Page 99 of Pride
I had a target on my back.
S.K.A.M. was locked away but he was still alive, and as long as he was breathing, I was still in danger.
But I gave in to Alex, letting him fill my time and my mind with him, only him. I wasn’t complaining. It was a nice feeling to be someone’s number one.
Eventually, life took over, and he had to go back to work. Today, he had an important meeting to attend, so instead of milling about the house, I decided to meet up with Gracie for a coffee and find out how she was.
The minute I saw her, I realised she wasn’t in a great place. She looked pale, had lost weight, and she seemed on edge. Not at all like the Gracie I knew and loved.
It made me so angry to see that she wasn’t quite herself. And when she told me all about the guy she’d been on a date with, that’d bailed on her without a word halfway through dinner,I was fuming. He’d love-bombed her on socials and through messages for a long time before she’d agreed to go out with him. Then he’d bailed, and now, he was ghosting her. Texts weren’t going through, and all his social media accounts had disappeared.
It’d knocked her confidence, despite the short time she’d known him, because it made her question everything about herself. A fact that irked me even more because I knew how amazing she was. I just wished she did, too. But she would, once she’d worked through what she was going through. And I’d be there for her. That’s what friends do, after all.
I’d listened intently, been as supportive as I could and promised to spend more time with her, to help get her out of the slump she’d fallen into. Then we kissed each other goodbye, and I headed home with a box of fresh cream cakes I’d brought from the coffee shop as a little treat for Alex when he got home later.
I took an Uber, and the driver dropped me off at the end of Sunford Manor’s driveway. I thanked him as I climbed out, putting my bag on my shoulder and carrying the box of cakes carefully as I walked up the steps to the front door. I balanced the box in one hand as I took the keys that Alex had given me from my bag and unlocked the door. Then I closed it behind me and padded across the foyer, heading towards the kitchen.
Once I reached the kitchen, I took my bag off my shoulder and put it on the counter. Then I walked towards the fridge to put the cream cakes in, to keep them fresh. But I faltered when I heard someone whistling behind me. I hadn’t realised anyone else was in here.
A deep voice from behind asked me, “Would you like a cup of tea?” And I could hear the clinking sound of a spoon being stirred in a China cup.
“Oh, no thank you,” I replied. “I’ve just come from a coffee date. I’m not really thirsty.”
“That’s a shame,” he replied. “You took the last cup of tea I made for you so well.”
And my stomach dropped to the floor.
“Even though you thought it was one of Alma’s,” he added, and bile rose from my stomach, right up my throat, making me feel sick. My head swam from dizziness and sheer panic.
I turned around slowly, my heart beating so fast that I began to struggle for breath. Everything around me seemed to switch to slow motion. Even my mind couldn’t keep up or comprehend what was happening. I was petrified.
But he was here.
He’d fucking found me.
When I saw him for the first time, my limbs went limp, and I dropped the box of cakes on the floor, the cream splattering everywhere as my mouth fell open in shock.
Dear God, no.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
This wasn’t happening.
The voice in my head screamed at me to run, to get out of there, but I knew I was trapped. He’d been standing behind the door when I’d come in, that’s why I’d missed him. A door that I needed to get through to escape. And as I stared at him, terror and panic gripping me in their evil claws, I knew it was him or me. I was about to experience the fight of my life.
He wore a navy-blue tailored suit that fitted his muscular frame to perfection.
His tattooed hand stirred the tea with precision.
And as he turned to smile at me, a slow, deadly smile that was full of murderous intent, I almost collapsed.
It couldn’t be.
No.
This had to be some kind of fucked-up joke.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
