Stranger, Danger

Zions Pov

Zion left Sheila's penthouse with a big smile on his face. Shit, she was something other than that woman. Sexy, intelligent, and a great body. I laughed out loud when I realized that I had slept with Vladi Sokolov's sister, which was a big f*cking bonus. I hated those f*cking Russians who thought they owned the whole fucking world and that we'd all should bow to them. No, I had wanted to get rid of them for a long time, and now it seemed that I have found something that would bring Vladi Sokolov down to his knees. Once and for all. But I needed to be wise; this couldn't be a one-off. I need her to get to him.

But it wouldn't be too hard; I saw how much I had affected her already. I had her.

But I also had a bizarre feeling I'd never had experienced for any other woman before. Something I didn't like.

I saw Joe sitting in the car waiting for me a short distance away, and I rushed across the parking lot and jumped into the front seat.

"Did you have a good time?" Joe asked and studied me as he drove out of the parking lot.

"Keep your eyes on the road, idiot." I roared back and saw how Joe narrowed down his eyes, which meant that he was annoyed.

"I want you to put two men on the lookout for this girl, but they have to be discreet!

I want to know everything she does, where she goes, who she meets, and when she does it!" I said and sent Joe all the information he needed.

"Okay, considerate done," Joe replied and gave Zion a quick look before continuing. "Why do you need to have eyes on her?" Zion felt the irritation rise; if there was one thing he really hated, it was to be questioned.

"Because I say so." He roared back with his demanding tone, and Joe nodded and continued to drive on in silence.

"Hell!" Zion thought when he replayed the night repeatedly, remembering her naked body over her white sheets. The way she had grabbed his neck and how perfectly their bodies were together. I shook my head when I remembered that fucking Viktor guy standing with a knife outside her door.

Who the hell did he think he was? If anyone was going to kill her, it was me, not some low life!

"And Joe, I want a guy named Viktor brought to me; he's a friend of Karl's. I want him down in the cellar as soon as possible," I continued, then pulled out the phone to find a picture from social media to pass on.

"The Mexicans got Julio and Joan!" Joe glanced over at me. "Oh, do they now?" I answered and smirked. "Yeah. But things got a little heated." Joe bit his lip. "Okay, what happened?" I replied, getting a little irritated. "Ehm, Julio is dead, and Joan is locked up until they know what you want them to do with her. "Did they have everything with them that they stole?" Joe nodded, "Yes, a hundred thousand dollars and the map containing all the securities. "Let them keep the money, and they can do whatever they want with her; just get me the map back." "You sure?" Joe asked and frown. "Yes, it's just money, the money we don't need. This was all about teaching a lesson in disloyalty and disrespect. Steal from me, and you end up dead." Joe nodded.

Sheilas Pov.

The days went by and one week turned into two, and I still had not heard anything from Zion since the party. At first, I was unsure if I had read the situation wrong and that he just wanted to sleep with me and nothing more. But the more the days had passed, the more frustrated I became, sexually frustrated.

I thought he was just trying to play hard to get, and I was losing my s*it over it.

So I decide to never speak to or give him a second thought ever again.

And I had other things to worry about. I got very uncomfortable, and I constantly felt a presence around me every time I left the apartment these past weeks.

I could sense that someone was following me out of the corner of my eye, but every time I turn around, no one was there.

It's like someone is playing tricks with my mind, and I start believing in things that do not exist. Maybe it's just me building this up in my own head. Or am I right? Is someone following me?

I shook my head. I have to stop thinking about this before I go crazy.

I needed to go outside and take some fresh air, so I quickly changed my training clothes and laced up my jogging shoes. I decided to do a run and take my usual lap around Central Park.

It was seven o'clock in the evening, so it had already gotten dark when I got outside, the weather was cold, and the ground was drained from the rain.

I got on my usual track, and I soon noticed that I had two men a reasonable distance following from behind, and when I pass the forest a mile away, I saw another man behind me who had passed the other men.

I did not think much about it, and we kept our distance from each other.

It was pretty empty in the tracks that otherwise used to be crowded with people.

And the further we get into the woods, the faster the man started running behind me. An uneasy feeling appeared in my stomach, and I ran a little faster to lengthen the distance between us again. My breathing became more and more strained the further we get into the forest, and I felt my heart pumping around the adrenaline in my body. For some reason, we seem to be the only ones out jogging on this track.

I had to slow down when I felt pain on the left side of my stomach, and I held my fist pressed against it to ease up the pain. I suddenly heard footsteps approaching with an insane pace, and a cold corps crawled along the spine.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw a man dressed in black wearing a dark robber's hat throwing himself over me. We tumbled around on the ground, and I screamed all I could while the man managed to get me on my back and started pulling and tearing at my clothes.

My screams were silenced when my face was pressed down into the muddy ground.

I kicked all I could with my legs when he held down my arms down with his knees.

I have never felt my heart beat so hard out of fear, and I felt the muddy rainwater filling up my mouth.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? " a voice was heard shouting from some distance away.

The man froze above me for a moment before he quickly got up and hurried away.

"Are you okay?" I heard the voice ask, and I jerked when I felt a hand grab my arm.

"Sorry, I did not mean to scare you,"

he mumbled, now leaning down over me, "I just wanted to help you up," he continued, and I nodded in response. *He grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet again.

He was dressed in dark clothes and had a black hat on his head. He seemed genuinely worried about what was happening and studied me with a pensive look.

"My friend took up the hunt after the man. Hopefully, he manages to get a hold of him so we can hand him over to the police so he can't assault anyone else, "

said the man and nodded in the direction he probably had run in.

"My name is Paul, what's your name? you?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"Ehm, Hanna," I replied, not intending to give my real name to an unknown man; even though he helped me, I have learned to be suspicious of new people. I nodded at his outstretched hand.

"Sorry again,"

Paul said and quickly pulled back his hand.

"Thanks for helping me," I replied and turned and began to sprint back home. I heard Paul shout something from behind, but I continued to run at a fast pace, and I didn't look back.

As soon as I got back to the busy street outside my building, I stopped and bent over. I held my fist pressed against my stomach. It felt like my lungs would explode at any moment, and my throat was burning from the cold air.

I took a few deep breaths and soon felt my heart rate calm down.

My whole body was shaking in exhaustion at this point, and all I could think about was how stupid I was to not bring any weapon with me or being more prepared.

I was trained in self-defense, and I had practice in both material arts and some boxing. I shook my head and straighten out my back, only to notice that a clung of people had stopped and was staring at me while whispering to each other.

I looked down at my body, and I realized that my clothes were torn and drained in mud. Perfect.