Under His Protection (3 page)

Lizzy shook her head. “I don’t. It’s a couple extra minutes out of my way. And I’ll just leave your keys under the floor mat on the driver’s side.”

“Thank you for doing this,” she said as she pulled her keys from her small purse and handed them to her friend. “And I’m going to call you later about that…issue. Okay?”

Lizzy nodded, frowning and Ivan wondered if Julieta had even told her what was going on yet. After saying goodbye, she shot Ivan a wary look, but headed out with him.

Once they stepped out into the tiled area where the private elevators were, he tried to find the right words as he slid his security key across the security pad. “I’ve never meant to glare at you.”

Her head snapped up in surprise. “What?”

“In the bathroom you said I’ve either ignored or glared at you the past couple months.” As the elevator dinged he held out his arm, motioning to let her step inside first. Her heels clicked as she moved and it took all his restraint not to glance down at her incredible legs.

“When you first came into my store with Mina you certainly did glare at me. And you’ve been doing it ever since.” There wasn’t exactly hostility in her voice, but definite caution.

He didn’t like it. “Yes, when I first met you I probably did. I view everyone as a threat where Mina is concerned, at least initially. It’s part of my job. Since then…staring at you is a more accurate description.” But he’d definitely been aware of her that first day. And he’d fantasized about her later that night.

She turned to look at him again, her dark eyes wide. “Stare?”

“Yes. As in…I can’t take my fucking eyes off you. And I
never
ignore you.” No sane male could ignore this beautiful woman so full of life. It was difficult to even get the words out. “Sometimes it’s all I can do to not look at you.” His voice was guttural and he had no doubt the lust he’d been hiding the past couple months was visible in his eyes now.

She shook her head, her confusion clear. “But you don’t like me.”

Ivan snorted and forced himself to face forward and stare at the custom-made interior wood paneled elevator doors. “That’s not true either.”

“Oh.
Oh
,” she said again as if she finally understood what he was saying. Instead of continuing, however, she clammed up and stared straight ahead too, her posture stiff.

He resisted the urge to scrub a hand over his face. Hell, maybe he shouldn’t have said anything at all.

Chapter 3

Standing across the street from Julieta’s store, he watched as one of her employees swept up the few shards of glass outside. Most had fallen inside, hopefully ruining some of Julieta’s retail. The employee stopped as one of the uniformed policeman approached her. She held the broom loosely in her hand and nodded at something the man said. That woman was a knockout too, just like Julieta was. But in a different way. The blonde was flashier and looked like a whore. Someone like that wasn’t worth his time.

Julieta was.

Two police cars were parked in front of the store along with an Explorer he knew was also government issued because of the license plate. He hadn’t seen who’d driven it, but he guessed it was the man in the suit talking to the owner of the high end jewelry store next door. He was probably a detective since he wasn’t wearing a uniform.

It was easy to blend into the crowd of about twenty onlookers. This street was all commercial shops or restaurants, but it was located in an older, established residential area that saw a lot of foot traffic. All the stores and eateries had good security which was why he’d never try to breach her place during or after hours.

Instead he’d opted to shake her up with a little vandalism. He’d stolen the motorcycle and helmet so neither of them could be traced back to him if the police even bothered to investigate. And he’d already ditched both. After the text he’d sent not too long ago he figured this would really rattle her cage.

Just like she deserved.

It was all her fault that he didn’t have a job anymore. And he hadn’t been able to find a new one since he’d been fired. Which meant he hadn’t been able to cover his rent so he was stuck living with his parents again.

Fucking pathetic.

All thanks to Julieta.

He gritted his teeth as he watched the scene, wondering where the hell she was. He’d followed her after she left her house this morning but had lost her in the downtown area. He’d come by her shop in his own vehicle before he’d stolen the motorcycle so he knew she wasn’t working.

He just hoped his little rock throwing ruined whatever her plans had been today. She’d ruined his job so he wanted to cause her as much stress as possible. A flash of colorful movement caught his eye and he turned to see Julieta striding down the sidewalk with a tall, blond man in a suit. She must have parked a block or so over.

His entire body tightened as he watched her move. She was beautiful and successful, the type of woman who never looked twice at him. He resisted the urge to rub his hand over himself. Even in this crowd, he couldn’t afford to get caught doing something stupid or for anyone to remember him as a pervert.

But he’d think about her later as he stroked himself off. Just like he always did.

His jaw tightened as he looked at the man walking with her. He looked vaguely familiar but he didn’t think Julieta had a boyfriend. He’d been watching her for a couple weeks, learning her schedule, and she hadn’t even been on a date.

Which made his plans easier. He wouldn’t have to worry about contending with anyone when he broke into her home. Not yet though. He wanted her not just scared, but terrified before he took what he wanted.

She’d fucked him over and now he was going to fuck her before he killed her.

If he hadn’t lost his job, his girlfriend never would have broken up with him. She’d called him worthless, pathetic, and so caught up in drugs he couldn’t even hold a menial job. Drugs had nothing to do with it. Besides, he only smoked pot. He wasn’t some loser addict.

No, it was all that bitch’s fault.

“I don’t think it was a robbery, just vandalism it looks like,” a woman in jogging shorts and a tank top said to a woman wearing the same attire.

What kind of woman wore such skimpy clothes in the fall? She probably liked to show off her body, to taunt men like him. He turned away from the women in disgust.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” her friend said.

As they broke away from the crowd a few other onlookers did the same, taking away some of his camouflage. That was his cue to leave. He didn’t want Julieta to see him, to know he was the one behind the damage to her store.

Not yet.

Moving casually, he headed the same way as the two female joggers even though he’d parked in the exact opposite direction. Just to be safe he would double back and grab his car later. Before he turned down a side street he pulled out the burner phone he’d used to text Julieta earlier and sent off another one.

Don’t think that blond friend of yours can protect you from me. You’re mine.

Laughing to himself as he hit send, he tossed the phone into the nearest garbage can after the message went through. He’d used it for two previous texts to her and he wasn’t going to use any of his burners more than three times. Just to be safe.

When targeting a victim, he always used caution. It was why he hadn’t gotten caught.

He was too good and the cops were too fucking stupid. Soon Julieta would be all his until he decided he was tired of her.

* * *

Ivan stilled when Julieta grabbed his forearm, nearly stumbling on the sidewalk. He looked down at her to see her face pale and dark eyes widen. They were one shop down from her store but he stopped completely when she wordlessly held out her cell phone to him, the fear on her face like a dagger against his flesh.

Don’t think that blond friend of yours can protect you from me. You’re mine.

That raw surge of protectiveness slammed through him again like a gunshot.
Fuck.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and blocked her as much as he could from anyone across the street with his body as he directed her to her place. “Let’s get you to your store,” he murmured, thankful she didn’t pull away, but wrapped her arm around his waist instead. He had a ton of questions and planned to look into this situation himself, but for now his main goal was getting her inside, away from whoever was watching her.

Using his sunglasses to cover what he was doing, he scanned the crowd across the street looking for anyone who appeared out of place.

As they walked he slid Julieta’s phone into his jacket pocket and pulled out his own. He quickly swiped in the code then turned on the camera function. Pressing record, he started videoing the scene across the street as best he could without being obvious. He knew criminals oftentimes liked to see their handiwork, but that was for more violent acts, like arson. Still…that latest text had all his instincts moving into high gear. This guy was here and he would want to see Julieta’s fear.

When Ivan got a chance he was sending the video to Lizzy in the hopes she could run it through one of her many facial recognition programs. Or at least know someone who could. He was also sending her the phone numbers the texts had been sent from, and he and Lizzy were going to help Julieta figure out who was harassing her.

As they approached the scene, a man Ivan recognized looked up. Detective Carlito Duarte. Surprise crossed his face as he nodded at Ivan. He turned back to the older man with white hair he was talking to, but Ivan knew he’d be making his way to them soon.

“You know him?” Julieta asked as they waited next to the curb.

He continued to block her body with his. A woman who Ivan guessed must be Ruby was talking to a policeman. She gave Julieta a shaky wave when she saw them.

“Yeah,” Ivan said. “He’s a detective. You know Grant Caldwell?” Since she knew Porter, Grant’s brother, Ivan guessed she must. When she nodded he continued. “That’s Carlito Duarte, Grant’s former partner.”

“Is he…do you not trust him?” she whispered, her voice shaky as she looked up at him with surprising trust, letting her arm drop from his waist and putting a couple inches between them.

He didn’t like the distance but gave her space. Eyebrows drawn together, he shook his head. “No, he’s a good detective. Why?”

“You just…you look like you don’t like him.”

“It has nothing to do with him. It’s the fucking situation. I don’t like that you’ve been getting texts like the ones I’ve read or that your place was vandalized the same day. These two things are related and it’s stalker behavior.” And he was worried it was going to escalate even more. Situations like this didn’t go away on their own.

But…the truth was, even if he did like Duarte as a detective, the guy was too damn good looking and he didn’t want Julieta noticing. Caveman? Yes. But he couldn’t help the way he felt. Ivan was straight but even he could appreciate the GQ thing Duarte had going on. Perfect bronzed skin, gray eyes, and model cheekbones. Yeah, he couldn’t even believe he was having these thoughts. But she brought out something primal in him.

Had from the moment he’d seen her in her shop two months ago.

Before she could respond, Julieta’s employee with long, blonde hair hurried over. “I’m so sorry about the store. I know you had plans today, but at least there’s no real damage, just broken glass.” The woman flicked him a questioning glance before looking back at Julieta, as if she was asking who the hell he was.

“You did everything right, Ruby, and I’m just glad you weren’t hurt.” She motioned to him. “This is Ivan. He’s a friend.”

Friend? Yeah, he didn’t plan to be in that category for long.

Ruby’s expression was curious but she nodded at him once then wrapped her arms around herself as she moved closer to Julieta. “This is crazy and so pointless. There’s never any crime here. I can’t believe some asshole did this in the middle of the day either. What if there had been kids around?” Even though she phrased it as a question, it was clear she wasn’t looking for an answer.

“The police will figure it out,” Julieta murmured, but Ivan could hear the insecurity in her voice.

Duarte took that moment to approach, giving them all a polite smile—and a subtle, but appreciative, look at Julieta. Ivan clenched his jaw. She was beautiful. Of course the other man would notice. Didn’t mean he liked it.

Ruby murmured something about cleaning up the glass since she’d already taken pictures for insurance and hurried away.

“Surprised to see you here,” Duarte said to Ivan as he held out a hand.

“I’m with Julieta.” There was an edge to his voice the detective didn’t miss.

He gave Ivan a small, almost imperceptible nod. “Ms. Mederos, I’m sorry about your window, but it could have been a lot worse.”

“Thank you,” she said softly. “Though I’m surprised they sent out a detective for this.”

He shot Ivan a quick look before focusing on her again. “This is a nice area and… Grant Caldwell called me. Said his sister-in-law Lizzy asked him if I could come down here because you two are friends.”

“Thank you. I hope you didn’t go to any trouble, but I appreciate it.”

He nodded again. “Your employee told my officer that you’ve got surveillance inside and outside your shop, correct?”