If it weren’t for Cole’s arms around me, I’m fairly certain I’d be on the floor right now. Anger surges through me, giving me the strength to stand. I fucking hate Steven for what he did to me. And I’m fucking pissed at myself for getting here. I don’t want to be scared anymore. I don’t want to be weak.

“Your ex that was arrested for fucking with you?” Cole asks. I can tell he’s trying hard not to be pissed. Trying to stay calm. For my sake.

“Yes.”

“What the fuck?” He lets go of me and starts to walk away. “I’m going to find him and—”

“Cole,” I interrupt. “He’s gone by now. Don’t…don’t go.”

“Then we should call the cops.”

“And say what? That an aspiring writer who happens to be my ex was hoping the head editor of the country’s largest press would talk to him? We know how fucked up this is, but to anyone else, it’s just a weird coincidence. You said it yourself…authors go to agents and editors all the time.”

“Ana, I know how it sounds, and I’ve read enough crime books to get that a lot of people think the police won’t help. But you have a history. One that ended with an arrest. All you need is a smart cop who can see past the front he’s putting up. The guy is obviously stalking you.”

“He’s never going to stop.” The words leave my mouth and the realization makes a chill go over me. Cole comes back over and takes me in his arms again. I rest my head against his chest. “I’m sorry, Cole. You shouldn’t have to deal with this. It’s my baggage.”

“Don’t apologize. We all have baggage, trust me. I care about you, and I want to help. I really think you should call the police. At least find out if the guy is on probation. If he’s breaking it, it might be easier than you think to get him arrested again.”

I nod and close my eyes. It’s not that easy. It was hard enough the first time to prove Steven was guilty. Cole doesn’t get it. He’s white, male, and wealthy. Things like this aren’t an issue for him. I’m a female from a small town and don’t have the luxury of hiring expensive lawyers.

“I’ll call my mo—no, I don’t want to worry her. She’ll freak out if she knew Steven was here.” I move away from Cole and let out a deep sigh. Anger floods my veins and I want to Hulk-smash everything in this fucking room. “I try so hard not to let him get to me because that’s what he wants. But he makes me so fucking pissed.” I ball my fists and close my eyes, imagining myself pummeling Steven. He’s bigger than me and probably learned how to fight dirty in prison. My chances of surviving a physical fight with him are slim to none, as he proved before.

I’d kill for just an ounce of Wonder Woman’s powers right now.

“I just want to move on with my life. I don’t want to waste another second being angry or afraid. I want to put all this in the past…but I can’t. He’s ruining my life, and he’s going to ruin yours too.” The words break me and I drop my head, desperately trying to blink back tears.

“Ana,” Cole says gently. He comes up behind me and slips his arms around my waist. Having him here, holding me, supporting me, is the only thing that’s keeping me from coming undone.

Or from going crazy.

Because finding Steven and taking care of matters myself is getting more and more tempting.

“I’m no expert, but I do know there are laws in place to keep people from stalking. And my life is far from ruined. I’ll take any type of mess if it means I get to be with you.”

Cole’s words bring tears to my eyes. Inhale. Hold it. Exhale. I turn around, and a tear rolls down my cheek. Cole catches it and wipes it away.

“You say that now. But just wait until he sinks in his claws. The guy is evil, Cole. Evil.”

Cole’s brown eyes fill with concern. “What did he do to you? No, don’t answer that. Sorry. You don’t have to talk about it.”

I shake my head. “No, I do. You should know. If you’re going to be involved with me, you’re getting yourself involved with him, and I hate that. I hate it so much. It’s not fair to you.” My chest tightens and I feel like I’ve been plunged into ice water. Cole doesn’t deserve to deal with this shit. Steven is my ex, my drama, my past.

Not his.

And yet being with me fucks everything up. I look into Cole’s eyes and feel my heart break.

“I can’t do this to you. I can’t introduce you to my brand of crazy. It’s my fault I went out with Steven in the first place, my fault I let him manipulate me for as long as he did. I’ll get on the first flight I can and make sure he knows I’m leaving.”

Cole tightens his embrace. “If you want to leave because you don’t feel anything for me, then I won’t stop you. But I don’t think that’s why.”

More tears fall, and I angrily wipe them away. “He found out where you live. He knows I’m here with you and is trying to get to you. Or me. Probably us both. Steven’s the kind of fucker who thinks if he can’t have me, no one can. I…I don’t want to risk you in any way. And it’s because I do care about you that I want to leave.”

“You’re letting him win if you leave.”

“That’s true.” I blink away the rest of my tears and shake my head. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”

Cole gives me a half-smile. “Messy isn’t bad, Ana.”

I laugh. “You’re so put together. Your life…your job…everything is where you want it to be.”

Cole’s expression softens. “It just looks that way. I promise you things aren’t as picture-perfect as you think. But that doesn’t matter right now. You matter, and I really think we should do something about this. Hell, I’ll call Luke,” he says as if that’s the last thing he’d want to do, but will do anything for me. “He works with the police a lot, he might know what to do or where to go from here. I think he has a few friends on the police force.”

I’m on the verge of a breakdown. “Can we just eat our donuts and drink our coffee and come back to this? I need a brain break for a couple of minutes.”

“Of course.”

We go back to the table, and I pick up a sprinkle-covered donut. “I wonder how hung over Gregory is today,” I start and take a bite of my donut. It’s soft, sweet, and so fucking good.

Cole chuckles. “He’ll be feeling it, that’s for sure. I’m keeping my fingers crossed he stays in retirement and doesn’t decide to write another book.”

“Will you have to edit it?”

“There’s a chance I’ll be—” He cuts off, and takes a drink of coffee. “If I’m available, yes. And it’ll be put into his contract, once an offer was made. And we’d be stupid not to make an offer. Well, assuming he writes more epic fantasy.”

My heart is still racing a million miles an hour and I’m trying hard not to think about the noises I heard last night and the fact that Steven showed up today. “I never realized how much drama goes on in the book world.”

“This is nothing. Wait until you go to a book signing event with multiple authors. Especially the ones where cover models attend.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!”

The smile is back on Cole’s face. “That’s one way to look at it. I’ve never seen it firsthand, but I’ve heard stories from authors.”

“I’ve gone to small signings at bookstores. I got a book signed by Colleen Hoover last year, and paid more than I should have to get a signed set of Harry Potter from eBay.”

“You’re a Black Ink author now. If you want any signed books from the house, I can get them for you.”

“If you’re serious about that offer, I’d like at least a dozen by the end of the week. I need all of Emma Stark’s books, including the last one. Preferably before it’s out.”

Cole laughs again and my heart slows. “You know Lexi edits those, right? She has the last one right now.”

My eyes widen. “Seriously? Oh my God, I need it!”

We talk about books for a few more minutes, until I’ve eaten as many donuts as humanly possible. I finish my coffee, take a quick trip to the bathroom, and come back to find Cole cleaning up the kitchen. I get the feeling he likes things neat and tidy, which could cause some conflict if we stay together. Neat and tidy is not my forte. But artists thrive on chaos, right?

“So,” Cole starts when I take a seat at the table again.

“So,” I echo. “I can’t put it off forever.”

“We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to, but something has to be done, Ana. We can’t let this guy walk.”

I nod and start fiddling with a tangled curl. “Right. I don’t suppose you’ve picked up on a few tips and tricks from all those crime books you’ve edited, have you? They say there’s no such thing as the perfect murder, but I disagree. It all comes down to the details.”

“We need to make it look like an accident. Or invest in a meat grinder and some pigs.” He smiles, but his eyes don’t shimmer like usual. No amount of humor can deflect the seriousness of the situation. Cole takes a seat at the table next to me and puts his hand on my thigh.

I pull on my hair and then take Cole’s hand. “Steven is very manipulative,” I begin. “I didn’t realize it until I was in too deep for a quick getaway. He isolated me from my family and friends. Really messed with my head. Emotional abuse is what the therapist called it.” I pause, risking a look at Cole. There is no judgment in his eyes. “He’d do things and twist it so it looked like it was for my benefit. Looking back now, I feel so stupid for believing him.” I shake my head, feeling embarrassment rise inside. “And then he hit me. Hard. Broke my nose and cracked my cheekbone.” Pain radiates through my face as I recall that nightmare. “And that night, when the bleeding wouldn’t stop and the swelling got worse and worse, he wouldn’t let me go to the ER. It was cold and snowing that night, which I remember perfectly because I had to walk in it. Steven would hide my car keys so I couldn’t drive away.”

My heart starts to thump and cramming all those donuts down my throat was a bad idea. “I drugged Steven and snuck out, walking to a neighbor down the street. We called the police, but it didn’t end like you’d think. Steven denied everything, made it seem like I was the crazy one. It took months to get him held accountable for what he did. And his sentence was a joke.”

Cole gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. I’m shaking, heart racing from reliving this. I focus on my breathing and find the courage to go on.

“But from the breakup to the actual arrest…he made it his mission to make my life hell. Stalking is putting it lightly. The few months between the breakup and his arrest were worse than the two years we were together, which sounds crazy, I know. But I guess I knew what to expect when we were together. When we weren’t…there was no telling how far he’d go. And he was smart, I guess you’d call it, about what he did. The ways he watched me, how he’d just show up…it was very hard to prove it was stalking. We lived in a small town. There aren’t a whole lot of places to go without running into someone you know. He knows how not to get caught. Which is why I’m so worried now. He knows we’re together. He knows I’m here. There’s no other reason for him to show up this morning if he didn’t.”

“The guy obviously has some mental issues,” Cole says. “He shouldn’t be allowed with the general public.”

“Tell me about it. He put effort in his attempts to get to me. The things he did…” I shiver. “It was personal. Thought out. Planned.” I pull my hand from Cole’s and run it over my face, feeling the day-old makeup. “Shower with me?” I’m not in the mood for sex, but being alone in the shower brings on memories of Psycho, though the large glass door in Cole’s shower make it impossible for someone to sneak up on me.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Cole gets up and takes my hand again. He’s tense. I don’t think he’s in the mood for sex either. We’re just getting this relationship started and I’m already fucking it all up.

* * *

“What do you want to do today?” I ask Cole, leaning away from the sink in the master bathroom as I brush through my wet hair. Little beads of water collect and splash onto the quartz countertop.

“We can order in and watch movies,” he answers from inside the bedroom. I take a step back so I can see him. He’s sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing just his boxers and looking at something on his phone.

“If he hadn’t shown up, what would you want to do today?”

“Do you have a restraining order against him? It says here that two violations—”

“Cole,” I interrupt. “Let’s just go out and have fun. Steven is my loser ex-boyfriend, not a demon about to unleash the Four Horsemen. Though the latter might be easier. We can kill demons.”

Cole puts his phone down and frowns. A beat passes between us and then he agrees. “All right. But…don’t take this the wrong way or anything…I have a feeling he made you think you’re overreacting. And you’re not. Coming all the way from Kentucky to New York City—and then finding you amidst the millions of people here—is not something to let go.”

“I know. Trust me, I do. But tonight…let’s just go out. I brought a slutty dress and heels. Let me get dressed up and feel like a girl. Please?”

Cole smiles and nods, and I go back to the sink to finish brushing my hair. As much as I don’t want to feel it, I do.

The feeling that this is all fleeting. That whatever Cole and I have going on is soon going to end. And taking the recent events into consideration, I don’t think my concern is without merit. Cole and I got over the hurdle of our tangled up and complicated feelings.

I like him.

He likes me.

We’re seeing where the path takes us.

There will be bumps along the way, of course…everybody hits a few now and again. But a total roadblock? That can end the journey before it even starts.