He stared at the phone for long seconds, knowing he should call Renee, but all he could do was sit there. Hell, Vengeance didn’t even know if she used the same phone number, and sure as fuck didn’t think she’d welcome a call from him.

Fuck it.

No matter what anyone said, Vengeance didn’t want to go down the road with Renee right now. He was happy, and having Constance in his life made him want to bask in that and not worry about what might or might not happen.

No, opening that can of worms was not going to happen. Even if he planned on reconnecting with Renee at some point because she was family, always, right now he needed to think about himself and Constance.

* * *

Constance stared off into space as she thought about how much her life had changed. She stared at the wall, at the damask wallpaper that spiraled with design.

Although she’d quit her job, she was still obligated to fulfill a few more days. But she was happy with that, and a part of her was sad to go.

“You sure you’re okay to close up?”

Constance snapped out of it and smiled at Dianna, the part-time worker they’d hired not that long ago. “Of course. I got this.” She smiled and lifted her hand to wave goodbye.

For the next hour she finished cleaning up, trying to keep her mind focused on other things aside from how giddy she was with happiness.

Vengeance had opened her eyes, made her feel alive. He made her feel like there was hope to be happy. She loved him, like she really loved that hardened biker.

She grabbed the bag of trash that needed to be taken out at the end of the night, turned off the lights, and grabbed her purse. Going home to Vengeance tonight would be an incredible experience. She’d only gone to the cemetery once in the last month, and although she paid her respects, and told her parents how she’d fallen in love with Vengeance, she felt no sadness.

She was at the cusp of her life, just starting out, and she couldn’t be happier.

For a moment, she stared up at the sky, feeling like her life had finally come around full circle, like she didn’t have to worry about the past anymore. Of course she wouldn’t forget about it, but she wouldn’t dwell on it either.

Constance was about to turn around and head to her car, to go home to her man, which had her giddy and excited, when the sound of shoes on the pavement had her stopping.

“Dianna?” she said but got no response. Her heart started thundering and her palms started to sweat.

She dug in her purse for her keys and her cell, dialed in Vengeance’s number just to have him there, to ease her fear, when the sound of footsteps right behind her had her spinning around. She heard the line connect, heard Vengeance’s voice on the other end, but she was frozen in place.

Before she could make out who was behind her because of the shadows, or call out and hope Vengeance could hear her on the phone, which was now on the ground, a hand was placed over her mouth and she was hauled backward.

The stench of garbage seemed overly intense, but her senses felt overpowered right now. Then she scented alcohol.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim streetlight slashing across her attacker’s form, but when she realized who it was she struggled tenfold.

Craig.

“I didn’t know how to get your attention, how to tell you that I wanted you.” His breath smelled heavily of liquor. “But then you’re deep with that fucking biker. Don’t you know he’s not good for you?”

Bile rose in her throat.

“I just wanted to see you, to show you how good we are together, how much I want you,” he ground out. He cupped the side of her face in a painful hold.

With all her strength she shifted and tried to kick him between the legs, but he moved before she made contact.

“Why’d you have to go and do that?” he said in this low, frighteningly calm voice.

“Craig, please,” she said softly, her voice barely a whisper. “Craig, you don’t have to do this.”

But despite knowing she could have said those words all day long, she also knew they fell on deaf ears.

“I do have to do this, because if you don’t want this, if I can’t have you, no one will either.”

The fear coursing through her was like nothing she’d ever felt before. She glanced down at where her cell was, still lit up, still connected to Vengeance. Could he hear her, did he know what was going on?

She had one chance to try and make it known before Craig went even more off the deep end.

“Vengeance, Craig has me. I’m at the flower shop right now.” She screamed the words, hoping they were loud enough he could hear her on the phone.

Craig cursed and turned to see the phone on the ground. He brought his foot down, smashing the cell, and turned back around to face her. His expression was dangerous.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” And then he brought his fist to her face, and the darkness was the last thing she remembered.