruby suddenly grasped my hand. I followed her gaze to the far end of the sidewalk, where a tall blond man leaned against the building. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his aviator sunglasses, but there was something unnervingly familiar about him.
“Come on,” Ruby urged and tugged my hand. “Get your keys.”
While she hustled us across the street to the parking lot, I plucked my key fob from my purse and unlocked the doors when we were close. We hurriedly got into the SUV, and I locked the doors immediately, sealing us both inside where we would hopefully be safe. I started the engine, and without even waiting to fasten my seat belt, I pulled