Love beyond the mask (Whitney) novel Chapter 1206

Sandy’s breathing was a little uneven as she shot back, “Whit, how did you know I’d bump into Shane?”

Whitney paused for half a second, realizing she’d slipped up and sounded too eager.

“It’s just because—”

“Because you knew he was following me?” Sandy’s voice trembled with anger, barely keeping it together. “Whitney, are you hiding something from me? Are you and that creep Shane in this together?”

“In this together? Come on, Sandy.” Whitney rubbed her temples, exasperated. Since when did Shane become a creep?

She felt a pang of guilt—after all, she did know more than she was letting on.

And Sandy, in Shane’s hands, was just a clueless little lamb.

Whitney tried to soften her tone. “Sandy, is Shane with you right now?”

“Answer my question first,” Sandy shot back, her stubbornness flaring.

“I’m your cousin, for heaven’s sake! Who would I be teaming up with?” Whitney tried to sound reassuring.

Sandy paused. She wasn’t one to accuse people without reason, and Whitney had always been good to her.

Biting her lip, Sandy’s voice was shaky, embarrassed, and furious. “Whit, something’s happened! I’m so confused and freaked out. I don’t know why Shane is after me, and you’re the only person I can turn to.”

Whitney, of course, knew exactly why Shane was after her.

She rolled her eyes inwardly. Seriously, Shane? If you’re going to stalk someone, at least don’t make her hate you in the process.

Feigning ignorance, Whitney asked, “So what did Shane do, exactly?”

“He’s completely out of line!” Sandy burst out, voice tight. “We barely know each other, right? So why the hell did he follow me today? It wasn’t just weird, it got violent—he showed up and beat up one of my coworkers, broke the guy’s arm! I tried to call the cops, but Shane just snatched my phone right out of my hand.

I asked him why he was following me, what his problem was.

“Sandy, where’d he take you? Is he still with you now?”

“He locked me in his car for a while, wouldn’t say a thing. Then he took me to a bar—walked in looking like someone owed him a million bucks and just started pounding whiskey. He’s one of those guys, y’know? Broody, hard to read, definitely not safe to mess with. I was too scared to ask questions after that.

So I just watched him drink, thinking if he got drunk enough, maybe I could sneak away.

But Shane was so weird, Whit—he never let go of my hand. Like, really holding it, fingers laced together.

It was like he was treating me like… someone he was in love with or something. The way he looked at me—God, it was intense. Aggressive, almost burning, like I was prey and he was the wolf. I’ve never seen anyone look at me like that before. It made my skin crawl.

Every time I tried to leave, he’d just pull me back. I have no idea why he was in such a bad mood.

The thing I really don’t get—he kept saying he regretted something. And then he mentioned Florence…”

Whitney’s eyes sharpened. “He mentioned Florence? What exactly did he say about her?”