Tommy was toying with her now, making a point to say he could get at her whenever he wanted to. It was her turn to make her own statement.
But first—
The door drew inward, revealing a Tessa with sleep-tousled dirty blonde hair and a robe pulled tight over her delicate figure.
“Oh, jeez, Tessa. I’m so sorry. I… I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t. It’s fine.” Tessa paused, as if just noticing that something was wrong. “Hey, what’s up? Everything alright?”
No. “I just got a silly question for you. You said I didn’t wake you up, right? So, uh, does that mean you’ve been up for a bit?”
Tessa shook her head. “My husband is on-call at the hospital. They didn’t call him in yet, so we slept in later than we usually do. Actually, I was just climbing out of bed to start a pot of coffee when I heard the knock.”
Grace’s stomach tightened at the mention of coffee. “So you didn’t see—”
“See what?” asked Lucas as he appeared behind his wife. A tiny smirk tugged on his lips. “More rats?”
Well, at least Grace knew why they were in bed so late. From the look of him, Lucas must have been in bed when Tessa went for the coffee. A quick glance over Tessa’s head showed that, for decency’s sake, he had stopped long enough to throw on a pair of faded jeans before joining them at the door. His feet were bare, his unbuttoned jeans hanging low on his hips. Lucas didn’t bother with a shirt, leaving his sculpted chest on magnificent display as he rested a hand on Tessa’s shoulder.
Partly because of his nakedness—but mostly because of his comment—Grace purposely avoided looking at Lucas; she chose to meet the concern in Tessa’s gold-colored eyes instead.
How to explain, though? How to get them to help her without putting them at risk like she had with Monica and Buttons?
“Not a rat this time. He’s a man,” she said at last. “About your height, Lucas. Blonde hair slicked back. Dark blue eyes. He’d be wearing a suit, I think.”
The married couple turned to face each other, locking eyes for a second before Tessa said softly, “We haven’t seen him.”
“Okay. He might have waited in the car.” Sometimes Tommy preferred the personal touch, but usually he sent Boone to do his dirty work. “Another guy. Big. He used to be in some sort of the military. Army, or maybe Marines, I’m not sure. He doesn’t talk much. He’s got dark hair, cut super short, and a look like he’d pull a gun on you if you gave him any reason.”
Tessa turned into Lucas again, resting her hand against his bare chest as if she needed to make sure he was still standing there. “Grace, you’re worrying me. Who are these people? They don’t sound friendly. Are they your guests?”
“No,” Grace said firmly. “But I have… I have proof they’ve been inside the building all the same. And they’re not friendly. They’re dangerous.” She gulped. “Very dangerous.”
“What proof?” Lucas demanded.
She couldn’t bring herself to make Tessa look any more horrified than she already had. Leaving out the flowers in her apartment and the bloody cow heart, she gestured down at the cup of coffee she placed back on the floor.
“He left that for me.”
“Coffee?”
“It’s not just the cup,” she told Lucas. “It’s the flavor, and the coffee shop he got it from. From anyone else, the gesture would be sweet. But not him.”
Without going into details, it was hard to make the De Angelises understand. She wasn’t even sure she should try.
“I don’t know if I’m making sense. Sorry. It’s… it’s not what he left behind. It’s that he was able to.” Grace picked her words carefully. “He’s not supposed to know where I am, but he found me.” Her shoulders slumped. “He always does.”
“This sounds serious, Grace. At the very least, if he got in without you giving him the code, he’s breaking and entering.” Tessa glanced around the floor, as if expecting to find someone who didn’t belong. “Maybe we—do you think we should call the police?”
The police couldn’t help. “I’ve tried, but what’s a restraining order really but a fancy piece of paperwork?” Her laugh was hollow, the pit in her stomach growing heavier. “Know what? Forget I said anything. Tessa, Lucas, I shouldn’t have bothered you with this. I only wanted to know if you saw anything. You didn’t so maybe we should leave it that way.”
She turned away from the door, pausing as Tessa called after her.
“Grace, wait. Where are you going?”
Grace faced them again, a sorry halfway to her lips. What else could she say?
“You knocked on our door for help,” said Lucas. “Let us try. Okay. No police. That suits me just fine. But I’d like to learn more about these men. Having them prowl around the complex whenever they please isn’t good for any of us.”