Tease Me (Private Listing #4)

Patrick gives me a knowing look. “Girls like her are always bound to attract the wrong attention.”

Girls like her? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

“Do you mind if I borrow Seth?” I step back as I take in Patrick. He’s relaxed. Not tense at all. This could just be how he thinks. He’s paid to protect us.

Seth stands. “We’re finished.”

Patrick nods and pulls over his laptop. Something isn’t sitting right, and I’m not sure what as I lead Seth past Madison’s empty desk and into his office. It’s grocery day so she must be putting away groceries. Which puts her in the apartment around the time Robert tried to get in.

Fuck. What if she was meeting with him in secret? What would she have to hide from us?

“How do you want to approach this?” Seth sits behind his desk and leans back.

“Do you think it’s possible?” I can’t help asking because I need a check on myself. I trusted Andrea and I was wrong. Madison isn’t anything like Andrea, but…

His brows furrow. “What’s possible?”

I can’t believe I’m even going to ask this. “That she asked him to?—‍”

“No.” Seth doesn’t add any inflection.

I rub my jaw with my hand. “Okay, but what if we can find out for sure?”

Madison

The day flew by. Lunch was a working lunch. Coop worked with Patrick most of the day.

I just returned to my desk from putting away the groceries when Blake comes out of his office. “We need you in Seth’s office.”

I grab my tablet and follow Blake in. Usually it’s work related, but not always, so it’s best to be prepared. Blake closes the door behind me. Seth’s concerned eyes lift to mine. My insides sink.

What now?

“They caught your neighbor Robert trying to access the back door a half hour ago. He’s being detained downstairs.” Seth’s hands are folded on his desk in front of him.

My brow furrows. This doesn’t make sense. “Robert?”

“We don’t know what he hoped to do. He said he wouldn’t talk to anyone but you.” Seth’s dark blue eyes hold mine as I take in that information. “He won’t leave until he’s talked to you.”

When my legs feel like they won’t hold me, I sink down into the chair, setting my tablet on Seth’s desk. “Robert?”

“Yes, princess.” Seth’s worried gaze lifts to Blake’s.

Blake sits in the chair next to me and takes my hand. “Any information he can give you will be useful. We don’t know why he was outside. While security can escort him off the premises, we can’t press charges because he didn’t do anything illegal.”

“How does he know about the back door?” My mind churns trying to think of everything the stalker had access to and what Robert might have access to. I’ve wondered if he was the stalker before, but every time, I find a reason to absolve him. Am I letting him off because he was nice to me?

Because he seems like the most likely suspect and not at the same time? Is my sense of people that far off?

“We don’t know.” Seth’s tired voice draws my attention. Darkness lingers under his eyes. A pang of worry squeezes my chest. Did he sleep at all last night?

We talked a lot about Elizabeth and got nowhere. Just trying to figure out who she might have met at the benefit is a long list.

The function was well attended. No one really watched Elizabeth that night. And once I was attacked, the guys were with me.

“If you don’t want to talk to him, we understand, tiger.” Blake squeezes my hand, bringing me back to the present. “But he came here looking for you. Whatever he wants to tell you, he feels strongly enough about it to break in.”

Fuck, I don’t know what they want from me. Am I supposed to sit across from someone who may be my stalker? Who saw me at my most vulnerable? And what?