Stoking the Fire (Salus Security #1) - Teodora Kostova Page 0,41
overwhelming to form a coherent thought.
“So? There are plenty of pictures of me all over the internet. Who cares?”
Alec clenches his jaw, his eyes burning as he speaks. “From tonight.” He pauses, letting the words sink in. “Someone took a photo of you in the club, dancing with me, and posted it. People started commenting, and a few more pictures appeared, one of us and one with you and Jamie.”
“And?” I ask, my voice breaking on the short word. “What else?” There has to be more. I can feel it.
Taking photos of me when I’m unaware is nothing new. It’s always bothered me, but I’m used to it. There has to be more to this.
Alec’s gaze shifts to something beyond my shoulder. I look behind and see the black SUV turning into the street. He hustles me inside as soon as it stops before us, only speaking when we’re safely buckled in and moving away.
“The person that posted the photo tweeted your location as well. And a lot of the comments were not favorable.”
“Favorable? What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means people are out to get you, Zach!” Alec erupts, his voice rising with each word. “It means there are extremists out there who, for some reason, have a grudge against your family. It means I can’t protect you in a crowded night club!”
“You think someone would storm a night club to attack me? That’s ridiculous!” I shout back. “Most of these people are trolls with nothing better to do. They talk big online but can’t be bothered to get up from the couch and do anything.”
“And some of them are ex-military who have joined their local militia,” Alec retorts without missing a beat. “It only takes one guy who’s smarter than average to cozy up to you and drive a knife in your gut, Zach.”
“Whoa, that got dark really fast.”
Alec grabs my arm as I try to slink away from him and sulk on the other side of the car.
“Nothing will happen to you on my watch. Do you understand me?” His gaze on mine is dark and so intense that I’m helpless to escape it. His voice softens when he adds, “You’re safe with me.”
A lump forms in my throat. I didn’t even realize I was scared. Alec’s words break something inside me, and—embarrassingly—my eyes fill with tears.
I swallow thickly, willing them away. Not trusting my voice to speak, I nod.
He lets go of me, and I sink back into the seat, the street lights shimmering through the tinted window as the car moves smoothly through the city I love.
The soft knock on my bedroom door rises me from my short and fretful sleep.
“Yeah,” I croak as I sit up, rubbing my eyes.
“Hey,” Evie says, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. “I brought you some breakfast.”
“Coffee?” I ask hopefully.
She gives me a sunny smile. “Duh.”
She places the tray she balances with one hand on the coffee table, sets her crutch against the armrest, and sits next to me.
“You look like you had a good night.” She raises an eyebrow when I scoff.
“I wish.”
Unable to resist the smell of coffee, I reach for the mug, cradling it between both hands. After a few sips, I share the freshly baked croissants with my sister and tell her about what happened last night. When I get to the part where Alec dragged me out of the club and the reasoning behind it, her frown deepens.
“So, don’t be mad,” she says, her big eyes doing that thing they do when she’s done something bad and is desperate to get away with it. “But I opened a dummy Twitter account a few months ago.”
“Why would you do that?” I ask, trying to remain calm.
After her accident, Evie deactivated all her social media accounts, just like I did. It was all too much on her mental health at the time, and even as time passed and she started healing from both her physical and emotional wounds, she decided not to reactivate them. Seeing your family name trending, or pictures of yourself you didn’t want shared, or posts and whole threads on why you and your family are horrible people wasn’t something that would benefit her in any way.
“Because I was curious.” She bites her lip and looks away. “I felt like the world kept moving without me in it. Like I was left behind. I wanted to know what’s going on.”