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The honesty should annoy me, but it steadies me instead. With Evan, every argument became foggy. He would say one thing, mean another, then punish me for reacting to either. Nikolai says dangerous things plainly, which should make him harder to trust, except somehow it does the opposite.
“How long has been stalking you?” he asks softly. “And don’t deny it, because I know now. He’s the reason you left all your jobs.”
So, he knows all about that? Why am I even surprised? I’m certain he had me thoroughly investigated before he brought me into his house.
I look away. I haven’t talked to anybody about this before. Going to the police was never an option. Evan is powerful, and I don’t want him pissed at me. I thought by ignoring him I would make him go away, but obviously it’s not working anymore.
“For a while,” I finally say.
“He never called it stalking,” I add. “He called it worrying, that he was just checking in on me. Making sure I got home safely. He was very good at turning normal words into something I couldn’t argue with.”
“How long did that go on?”
“After I left? Months. Less often now, but he never really stopped.” I rub my thumb along the edge of the phone case. “Sometimes I don’t hear from him for weeks. Then something sets him off, and suddenly I’m getting messages from a new number, or an email, or he’s trying to reach out through someone else.”
“Someone else?”
“Friends of friends. Old coworkers. People who think they’re helping because he sounds calm, and I sound difficult.”
Nikolai leans forward slightly. “Does he know where you lived before coming here?”
“He knew the last apartment. I left after the landlord decided not to renew. I’ve been staying with Maya since then,” I say.
“Your friend.”
“Yes.”
“Does he know about her?”
“He knows she exists. I don’t know if he knows I was staying there.”
“Give me her address.”
My head comes up. “No.”
“Elara.”
“No. Maya didn’t sign up to become part of whatever this is,” I say before sighing. “He won’t do anything to her. Evan is narcissist. He can’t stand the fact that I broke up with him, but he’s all threats. He’s never actually done anything.”
“It didn’t look like nothing when he cornered you at the party,” Nikolai says frowning. “If he knows she helped you, he may contact her.”
“I know that.”
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t raise his voice. “I am trying to keep her safe.”
“And I’m trying not to make my friend wake up tomorrow with one of your men standing outside her apartment,” I say.
“He would be discreet.”
“That’s not better.”
“It is safer.”
“Maybe. It is also invasive.”
For a second, I think he will argue. Then he sits back. “All right,” he says.
I blink. “All right?”
