Round Robin
Chapter 19.
STALKER
I was so close and yet somehow so far as well equally. I could feel her, taste her, sense her, and yet I could do nothing as long as she was followed by these dumb thugs that thought she was in any danger. Did they not see that she wanted to be with me and only me? Morelli had been in a phase that lasted way too long and when she came to her senses, I figured she finally figured out that I was the only one who could make her happy, love her right and be all she ever needed and never had.
Manoso was just another distraction and one I hadn't seen coming. They hadn't even known each other half a year ago and now he thought they had something, and he could steal her away from me. Asshole. Didn't he know you don't poach?
Stephanie hadn't replied to my gifts and messages and somehow seemed to ignore me whenever our paths crossed. Maybe she tried to play it cool, loving to be chased and pretend to be hard to get. Maybe Manoso was just another pawn she felt she needed to get my attention. Oh, baby, don't you know you have my attention already and I will never see anyone else but you?
I tried a few times to see her and tell her all would work out in the end and that we would be forever united – until death do us part – but her stupid and pointless armies of goons that Manoso put on her made any form of contact impossible.
She didn't even like them and just pretended to go along with it, playing nice and being the good girl that she was. If that was me in her shoes and I was constantly followed by men twice or thrice my size, I would play along as well. God knows what they were capable of doing if she didn't follow their ordered and trotted after them.
But I could feel our time together nearing and for me to cut through all the red tape and make a move that would bring us close and show her my strengths and that I wasn't worried, that I'd protect her from everything and everyone and that she needn't worry about anyone coming close to her again, doing her harm. She had always been too innocent for her own good, attracting the wrong kind of people that didn't know how to appreciate her. Starting with her bitch of a mother who was no good for nothing and ending with her boyfriend.
Maybe I should look into getting rid of her mother as well. Stephanie didn't need that negativity in her life. And what had her mother ever done for her? Other than talk her down and tell her to get attached to the wrong men? She hadn't seen what I could offer her daughter. That our love was pure and perfect, that I could provide for Stephanie in a way no one else could, that our hearts were linked and that we were soulmates on the endless journey of finding each other.
It was time to make my move, get rid of all distractions and pawns that demanded her attention and couldn't give her what she required. It was time to make her mine and mine alone and show the world we were meant to be, and no one could come between us.
The farmer's market was perfect for finally uniting us once and for all, seeing as we could pretend to be customers and sellers without Manoso and his stupid men catching us. She would probably be scared and worried about what would happen once she managed to get away from him, but I would convince her quickly that she would be alright and that I would rather die than let harm come to her. That's the kind of man I was.
She hadn't been to the last few markets – probably being locked in by Manoso who thought he could keep us apart – but had let all of us – but mainly me – know she was open for business again. The others in her list were just patsies to convert me as the real recipient of her message and her wish – to unite us.
Her stand was busy, but then it always was. People loved homemade items that supported locals, so there usually was a lot of buzz around her items, and larger groups of people looking what she had and was new. Some people asked her questions about her jams and jellies, others asked where she had been the past few weeks. I just smiled at her encouragingly like always, took my usual items, and paid, engaging her in a little customary Smalltalk. When she mentioned that the jams would be great with pecan pie I smiled widely at her secret message to me, telling me she made these, especially for me.
Stephanie knew I was allergic to nuts and hated any sort of pie, so her suggesting this went well with not just nuts but also pie was my code for 'Let's do this'. Why else would she mention something she knew I hated and was allergic to, letting me also know that she was about to be done for the day. She was as excited about this as I was.
While we had our conversation, the crowd seemingly grouping around her stand had thinned, so I stepped around her table, took the bag with my jams from her, and grabbed her hand with my free hand – pulling her after me quickly before anyone could see us. For whatever reason she was not as fast as I would have expected, something seemed to hold her back since she kept pulling. Maybe she had forgotten something she needed to get before making her escape, but we didn't have time for that. When she tried fighting me for the direction we were running, I decided on using my strength and threw her over my shoulder, overpowering her and promising her I'd make it up to her later. She threw her tiny fists against my back, not even hurting me despite how hard she thought she hit.
I ran past people who looked confused at me and the way we probably looked at them, but no one questioned it or seemed to feel the need to stop us. Somewhere behind us I heard yelling, mainly Manoso and some other voice I didn't recognize, shouting at people to move and let them past. But the longer I ran the quieter the voices became. Eventually, I was at the parking lot, placed Stephanie carefully in the passenger seat, and injected her a second later with something that would help her sleep for a while.
I wanted to surprise her with where we were going and noticed she was out seconds later. Buckling her up, I noticed some wiring that seemed connected to a microphone. What the hell? Did he have her monitored and watched everything she said? No wonder she never made a move. She probably wanted to spare me his wrath and not cause any harm. Oh, how considerate you are, Baby Girl.
Removing the tape that secured the wire, I threw it carelessly to the ground and got inside the car myself, leaving the parking lot a moment later. I drove past Manoso and his men when leaving, watching them scramble for any clue as to where we had disappeared to.
Thanks to my tinted windows, he couldn't make out anything and was none the wiser that I finally had what was mine and he had lost. I was reunited with my love, and he needed to find someone new to control.
Finally, we were free.