pulled her strings like a marionette to make it happen. And then he’d thrown her away to move on to a new puppet.
Me.
I was certain that was why she’d texted so often to ask what I’d do, say, or wear—to get his attention back. He’d manipulated her into relying solely on his validation, and when she’d no longer gotten it, she’d fallen apart.
I was luckier, even though I wasn’t sure how much damage he’d caused me. How far he’d set my recovery back. And, honestly, I didn’t care. If I wasn’t fucked up, maybe I wouldn’t have started dating my stalker.
And that was an alternate timeline I never wanted to experience.
Weeks ago, I’d made Alexander promise he was done killing people.
Earlier, I’d asked him to break that promise by killing for me.
And for the others. For Jenna.
Mister halted suddenly, his hackles rising as a low growl rumbled from his body. A moment later, I heard a car come up the driveway. I walked around the house to see Alexander getting out. And then I kept walking until I was up in his arms with my limbs wrapped around him.
“It’s done, flower.”
I exhaled a shaky breath. “Everything went okay?”
“Quick and easy.”
“The…” Bile rose in my throat. “The body?”
“I called in a marker.”
I had no clue what that meant, and I didn’t want to know.
“Nothing can be tied to either of us,” he promised. “Made some anonymous complaints to the center before I unencrypted his hard drive and scrubbed any reference to you. A ninety-year-old nana could access his files. The cops will see, assume he’s in the wind.”
I would have to find a way to tell Aria before it all came out. I knew my sister. She’d feel guilty for pushing me into therapy with a predator. I needed to make sure she focused on the fact I was safe and not the fiction of what could’ve been.
That was a conversation for future-me. Right then, I wanted to savor the win.
My body practically melted into a puddle of goo. Warm and relaxed. “You’re my favorite.”
“I know.” He lowered me down his body. “But I’m still willing to bribe you.”
At the feel of his hardness, I was no longer warm and relaxed. I was hot and needy.
And happily alive.
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Briar
For boxes
“I HAVE A surprise for you.”
Uh-oh.
Or maybe yay.
With Alexander, I was never sure.
Glancing up from the couch, I asked, “Is it alive? Because if so, we might need a bigger house.”
We were the proud pet parents of seven chickens, one pit bull, and, as of the week before, two ornery cats.
Alexander had claimed he was running out for milkshakes. Instead, he’d come home with the milkshakes… and Statler and Waldorf from the shelter.
The chicks.
Mister.
Statler.
Waldorf.
And me.
My handsome stalker had a thing for rescuing the damaged and the unwanted.
“Not alive.” He kept one hand behind his back as he sat on the coffee table in front of me.
“Is it edible?”
“Anything is edible if you’re determined enough.”
I scrunched my nose and rolled my eyes. “What is it?”
He brought his arm forward and opened his hand to reveal a little rectangular box.
Not a jewelry box.
Handing it to me, he prompted, “Open it.”
I did as he ordered. And then I burst out laughing.
Business cards.
He actually got me business cards.
Not just any business cards. Sleek and matte black, there was an embossed flower emblem.
What they said made them even better.
How to contact me:
Don’t
“I know you got these as a joke, but jokes on you, I love them.” In fact, they were the best gift I’d ever received—and it wasn’t a close competition.
“Turn it over.”
I picked the top card off the stack and flipped it over. It took a moment for what I was reading to sink in.
Briar Flower Thornton
Not Dillon.
Thornton.
When I tore my gaze away from the card, Alexander was holding another box. That time, it was a jewelry one.
“Marry me.”
I didn’t think. I didn’t pause. I didn’t wait for my brain to twist thorny vines around my heart in an effort to tear it apart.
My answer was immediate and without a single shred of doubt or anxiety. “Yes.”
He slid a boulder of a ring onto my finger.
Then he stripped me down and slid his finger into me.
And then, when I was writhing and begging and out of my mind for him, he slid his cock into me.
No, I changed my mind.
This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.
Alexander
One year later
“I NEED A trace.”
I’d figured as much.
Aside from us both being happily tied to a Dillon sister,