He caught up to her and they walked out side by side. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
Valerie forced a laugh. “I’ve no reason to keep anything from you.”
After making sure she locked the door securely, she headed back to her car but Bruce stepped in front of her. She took an irritated, but cautious step back and glared at him.
“Can you give me a sec, please?”
It would be dark soon, the parking lot was empty, and she knew she was no match for him. At this point she didn’t know what to expect, so, she decided to play along. That had always worked in the past.
“Okay, you have a sec.”
He exhaled and frowned. “First of all, I want to apologize.” He reached for her hand and she flinched, taking another step back.
“Apology accepted.” She tried to walk around him.
“I’m not done.” He said firmly. The crazed look in his eyes brought back memories of her past with him. “Tell me something. This guy’s different than Alex, isn’t he? Is that the attraction?”
Valerie took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Before things blew up between her and Bruce she shared with him about Alex. Of course that was before she uncovered the truth about him, and only after he opened up to her about what she now knew was a fake past. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do.” He took a step forward. “Alex never appreciated what he had. Luke does and you’re falling for him right?”
He couldn’t be further from the truth, but maybe if he thought so, he’d leave her alone.
“Maybe.”
The glimmer in his eyes went from smug back to crazed in a moment. “I see it, Valerie. See it in the way you look at him. It’s what you’ve always wanted isn’t it? A man who would want you and only you?”
She nodded this time without another word. Her mind raced trying to think of a way to get away from him.
“You’ll be in love soon. But before that you owe me first.”
“Owe you, for what?” Her voice almost trembled.
“For ruining my life. You know I can’t even get a job now? Can’t see my kids.” His feral eyes took her in up and down. He cupped his hand to her chin as the corners of his lips rose slowly. “Oh, yeah, you owe me.”
His tone made her think of how easily he could go from calm to crazy in a matter of seconds. Valerie held her breath. She didn’t even know he had kids. She felt even stupider now for having gotten involved with a man she knew so little about.
It was dark now and the headlights of a car coming toward them made them both turn to it. Valerie took advantage of the distraction and started toward her car. The car was still moving in their direction. Bruce didn’t follow her.
He didn’t say anything until she was almost at her car. There was no hiding the disdain in his voice. “You ruined my life, Valerie.” His voice rose with every word. “You decide how you’re going to make it up to me, the easy way or the hard way. Just remember darling, it will happen.”
Valerie glanced at him as she got in the car but didn’t bother with a response. The car that distracted him was just passing through. She threw her car in reverse and skidded out of there. Once around the corner, what had just occurred sunk in, and she clutched her pounding chest. That could’ve been so much worse.
It wasn’t until she adjusted the rearview mirror that she realized her hands were shaking. She squeezed her hand into a fist and placed it on her lap.
Her phone vibrating in the cup holder made her jump again. One look at the caller ID and it confirmed what she had been dreading. Her nightmare was starting up all over again. She hit ignore and held her breath as she waited to see if Bruce would leave a message, but again he didn’t.
She called Luke on the way and told him how the inspection went. After giving it some thought, she kept Bruce’s appearance to herself. Luke didn’t know anything about him. She hadn’t told him. Not yet. If things got any worse, or if Bruce did even one more thing to spook, her she might. For now it was best to avoid making a big deal out of it. She’d give it a few days and pray that he only wanted to scare her but wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually do something to get thrown back in jail.
By the time she got home her nerves had calmed considerably. Isabel wasn’t there, as was the case ever since she’d started seeing Romero. She still insisted they were just going out as friends. Valerie laughed at that. She saw the way Romero gazed at her. She’d never seen him that way before. Sure she hadn’t been around him in a while, and it made sense that he’d matured some. In his days as a bouncer he was quite the ladies man. He met a different girl at every gig he worked.
She stood in the kitchen, struggling to get the pepper spray bottle onto her keychain when Isabel walked in the door followed closely by Romero. When they made it all the way in Valerie could see they were holding hands and she smiled.
Isabel was done up again, but Valerie stopped mentioning it since the Padre game. It was about time Isabel started showing off the goods. She wasn’t about to spoil it by making her feel self-conscious about it.
“Hey,” Valerie still struggled with the pepper spray bottle. “Where’ve you guys been?”
“The show,” Isabel headed toward the bedroom leaving Romero behind. “But I’m only here to pick up something we’re going to go eat now. You wanna come?”
The expression of horror that flashed over Romero’s face and almost made Valerie laughed. “No, that’s okay, I already ate.”