“He’s gone.”

I lift my head and look at Connor. As if reading my worry, he’s quick to reassure me. “I told him you left.”

I want to thank him, but the words feel stuck in my throat, like I’m going to choke on them unless I focus. “I’d planned to break up with him. I really did. He’s just so… impossible to talk to.” How do I explain the special brand of crazy Zac is? He’s not… abusive per se, he doesn’t hit me or anything like that, but he’s… well, he makes me uncomfortable.

But Connor doesn’t seem to be listening.

Next door, though the wall, I hear my phone ring. Well, I’m glad Zac left. If he heard that, he’d know for sure that I wasn’t gone like Connor said. And nothing says I’m guilty of whatever Zac is obsessing over now like the hot guy next door lying for me.

That wouldn’t fucking look good at all.

I look over at Connor, who’s staring me down like he knows some deep dark secret about me. Something I don’t want him to know. I open my mouth to ask him what, but there’s a knock at the front door.

My phone rings again next door and I swallow, feeling like there’s a rock in my throat. Connor’s on his feet in a moment, his whole body blocking the door as he opens it a crack. On the other side, I hear Zac talking and my heart leaps up in my throat. He’s here. Right there. If Connor moves a bit to the side, he’ll see me.

But something tells me Connor won’t let anything bad happen to me.

Unless he’s the one doing the bad things.

At that unbelievably hot realization, I feel heat skittering through my belly. Damn. Somehow, everything about Connor just wrecks me.

“Are you sure she left?” Zac asks Connor, who shrugs.

“I think so.” Connor’s nonchalant, but I know Zac is getting on his nerves. I see it in the set of his shoulders, the tension in his smooth voice, the way he’s leaning into the door more and more with every passing second as if working his intimidation game on Zac.

Zac is an idiot. He’d see a guy Connor’s size and still go on about how he could take him, since all gym rats can’t actually fight. Zac trained in Tai Chi for six months, so he’s totally a master of martial arts.

I stifle the urge to roll my eyes.

Connor closes the door and I hear Zac go next door and start knocking again. I hear him and my heart sinks. I was right.

“I know you’re in there, Jane. I tracked your cell phone to this location.” Zac sounds tired, like he’s sick of this game of cat and mouse he drags me through; however unwilling I might be. Like I said, he’s not abusive, he just makes me uncomfortable.

I’ve never cheated on him – save the kisses I shared with Connor – but he’s always been certain I would. He’s got my dad worked up and sure I’ll marry him. And for some stupid reason, dad seems to like him. I don’t know how Zac got to him, but dad is even pressuring me to go ahead and follow my dream of marrying Zac.

Which is not my dream. It’s the whole reason I’m running. I needed a break, a chance to breathe. I need to figure out how to dump Zac without my dad going ballistic. I need to figure out how to talk myself out of this corner I’ve been backed into.

As Connor turns to face me, I see the hardness in his eyes, the anger, and I know I’m caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Connor is absolutely the more dangerous of the two.

What is wrong with the men in my life? They can never let me go. Dad won’t let me grow up. He refuses to let me live my life and is insistent I marry Zac even though I’ve yet to actually choose that option. Zac is against the thought of breaking up with me. And I have a feeling it all boils down to money.

Zac wants it.

Dad likely thinks he can manipulate the situation somehow.

I would gladly give up all the money if it meant no one would fuck with me again.

As I study Connor, I see his anger growing and growing and growing. I don’t know what to do. Zac isn’t the kind to give up. He’ll fucking follow me to the ends of the Earth, obviously. He’d follow me to hell if he thought he could keep me prisoner. He’d follow me to an early grave if he thought he could control me. He’d haunt my ass if it meant that he’d be able to keep tabs on me.

I do wonder if it’s all because of my family name. Is it because I have money? Is it because he knows what he can get out of me if he keeps himself adhered to my side?

He has to know stalking me isn’t the way to make me fall in love with him. Or does he think he’s being romantic?

I have no idea what he thinks, but all the endless possibilities make my head spin and my stomach sick. With Connor studying me like he’s reading my thoughts, I hope I don’t look too cornered right now. I am, and there’s nothing I can do about it. But I don’t want to look like it.

Connor looks toward the wall we shared and I see him seething. He’s on the edge of losing his temper. I have no idea what he’s going to do to Zac when he finally snaps.

I guess I just have to hope he doesn’t kill him. Because murder is a permanent solution to a very temporary problem. I’m sure when I’m an old lady looking back on my life, Zac will be but a blip on the radar of things I’ve done.

And that’s enough to make me smile.