Hunter (King’s Men MC #1)

15. Ryleigh

15

RYLEIGH

The day passed by in a blur.

With all the excitement that had happened this morning, I almost forgot that the man who attacked me lived in this apartment building.

And considering I stopped Xavier before he could kill him, I imagined the man was probably back in his apartment, recovering. The thought that I might run into him was unnerving.

It almost made me want to stay holed up in my apartment for the rest of the day, but the thought just pissed me off.

The chance of me running into him today was nil, and I wasn’t going to be made to fear my own place of living.

Besides, I still had to go grocery shopping.

I couldn’t possibly stay holed up in my apartment, and I refused to let him take anything else from me, least of all, my peace of mind.

I had wanted to call Xavier, but I remembered I never asked him for his number. Which I supposed was a good thing, considering I didn’t want to come off as clingy when we were still getting to know each other .

I frowned.

I didn’t know what he did for a living, only that he would be gone for most of the day and night because of it.

I should have asked him, but that was the last thing I was worried about.

I should just try to get him out of my mind and focus on my day.

Everything would be fine.

I tried to shift my thoughts as I put on my shoes and got ready to go grocery shopping after finishing my work quota for the day.

Most of my work consisted of meeting with the writers and re-editing the work I had already submitted, so it had been an easy workday. It helped to take my mind off of things, including how things were going with Xavier. Still, now that I no longer had my job to distract me, I was a mix of conflicting emotions—excitement, fear, and anger.

It didn’t help that I turned on the news earlier, and most of the reporting was about the activities of the King’s Men MC. It was mostly focused on the club president, Dominic Madden, and how he bought up businesses all over Sacramento. Most of them were related to the party scene, from nightclubs to bars and restaurants, though there was a report that he purchased a salon in the mix.

To the more na?ve population, he might seem to be a savvy businessman.

But I knew better.

Fortunately, there had been no reporting about their VP. It seemed he was staying out of the limelight since his release, and I counted that as a blessing. I had only seen a brief picture of the man before his sentence, but it was so long ago that I barely remembered his appearance.

It would be best if he stayed as far away from my life as possible .

I didn’t want to hear about the King’s Men MC anymore.

I took a deep breath when I got to my front door before opening it.

My head peeked out as I took in the empty, well-lit hallway, and when no one seemed to be jumping out at me, I cautiously walked out.

I turned to lock my door and pulled up short when I found a black Baccara rose taped to the door.

No note, no nothing.

It wasn’t like my parents to just send in a delivery like this, and even if they had, wouldn’t there have been a delivery person to hand it over?

I reached my hand out and took it from the door, pulling my hand back when one of the thorns pricked my pointer finger.

“Ouch,” I muttered, sucking on the finger until the bleeding stopped.

I looked around.

Who else would know these were my favorite flowers beside my parents?

Unless this was from my dad, in a bid to scare me into moving back home with them.

It sounded twisted, but I wouldn’t put it past them to do something like this.

I carried the flower with me to the elevators and threw it away in the trash bin nearby.

It never even crossed my mind to move back home after my attack from last night. I doubted anything would now.

I was enjoying my independence way too much, and I enjoyed making decisions for myself without my mom hovering nearby.

The elevator doors opened, and I walked in, but just as it was about to close, a thin figure passed through the doors, and I realized, with some disappointment, that it was Trinity .

I turned away and tried to keep my eyes ahead, only they managed to stray right back to her.

She was beautiful and confident. She was everything I thought Xavier would want, but he rejected her… for me.

It still didn’t feel real.

She caught me looking at her the fourth time and straightened, clinging onto her purse a little tighter.

I narrowed my eyes at the move.

Did she really think I would try to rob her?

We both lived in the same building. Why the hell would I do that?

I looked up and checked the number, silently urging it to hurry up and reach the lobby floor.

She turned to me suddenly, and I had to stop my body from flinching.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” she asked.

I nodded.

“A bit of advice? Stay away from the man in the apartment next to yours. He’s trouble, plus I’m not even sure he’s interested in women.”

I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing, though I didn’t answer her.

Was she trying to warn me off of Xavier?

How laughable.

It never even crossed my mind that he might be lying about rejecting her, but hearing her say this made me feel light.

As if a weight had lifted off my chest.

“I’m serious,” she said. “I’m just trying to look out for you. It would be the neighborly thing to do. After all, I saw the way you looked at him the other day.”

Was my interest really that obvious?

If she noticed, then I had no doubt Xavier noticed .

I felt some heat blossoming on my cheeks at the thought, just as the elevator doors opened.

“Noted,” I said, walking past her and through the open doors.

I didn’t need to look at myself to know there was a spring to my steps.