Page 5 of Seduced By My Bully

Monroe

Cam comes in every morning at seven-thirty on the dot for the next two weeks. Even on the weekends, when he’s not working, he comes in and orders the same thing every time, a large black coffee. Every morning he says good morning and makes small talk trying to engage me. Every morning I pretend not to remember him. It’s petty, but I don’t give a shit. What is he trying to prove? Why can’t he just leave me alone? Dani thinks the whole situation is hilarious. I don’t.

I’m just getting home from work when I spot a small package with a red bow sitting on the front porch. That’s weird. Once I’m close enough, I see my name scrawled across the top of it in black permanent marker, just my name. There’s no return address or my address even. There isn’t a stamp. Whoever sent it dropped it off at some point today. My first thought is it’s probably from Cam. The man won’t leave me alone, and I wouldn’t put it past him to up his game. Picking up the small package, I’m surprised at how light it is. I walk in the house and go to the kitchen to drop my keys and purse on the counter and toss the box there. I’ll look at it later.

I go upstairs and shower before changing into a loose off the shoulder t-shirt and some skintight leggings. Coming back to the kitchen for a bottle of water, I see the box again. Curious to see what’s in there, I grab the box and open it.

As soon as I open it, I immediately wish I hadn’t. The scent hits me and brings me to my knees right there on the kitchen floor. Brent’s cologne is strong. He must have sprayed half a bottle inside. I pull out a picture of Brent and me from our first Christmas together. I swallow hard as the memory of that night floods back into my mind. That was the night he told me he loved me. Back then, I would have told you it was the happiest night of my life, but now I look back and see everything he did to manipulate me. Realizing there’s something written on the back, I flip the picture over, and my stomach twists at his words.

We could be this happy again.

I love you so much!

Love,

Brent

Tossing the picture to the side, I grab the box and dump the contents out on the counter. In a tiny satin pouch are the diamond earrings and necklace he gave me that night and a note. I purposely left every gift he gave me at the apartment when I left him, not wanting the reminder of our time together to follow me. The note is written on a folded sheet of computer paper and is in his familiar handwriting.

Monroe,

I miss you more than words can express. Our time apart has shown me everything I did wrong, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what I’ve done to you. Please give me one more chance to make things right. I promise you won’t be sorry.

It’s time for you to come home.

Call me anytime, day or night. You know the number.

Love,

Brent

I crumble up the note and shove everything into the small cardboard box. God, why can’t he leave me alone? I don’t want anything to do with the man ever again. I think back to a couple of weeks ago when I felt like I was being watched. Maybe it wasn’t all in my head. Has he been here this entire time? My skin crawls with that realization.

I bring the box up to my room and toss it on my desk. I’m in total shock as I sit down on my bed and stare out the window, wondering if Brent’s lurking in the bushes or behind a tree. Did he think he could leave that to me, and everything would magically be okay again? He put me in the fucking hospital for crying out loud. There’s no fixing what we were. It was all a lie. He didn’t want someone to love. What he felt for me wasn’t love, it was something worse. He wanted to own me and punish me. He manipulated the hell out of me, and no matter how hard I tried, I was never good enough for him. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever give him another shot. Next time he’s likely to put me in the ground instead of a hospital.

What worries me most is the package wasn’t delivered in the mail. Which means he must have dropped it off himself. Brent is here in town, and he knows where I am.

I do the first thing I think of and call the police department. I tell them what happened, and they promise to send someone out to the house within the hour.

My next call is to my dad, who is at the coffee shop working with my mom, thank God. My mom is one of the sweetest souls I know. I’d hate to see what Brent would do to her if he had the chance.

“Hey, sweetie, what’s up?” My dad answers.

“When I got home, there was a package at the door.”

“Okay?”

“It was from Brent.”

“Shit! I’m coming home.”

“No, don’t come home. It’s fine. I’m fine. I called the police, and they’re sending someone over.”

“Are you sure? I think I should come home.”

“Dad, it’s fine. I don’t want mom to be alone.”

He sighs. “What was in the box?”

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