Chapter 105
I cursed under my breath as I fumbled in my bag for the keys
“Arrogant, overbearing, pain–in–the–ass bastard, 1 growled, my fingers finally closing around metal. “Telling me what to do
The instant I turned the doorknob, a shiver ran down my spine. The door wasn’t locked. I hadn’t even turned the key, but it creaked open anywa
Kereepy, numbing fear crept over me, the son that doesn’t strike all at once but insinuates itself gradually, wrapping around your ribs, constricting until your breaths become shallow.
I was rooted at the door, my heart pounding.
Had 1 left it unlocked?
No. No. That wasn’t possible. I was always careful–particularly since the stalker situation began.
My hand clamped harder on the doorknob as I listened for anything, a presence.
The apartment was quiet. Not the warm, cozy kind of quiet that made a space feel like home. No, this was the kind of quiet that didn’t feel right..
Or I was crazy.
I swallowed, the metallic flavor of fear on my tongue. If someone was in there, they weren’t making a sound. Maybe they had already gone.
Maybe-
I took a deep breath and stepped inside. All was well Nothing was overturned. No open drawers. No broken glass or pilfered treasures,
But my skin crawled. The air seemed heavier, contaminated.
1 crept further, my eyes sweeping the apartment with keen, wary eyes. My living room, undisturbed. Kitchen, same.
The knot in my shoulders did not relax. Something was amiss. I knew it. Felt it. It wasn’t until I got to my bedroom that my lungs seized.
My closet doors were ajar. So were my bedside drawers.
And then- Then I saw it. My lingerie drawer.
The contents were all jumbled. Bras, panties, lace, silk–all rumpled, disturbed, handled. I felt violated.
A black lace panty, delicate, crumpled on my bed. My breath caught, pulse skipping, stuttering, then racing.
I stepped closer, my body moving on autopilot, even as my mind shouted at me to lee. Something was wrong with it off.
The lace was crumpled, the material slightly wet
No
It wasn’t until then that I really noticed it. The stain. A dark, unmistakable stain in the middle
Bile scorched my throat, horror crashing into me like a wrecking ball
Oh my God!
1 barked away, a shaking hand over my mouth. Someone had been there. Someone had rummaged through my belongings, used may underwear to musturbate 10-
to complete that thoughat….
I didn’t get to
Because when I circled the bed, my world exploded.
Nero
My lovely, spoiled, affectionate Neru.
Chapter Ins
Lifeless. Mancled: Dead.
A strangled gasp tore from my throat. I fell to my knees, my eyes blurring, my stomach knotting.
He wasnt merely dead.
His head-
“Oh God” I panted. “Oh God, oh God, oh God—”
A cry tore from me, a raw, guttural sound that didn’t even sound like me. I couldn’t catch my breath. My world had just split open.
Nero. GONE
Munkered
1 grabbed my chest, a wave of sickness crashing over me as I gazed down to the note resting next to his destroyed body.
I didn1
I didn’t want to look. But my eyes were uncooperative, the words branding themselves into my mind.
“No one gets to see you naked. He did. He needed to die. So sorry, sweetheart”
ven scream.
A violent shudder shook my body, a cold, sharp terror cutting through me that I couldn’t even
My breathing caught, too fast, 100 harsh. My nails bit into the carpet as I slid back–away.
Away from the bed. Away from the note. Away from the truth of what had just occurred.
I leaned back against the wall, my knees drawn up to my chest, my whole body shaking
My stalker hail been here. He had handled my belongings. He had handled
my
underwear.
He had murdered my cat.
I clamped my eyes shut, bile churning, my heart racing so fiercely it ached. I had been so stupid. So blind.
I had believed it wasn’t serious. Had written off the notes, the presents, the flowers as harmless. It wasn’t harmless. And now negligence. Due to me.
ow Nero died due to my
A parched sob tore from my throat
I didn’t know how long I crouched there, shaking, quivering, pressing myself so hard against the wall that I felt as though I might become a part of
I did not know how long I remained there. Time had no meaning.
buried my forehead in ury folded–up knees, my body folded in on itself as if I could somehow disappear. As if I could shrink away to nothing and this would all end
And then- A knock.
I twitched, my heart stopping in my chest. It was gentle. Tentative
Another knock
I gulped in a leath, my lungs no longer willing to expand
Oh God Of God
The handle turned
I hadn’t locked it. When coming in. I left it open in case I needed to make a quick escape. A sudden wave of fear washed over me.
1 bunched tighter into a ball, nails digging hito flesh, heart pounding so hard that it was the only thing anyone could hear
Iclenched my eyes tight, my body shaking so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. Lalidn’t have the energy in me to run and hide. I was paralyzed
If I don’t move, if I don’t make a sound-
2/1
Chapter 105
The door swung open. My ears began to ring, the world closing in on me. A wave of dizziness hit my head. And then it drowned out all other sound fusta dark, empty space engulfing me whole.
I was pinned inside. Swimming in 11.
A voice penetrated Far off. Muted. Like
Tid not respond.
my name undenater. “Erica”
The voice was louder. Crisper now.
Something touched me. armly, making me jerk back.
my fists inte
into no specific shape, praying it would hurt
And then I felt hands encircle my arms, holding firmly but gently, pulling me hard. I brought my whoever was in our house. I was trying to break loose.
“Erica, stop. Look at me. The sound. The voice had sounded faintly familiar.
1 gasped, my eyes flicking back into focus. And I saw him.
tillian.
Wild–eyed. Frantic
His face was inches from mine, his grasp firm but not hurting, his hands solid. Real. I drew in a rickety breath, my whole body shaking.
His face was pure rage–but under it, under the rage, was something mor
Something that looked an awful lot like fear.
Jesus Christ. Erica” He croaked, his voice raw, nearly breathless. His hold tightened a little, as if he had to sense that I was there.
I attempted to say something
Nothing eraerged
The words lay there, jammed in my throat like broken glass, but I couldn’t force them out.
His hands moved down to my wrists, fingers pressing hard on my pulse point. He could feel how rapid it was and his jaw flexed.
“Look at me” His tone was lower now, gentler. But there was an edge to it, a relentless one. “You’re safe.”
I was safe
But his warmth, his presence, the raw strength of him sitting in front of me
me was grounding. I struggled to hold on to that
Not the fear
But it was all too much. Nero’s dead body. The sick note The knowledge that someone had been in my house, handling my belongings, wanking over my underwear
Tuned to concentrate on him.
Cilluan. The man whose nugers were gripping my flesta like he was afraid I’d vanish. I breathed shakily
He sat down on the floor next to the “Breath for me
I breathed in a convulsive gasp and exuled slowly through the lungs
Then I lost it. It all came crashing down on me
The fear.
The horror.
The knowledge of what I had just witnessed. A strangling soli ripped at my throat. My eyes were blurring
And I shattered.
