Every Breath You Take (Oasis Book 1) (18 page)

Curtis nodded. “I understand. Your ex-fiancé?” he prodded.

My stomach tightened. Finn must have told him more than I thought. But by this point, I was more relieved than angry. The less I had to say the better.

“Yes. Mark Dublin.” I was proud of myself for keeping my voice steady when I said his name. “We lived in Portland together from, uh…just before we were engaged, and then for another fourteen months.”

The longest fourteen months of my life. Away from my family. Away from most of my friends, because I’d moved to be with him.

Finn’s hand found my leg again, but I couldn’t look at him. I watched Curtis make notes on a notebook before meeting my eyes once more.

“And when did the engagement end?” Curtis asked.

“I told him–I mean, I tried to break it off after–” My eyes flicked to Finn. His jaw was tight, gaze locked on me. Pushing back from the table, I stood and started pacing. I couldn’t stand their eyes on me. “It was about a year and a half ago. I left and he found me, and…he threatened my family if I didn’t come back. So…” My throat tightened. “I did. I cut ties with them so–so they wouldn’t get hurt. And…I tried to leave again. Twice. But…”

I couldn’t continue, but Curtis only nodded. “That’s fine. Once you left him for good, did you see him after that?”

“First it was just phone calls. I changed my number, but he found it again. And then the…gifts.” Finn shifted in his seat. I glanced at him, finding anger etched into his features.

“Flowers?” Curtis asked.

I nodded.

“Anything else?”

Blood drained from my face. I hadn’t even told Christie about this. “A–a tie.”

Curtis’s head came up. “A tie?”

“He–one time, he was angry and he…” I pressed a hand over my mouth. “He put it around my neck and–and–”

Finn stood abruptly, shoving his hands in his pockets. His eyes were on fire, and he gritted his teeth.

“Okay,” Curtis said calmly.

But my hands still shook. He’d wrapped the tie so tight around my neck, I’d blacked out. The next morning, I’d woken up to bruises–and not just on my neck.

“I can’t…” My eyes went to Finn, already panicking about what he was thinking. “I can’t do this with you in here.”

His gaze snapped to mine. It was filled with shock and hurt. “Excuse me?”

“You-you’re agitated. And it’s making me nervous. I don’t want you to be upset.”

Finn’s laugh was harsh. “You don’t want
me
to be upset? Fuck that. Of course I’m upset, but I’m more worried about you, Charlotte. He could have
killed
you. He could have–
Shit
.” Finn ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Curtis. “I’m sorry.” Then he looked at me. “I’m sorry. You don’t need this. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Curtis set his pen down. “I don’t have many more questions for now. I can keep it brief, Mr. Moore. If you’d like to step out, we won’t be long.”

Finn glared at him, like he couldn’t believe he’d suggest that. But I was grateful. Curtis was on my side, and I felt more comfortable around him. It was all facts with him. Curtis was thinking with his brain, and Finn was thinking with his heart.

“It’s okay,” I told Finn, my voice gentle. “I’m okay. It’ll help if you just…”

Finn propped his hands on his hips, bowing his head so his chin almost touched his chest. When he looked up again, he’d recovered, and he walked to me and took my hand. “I’ll be right outside.”

He didn’t look at Curtis as he left, shutting the door behind him.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, clenching my hands on the back of a chair.

Curtis shook his head. “There’s nothing to apologize about. It sounds like your ex has a pattern of this kind of behavior, and after what’s been happening, I think he might be starting it up again.”

“I’m worried about my family.”

“I can send someone to them if necessary or contact the police in their area. Have you been in touch since you left the relationship?”

My eyes stung. “No.”

“It might be smart to give them a heads-up about where things stand with you. Let them know what’s been going on. For their safety and your peace of mind. And if I need to get in touch with them, for their safety of course, they’ll know who I am. Are you comfortable with that?”

I forced a nod. It was just my mom and my sister, but Curtis was right. It was smart. And I missed them more than I could say.

He made another note and said, without looking up, “I’ll need their names. I’ll be looking into Mark Dublin, to check on his location and the basics. Then I’ll dig deeper.” His head came up this time. “Is that okay?”

“Yes. But…will he know you’re looking into things?”

“I’ll be careful. I understand it might make him more upset on his end.”

I nodded. That made me feel better to some extent. No doubt Mark would be angry once he found out I wasn’t playing by his rules anymore.

“I’ll keep you updated, Charlotte. I don’t want you to feel like you’re out of the loop or that you can’t come to me if you feel uncomfortable. I agree with Mr. Moore that this needs to be dealt with, but it needs to be on your terms, too.”

I blew out a breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“I’d like to assign Dustin to you–”

“Wait, like a…bodyguard?”

Curtis leaned back in his seat. “Just temporarily. For when you leave the building, to make sure your apartment is safe before you enter. To be on-hand in case something happens.”

“I don’t leave the building. Not often.”

Curtis smiled. “Then he’ll have an easy job. But I want him to stay close. Just in case. I trust him, Charlotte. He’s quiet. He’ll give you your space. But he’s sharp.”

“It’s going to be really boring for him to follow me around.”

He rewarded me with another smile, and it relaxed me even more. “Dustin’s a pro at following around boring people. It’s part of the job. Here’s my personal number–to reach me the fastest.” He stood and passed me a card. “And I might have more questions.”

“Okay.”

“I need you to let me know if anything else happens. Right away. The faster we can get a lead on Mark and his whereabouts, the faster we can find him and put this to an end.”

Doubt flickered in me once more. “What if it’s not him?”

“Based on the little you already told me, it’s him. Like I said, he has a pattern. To be that controlling during your relationship, it’s very likely he’d continue that behavior after the relationship was over. He still thinks you’re his, Charlotte, and he’s smart enough to bide his time to make it happen.”

I shivered, and crossed my arms over my chest.

Curtis touched my shoulder. “Don’t worry, he’s not smarter than us. And he’s probably getting impatient. He’ll keep trying to work his way into your life, and he’ll make a mistake. We’ll catch him.”

I tried to believe his words, though it was hard. Mark had been sneaky in the past. He wasn’t likely to make any mistakes. Not if it meant losing what he wanted.

Curtis excused himself, and left the office. I heard the low tones of his conversation with Finn, and didn’t miss the anger in one of the voices. Finn’s. I hope I hadn’t gotten Curtis in trouble.

When Finn entered the room again, he shut the door behind him. “You should really eat something.”

I frowned. “Don’t be mad.”

Finn faced the windows, his shoulders tight. I could hear him breathing in and out and recognized his technique for coping with anger. Better than Mark’s, which I appreciated.

“You kicked me out,” Finn said. “I couldn’t help you before because I was an ass and I left you. And I feel like I can’t help you now because you don’t want me to know what happened.”

Walking up behind him, I said, “I’m embarrassed, Finn. I let Mark treat me the way he did for longer than I should have. I was an idiot and didn’t see the signs in the beginning of our relationship. I…”

Finn turned, eyes flashing. “You weren’t an idiot, Charlotte, and you never have been. He
chose
to treat you the way he did, and he’s going to pay for it. I just want to be able to help.”

“You are helping. I promise.”

When he didn’t look convinced, I wrapped my arms around him. He straightened at first, but then relaxed against me. “Let me in, Charlie.”

His nickname for me traveled straight to my heart. I closed my eyes and squeezed him tighter. “I’m trying.”

Chapter Fifteen

When we finished with the self-defense class, Paige was still smiling ear-to-ear. “Maybe I should wish for more things knowing they actually come true sometimes.”

I smiled at her as we walked to the locker room. “He was cute, I’ll give you that.”

“And he got the hold just right. Now I’m going to have good dreams tonight.”

Her mention of dreams sobered me some. I’d realized this morning I hadn’t had the dreams about Mark for several months, and they started right when Finn came into the picture. When he stayed over.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to shake that line of thought. No, it wasn’t Finn. It was the move. The change. The stress.

Glancing at Paige, I asked, “Now what are you going to wish for?”

Paige tilted her head, considering. The cute instructor she’d wished for talked with a few women after class, but waved as we headed out. We waved back and Paige smiled again. “His number.”

Laughing, I opened the door to the locker room and stopped on the precipice.

Paige eased past me. “I’ll go in first.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No worries. See? Self-defense class was a good idea. We can kick anyone’s ass.”

She was right. I felt a little better about defending myself, not that I was sure I’d remember any of it if I was in the position to need it. But this, just like moving and starting over at Oasis, was another step to moving on. To reclaiming my life.

“You going to Finn’s tonight?” Paige asked, pulling her gym bag out.

“I don’t know. I’d really like to stay at my own place. I’m not used to so much company. Not that I don’t like it–it’s just…been a while since I’ve been around so many people.”

She smiled. “Come to the daycare. You can be around dozens of screaming kids all day and that’ll cure you. You’ll be used to it in no time.”

“Dozens?” I asked. “You really have that many kids already?”

“Not yet, but soon. This week is the first official week we’re open, though we’ve had calls about drop-ins and filled ten more spots for next month.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

Paige nodded, untying her shoes and sliding on sandals. “The discount helps. I think that’s why more people are considering living here instead of outside Oasis. If they already work here and they can get a discount for housing and daycare–it makes sense. Are there going to be discounts for food and items at the mall, too?”

“I’m working on it.”

We left the gym as my phone lit up with a message from Finn.
Apologizing in advance.

I frowned, and then yanked in a breath when someone appeared in my periphery. “Dustin,” I breathed. “You scared me.”

“Sorry, Ms. Evans,” he said, nodding at Paige.

“I thought you were going to meet me at my apartment.”

He nodded, following us to the elevator. “I was, then Mr. Moore asked if I’d seen you. He was worried you hadn’t been by yet.”

“I told him about the class,” I said as we got in the elevator.

He nodded again, tucking his hands behind his back as we rode up. “Then he followed up with another call saying he remembered about the class, and asked if I’d wait for you downstairs anyway.”

My sigh came out as a laugh. That’s what the text was for. “You really didn’t need to come down. In fact, you don’t have to come up with us now. Paige is with me.”

He stood to the side as we exited on our floor. “It’s my job. I’m happy to do it.”

“Don’t you have a family to go to?” Paige asked as she pulled out her key card.

“No,” Dustin answered easily, but didn’t elaborate.

Paige wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I laughed. “Call me about this weekend,” she said before continuing down the hallway to her apartment.

I reached into my bag to pull out my card, and then gasped when Dustin’s arm blocked my way. He held a finger to his lips. My gaze went from his to the door, which was already open a few inches.