Chapter 13: IN THE MIND OF A STALKER

DANTE

She's home.

I watch her through the building's security feed as she enters the lobby with her hair still damp from the rain and camera bag slung over her shoulder. She looks tired.

Good because tired means less questioning.

She gets on the elevator and hits the 14th button. I switched cameras and watched her walk into her apartment. It was dark for a few minutes before the light came on as she dropped her bag on the couch then walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

She grabs the leftovers I had given her two days ago, half a bottle of wine and then freezes when she sees the white peonies  I left in the vase on her counter.

My phone buzzed.

Marco: It worked. She went straight home with you.

I don't respond. He hadn't texted since yesterday when he helped me chase her down the alley.

Marco: This is getting dangerous.

Now I respond: It's not.

Marco: If she finds out you hired someone to follow her—

Me: She won't.

Marco: And if she does?

Me: She'll forgive me. Eventually.

Three dots appeared then disappeared and he didn't text back.

Marco has been with me for eight years which was longer than anyone ever has. He has seen me do worse things than make myself look like a hero to a woman but he was uncomfortable because I was doing things outside family business.

But he doesn't understand that this is different. Normally, I would take what I wanted but now, I want her to come to me willingly instead.

The waiting is the point. I could have had her months ago if I wanted but I didn't want her to be afraid of me. I want her to be grateful and always choose me.

Even if I'm building the maze that makes sure she does.

The alley setup took three days to plan.

Marco and I sat in my apartment going over the route she'd take from the client meeting. I'd checked her calendar weeks ago and knew exactly when and where she'd be.

"The meeting ends at five-thirty but I'll have it delayed till nine.” I'd said. "She'll walk to the nearest station probably using the map so she'll take this route." I traced it on the map. "Which takes her through an industrial area which would obviously be empty at night."

"And you want someone following her."

"At a safe distance just close enough to scare her but not close enough to actually threaten."

Marco had looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.

"You're going to terrify her so you can rescue her."

"I'm going to make sure she understands that without me, she's not safe."

"That's manipulation."

"That's protection and love."

He'd been quiet for a long moment. Then said,"What happens when she figures it out? Because she will. She's smart. She'll put it together eventually."

"By then it won't matter by then because she'll already be mine."

He'd shaken his head but he'd helped me plan it anyway because that's what he always does. He questioned my methods but always helped me execute them.

He hired a professional ex-military man who knew how to follow her silently without being caught and he did it perfectly.

He'd stopped the second I stepped into view at the end of the alley. Exactly as planned.

And Mia had run straight to me.

Perfect.

I had six surveillance feeds running on my laptop.

Her apartment, the hallway outside both our doors, her studio, the café she meets Yuna at and the train platform she uses every morning.

I added the building cameras three weeks ago because the building’s security was a joke and their system was barely encrypted. I broke in within an hour.

Getting into her studio took longer than I wanted. I had to wait until she left one day, picked the lock then installed three hidden cameras. One above the door, one by her computer and pen hidden in the bookshelf that showed her entire workspace

She hasn't noticed any of them.

The café was easy because it was a public space so it was always busy and no one paid attention to another customer. I went in during lunch rush, sat in the back and left a small camera stuck to the underside of a table near the window which was her favorite spot.

The train platform already had cameras which were the city surveillance. I just needed access to the right network.

I watched her every day. Every morning when she leaves, every evening when she comes home and every moment she thinks she's alone.

I knew her schedule better than she does down to her favorite color of underwear. I was that obsessed with her.

I knew it all and she knew nothing.

The perfect angel in my care.

I pulled up today's footage and watched her at the studio editing photos. She was wearing the black turtleneck I liked with her hair pulled back. Completely focused on her screen.

She was beautiful when working because she allowed herself to drop the mask she always wore outside.

It had been eight months since I first spotted her at the warehouse and she pulled me out of that corridor with her bare hands and saved my life without knowing who I was. And then she ran away but I was never able to let her go.

The next day I found out her name, age, job and where she lived. That's when I decided she was going to be mine.

I spent two months just watching at first by learning her routines. Then I started to plan how to get her here and her ex boyfriend just happened to do that for me. I bought this building, put up her apartment at a cheap price I knew she wouldn't ignore and then convinced her.

It was all perfect.

I watched as she raised her arms above her head and stretched, rolling her shoulders before going back to work. She had been editing for hours and would be sore by tomorrow which would give me the perfect opportunity to offer to cook dinner and she'll say yes and we'll fall further into the routine I've built for us.

As she stretched to the side, it gave me a perfect glimpse of her smooth breast which made my cock twitch in my pants but I didn't fight it.

Slowly, I unzipped, pulling out my aching cock. It was already leaking at the tip, very hard and throbbing. I wrapped my fist around the base and squeezed, eyes never leaving the screen.

She tilted her head, exposing her delicate throat and I imagined sinking my teeth there, marking her as she gasped my name.

“Fuck, Mia..” I groaned, stroking myself from root to tip.

She stood up and bent over slightly to grab a bottle of water. The way she bent over gave the perfect view of her ass. I reached forward and zoomed in, watching the sway of her hips as she returned to her seat.

My hand moved faster, thumb swiping the tip of my cock to gather the precum and use it as a lubricant. The sound of my strokes and heavy breathing filled the dark room.

I imagined her on her knees in front of that chair. Those pretty lips parted and wrapped around my cock, eyes looking up at me while I fucked her throat. I imagined bending her over her own desk, yanking my jeans down and burying myself into her tight little cunt as she moaned and begged for more.

“Such a good girl for me,” I muttered under my breath, stroking harder. “All mine. Only mine.”

On screen, she licked her lips absentmindedly. That small, innocent movement undid me.

“Fuck.”

My balls ached as I felt the climax starting to build at my base. I gripped myself tighter, pumping faster with my eyes locked on her face and that body  I had been obsessed with for so long.

“Mia—” I growled, voice breaking.

The pleasure hit me hard as I came. Hot, thick strings of cum shot out, spilling over my fist, abs and dripping down to my thigh. I kept stroking through it, pulling out every last bit as I whispered her name.

“Mia… fuck, Mia—”

I slumped against the chair, chest heaving with the smell of cum around me while she sat there completely unaware that I had just fucked myself to the thought of her.

I smiled slowly. Soon she would be mine in every possible way.

After cleaning up, I laid in bed staring at the ceiling.

My next plan needed three more weeks until she would feel unsafe in her house and then I would make her move in with me. Then there would be no need to watch her through the cameras because she would be in my space within my reach at all times.

I used to be cold, ruthless and impatient. But with her, I was none of those things. She was changing me and making me reckless. I thought about walking to her door, picking the lock, sliding into her bed and making her want me to touch her the way I had been dreaming but I won't.

I really wanted to but I was still holding on to my last shred of restraint.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand with a text from Salvatore, my underboss, “Shen is moving product through the docks. Should we stop him?”

I pulled up the security feed to her apartment but she was asleep, safely curled on her side facing the window with her hair spread across her pillow like a halo.

I smiled. My angel.

I typed back to Salvatore: “Handle it quietly. I'm busy.”

He didn't question what made me too busy to deal with the shen mafia making moves on our territory. They think I had lost it because of my haunt for Mia but in truth, I haven't lost sight of who I am. I have been playing a waiting game with the Shens for two years now.

They were  wrong to think they were winning when in reality, they were just pawns on my chessboard.

I clenched my fist remembering that Ren Shen had once had Mia. He didn't deserve her at all and let her walk away because of how stupid he was. I couldn't touch him yet because of family politics and his people would see it as an act of war which we weren't ready for yet.

But soon I'd get rid of him.

For now I had to watch him exist in the same city as her. I heard he was starting to make plans to get her back, the fool thinks he stands a chance with her. I was still holding on to my restraint for now.

Three more weeks then I can start removing people who get close to her. Starting with him.

As I watched her sleep, all I could think about was our future together. I was building the perfect life for her where the world would never touch her.

The docks, Shens and the mafia were all background noise now.

She was the only thing that mattered and soon, she’d understand that too.