Chapter 18: MY PROTECTOR

MIA

I managed to still my hands long enough to unlock my phone after failing three times. Then I pulled up Dante’s number, pressed “call” then listened to it ring twice, holding my breath.

"Mia?" He answered. "Are you okay? Did you forget something? If you did, the door is—"

"No." My voice shook as I spoke. "Can you—I need—there's—"

"I'm coming right now. Don't move."

The call ended and then I heard his door open and he stood there still in his clothes from dinner, looking at me with concern that would have been comforting if I could focus on anything besides the flower sitting on my counter.

"What happened?" He stepped inside, hand on my arm trying to steady me.

I tried to speak but couldn't find my voice so I lifted a shaky hand and pointed at it. He followed my line of sight and when he saw the flower, his body went rigid.

"Stay here."

He walked through my apartment carefully as he checked all the rooms, closets and windows for any clues. I watched from the doorway, unable to move as I chewed on my finger nails.

When he came back, his face was hard. “All windows are locked and there's no sign of forced entry except the flower.”

"How—" I took a deep breath but failed, then tried again. “How'd they get in?”

"I don't know. But we're changing your locks right now." He pulled out his phone and started dialing someone’s number. “Just stay with me and look at me, not the flower."

I forced my eyes to focus on just his face, his eyes were already on me staring intently. But it was becoming harder to breathe by the second as I tried desperately to take in deep breaths but it hurt.

"Hey, just breathe," he said. "In through your nose, out through your mouth. Follow me."

We did the breathing exercises for a while until my vision started to clear up and my chest did not feel like it was about to cave in.

“I locked the door, Dante.” I managed to say. “I'm sure of it.”

"I know." His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing my cheek tenderly, the way he had done before. “Its not your fault but we’ll fix it. I promise.”

He brought his phone to his ear and started talking to someone I assumed was a locksmith then gave the person my address, saying it was an emergency.

At this point, what would I do without him?

I sank onto the couch and pulled my knees to my chest, trying not to think about what the crazy person could have done while they were here. I had read stalkers going as far as stealing underwear or using it to masturbate. I shivered, now scared to even go through my closet for fear of what I may find.

When he was done with his call, he sat next to me and pulled me into him. I buried my face in his chest, taking a deep breath of his scent and trying not to cry but failed as it broke free.

"You're okay," he said quietly. "I'm here… you're safe."

But I wasn't safe. I had thought moving here would make me safe but safety was just an illusion.

"What if—" My voice broke. "What if they were here when I got home? What if they were waiting?"

"Thankfully they weren't. And even if that had turned out to be the case, I would have heard something. The walls are thin, remember?”

I let out a breath of relief at that and he planted a kiss on my forehead. Soon, the locksmith arrived. He was a man in his fifties with a huge toolbox. Dante told him what we needed, the best new locks and deadbolts.

I sat on the couch watching him work and each sound of the drill made my apartment start to feel safe again.

"All set," the locksmith said after an hour holding out two keys. "These are the only copies so nobody else has access."

Dante walked him out, paid him then came back holding both sets of keys in his hand.

"Here." He held one out to me. "This is yours. Make sure you keep it on you always."

I took it then looked at the second one.  "What about the other one?"

"I'll keep it for emergencies. So you're never locked out if something happens." He paused. "Unless you'd rather I didn't."

I almost said yes, just to maintain boundaries but the thought of being alone made my chest tight again. What if something happens one day and no one is able to get in and save me? I shivered.

"You keep it," I said.

He nodded and pocketed the spare. "I'm also going to install a security camera. Something you can check from your phone so you always know if someone's been here. Is that okay with you?"

"Okay."

"And I'm staying tonight on the couch. It is non-negotiable because I can't risk something happening and unless you'd rather I stand outside your door like a vigilante, then this is your only option."

Relief flooded through me. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for this." His voice was soft. "I told you I'd keep you safe and I meant it."

I tried to sleep as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling while Dante stayed on my couch. I could hear him moving occasionally and knew he wasn't sleeping either. The apartment felt less like a dream come through and more like a nightmare given true form. Every small sound like cars below, pipe squeaking or even my own heartbeat in my ears makes me jump. Around 3am, I finally gave up as I wrapped my blanket around myself and walked to the living room where Dante was awake, sitting and scrolling through his phone.

When he noticed me, he put it aside.

"Can't sleep?"

"No." I sat in the chair across from him. "Every time I close my eyes I see the flower."

“That's normal, the adrenaline from before just crashed and your brain is still trying to come to terms with what happened.”

I tilted my head. "How do you know that?"

"I read a lot." He patted the couch beside him. "Come here."

I hesitated then moved to sit next to him and when I did, he pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

"Better?"

"A little."

We sat in silence for a while and it was nice because his presence was comforting and made me feel less scared.

"Thank you for staying," I said quietly. "I know this is—I'm probably being ridiculous but—"

"You're not being ridiculous. Someone violated your space which you thought was a safe haven and that's terrifying." His wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "You're allowed to be scared."

I leaned into him, letting myself take comfort in the solid warmth of his body as I listened to the steady beating of his heart.

"I don't understand why," I said. "Why me? What did I do to make someone fixate like this?"

"Nothing. You didn't do anything wrong. Some people just—" He paused. "Some people see something they want and can't let it go."

Something in his tone made me look up but his expression was unreadable in the dark.

"That's terrifying," I said.

"I know."

We stayed like that until the sky started to lighten and exhaustion finally got to me, making me fall asleep on his chest.

I woke up to the smell of coffee and sunlight streaming through the windows. The blanket was tucked around me on the couch and Dante was in my kitchen making breakfast like he'd done it a hundred times before.

"Morning," he said when he noticed me awake. "I made eggs. Hope that's okay."

I stood up, wrapped the blanket tighter around my body then walked into the kitchen still half-asleep. The normalcy coming from him almost made me forget what happened last night.

"Thank you," I said. "For everything, especially staying."

He set down the spatula and turned to face me fully. His expression was serious as he spoke.

"I'll always keep you safe," he said. "No matter what."

Fuck, he was so sexy when he spoke like this. My stomach filled at the way his voice dipped as he spoke.

"I believe you," I said.

He smiled then went back to the eggs.

As I poured myself coffee, I tried to shake off the feeling that something had changed between us. I had crossed some sort of line and I felt something was off but just couldn't figure out—

My phone buzzed on the counter from the unknown number, making me freeze.

Dante noticed instantly. "What is it?"

"Its the unknown number."I whispered.

"Don't open it alone." He came to stand beside me. "I'm right here."

I picked up the phone with shaking hands and opened the message.

“New locks won't keep me out, nothing will. I have keys to every part of your life.”

The room spun, making the phone slip from his fingers but thankfully, Dante caught it before it hit the ground.  As he read the message his expression went cold.

"They're lying," he said. "Trying to scare you. The locks are new so nobody has keys except you and me."

But the message wasn't talking about physical keys but access to my mind that no locksmith could change.