Obsession (24 page)

Horror and disbelief washed over me.

“What is it?” Marnie asked, realizing something was wrong.

“My car,” I said. Anger brewed inside me as I stared at my vehicle. “Peter slashed my tires.”

My cell phone wouldn’t stop ringing. It rang and rang en route to Marnie’s place, and I finally shut it off.

I did, however, check my messages around midnight as I lay on Marnie’s sofa. An automated message told me that my voice mail was full, and that I needed to delete any unneeded messages so that I could receive new messages.

I pressed the button to hear my first message.

“Sophie.” A long beat. “Sophie, I’m sorry. You haven’t been returning my calls, and…I miss you. I need you. Please don’t be afraid of me. I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry,
bella.
”

The next few messages were of the same variety, with Peter apologizing and asking me to call him. But the fifth message changed in tone.

“Sophie, did you ever love me? Or did you lie to me from the beginning? Perhaps you like to suck every guy’s cock you meet. You pretend to be virtuous and sweet, but you fuck everyone. You tricked me, Sophie. You made me fall in love with you. I was good to you, but you betrayed me.”

Then: “Sophie! Why don’t you answer the fucking phone? It’s your fault I got angry tonight. I didn’t want to grab you, but you’ve made me crazy with your lies, by stealing my heart when all you really are is a whore. You’re not fit to be the mother of my child. Answer the fucking phone!”

The last message terrified me. “I hate you, you lying bitch. You should be dead for what you did to me.”

I wanted to erase every message, but I didn’t. Something told me to keep some of them. At least the ones where Peter had sounded dangerous, threatening, and downright mentally unstable.

And then it came to me. The way I could be free of him.

The police were looking for the man who had viciously attacked Teddy. If I turned Peter in to the police…

That was exactly what I was going to do.

I closed my eyes, making a mental plan to contact them the very next morning.

The next morning, I arranged for a tow truck to get my car. The tow truck driver picked me up at Marnie’s place and took me back to the club, then brought my car to a shop where I could have the tires replaced.

Marnie wanted to go with me, but I told her it wasn’t necessary. I promised I’d call when my car had been repaired.

By the time the work was done, I was livid. How dare Peter treat me the way he had? I had done nothing to deserve his wrath.

But it wasn’t wrath, was it? It was insanity. And a sane person would never understand what made a crazy person tick.

As I drove to my house, I was determined not to let Peter take anything else from me. Not my security. Not my home.

So the moment I got to my place, I called the Orlando Police Department and anonymously reported him as the person who’d beaten Teddy. I told them Peter’s full name, where he lived, his phone numbers, and when he would be home. I’d blocked my number when I called the tip line, just in case.

And then I prayed that my nightmare would be over. That the police would arrest Peter and that I would finally be free of him.

All that night, I was jittery. Afraid that the cop I’d spoken with was going to trace my number. Afraid that somehow Peter would know I was the one who had called to turn him in.

I was also tempted to drive to a pay phone and call Peter to see if he picked up. If he did, it meant the police had likely written me off as a viable lead. And if he didn’t…

I did nothing that night, just curled up on my bed and watched television. My car was parked in the garage, just in case Peter was not in police custody and decided to drive by. After hours passed and Peter didn’t call, I became convinced that he
was
in custody—either behind bars or being questioned for hours. Otherwise he would have tried to reach me.

I’d called Marnie earlier to tell her that I had called the cops. At eleven, I phoned her again. “I’m so nervous,” I told her. “But Peter hasn’t called. That has to be a good sign.”

“I hope so. But just in case, you can come back here. In fact, I wish you would.”

“No,” I said. “I need to be here tonight. Just to really see. To really know. But, your gun is still here,” I added, hoping that would put Marnie’s mind at ease.

“Keep your night table drawer open for easy access. Just in case.”

“I will.” I paused. “I hope the cops lock Peter up on the spot, put him away without bail.”

“He beat Teddy up pretty bad. It’s clear Peter would have killed him if Teddy hadn’t been able to fight him off.”

“He’ll get time for that, won’t he?” I asked.

“If he doesn’t, then there is something seriously wrong with our justice system. Oh, wait,” Marnie suddenly said. “That’s my other line.”

She clicked over to answer her other line and, within a minute, she was back. “Sweetie, that’s Robert.”

“Oh, okay. You go talk to him.”

“I’ll call you back, if you like.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m gonna try to sleep.”

“I’m glad you did what had to be done,” Marnie said. “Call me tomorrow, okay? But if you feel threatened for any reason, you call me right away.”

“I will,” I told her. “But I’m sure I’ll be fine. Tell Robert I said hi. And one of these days I’ll meet him when my life isn’t so messed up.”

I lay down after I ended the call, but I was too anxious to sleep. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of wine in almost total darkness, just in case Peter might be lurking outside. Then I remembered I was pregnant and shouldn’t drink wine, so I opted for a glass of milk instead. I took it to my bedroom, where I once again curled up on the bed. I began to channel-surf, not finding anything that intrigued me. And when I reached what was clearly a movie, I lowered the remote and began to watch.

Glenn Close came onto the screen, and in an instant, I recognized the movie.

Fatal Attraction.

I actually shivered as I watched a scene where Glenn Close begged Michael Douglas’s character not to leave her.

Coincidence, or was the universe sending me a message?

I got the sense that I was being watched.

My eyes popped open, and when I looked across the room, I was too startled to even scream.

Peter was sitting in the armchair in my bedroom, staring at me.

But how could he be in my bedroom? Confused, I looked around. Yes, this was my bedroom. Daylight streamed in through the cracks in the blinds. I closed my eyes, wondering if I was dreaming. But when I reopened them, Peter was still sitting there.

I didn’t understand how. I hadn’t given him a key to my house.

“Bella,”
he said. His gaze didn’t waver. I don’t think he even blinked. The intensity in his eyes scared the crap out of me.

“P-Peter. H-how did you get in here?”

“Did you report me to the police,
bella?
”

Fear gripped me, making my heart spasm. I knew I had to lie, and yet I couldn’t open my mouth to form any words.

Peter rose. Slowly moved toward the bed. “Did you report me to the police,
bella?
”

“N-no,” I said, my voice a croak. “What for?”

Peter sat down on the bed next to me. I wanted to run from the room, but I was too afraid of him to do anything but lie there and act like his unexpected presence in my home wasn’t creeping the hell out of me.

“Somebody reported me to the police. This person said that I attacked Theodore Granger, the man who was bothering you the night I met you at the club.” Peter softly stroked my cheek, but there was nothing kind in his touch. “Was that you?”

“Why would I do that?” I asked, hoping my tone was even.

“Because you are mad at me, perhaps?”

“I—I’m not mad.” And I wasn’t. I was terrified—and wanted nothing to do with Peter anymore.

Peter slipped his hand beneath the covers and brought it to my crotch. “You’re sure?”

He stroked me. Slipped a finger into my pussy as though he were here to seduce me, not possibly strangle me.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I told him, hoping I sounded confident.

With the pad of his thumb, Peter stroked my clitoris, and damn it, I knew I was getting wet. I hated my body for betraying me. For getting even slightly aroused when I knew in my heart that Peter was dangerous. But his touch…fuck, his touch always made me weak.

That had always been the problem. I got so lost when he sexually aroused me that I had ignored all the signs that he was a madman.

Peter pushed his finger deep into my vagina, wiggled it around until I moaned despite myself. Then he pulled his finger out of my pussy and put it into his mouth. He sucked on my essence slowly.

I swallowed, conflicted. I was turned-on, yet I didn’t want to be. And suddenly I was wondering if I’d made the wrong choice in turning him in. Not the wrong choice about leaving him—I couldn’t be with him anymore, I knew that. But God only knows what Teddy would have done to me had Peter not intervened that night.

Peter placed a hand over my breast. Though the touch was casual, it very clearly said he owned me. Owned my pleasure. Something I couldn’t deny, not even now.

“Oh,
bella.
You don’t know how much I love to touch you. You love it too. I can tell.”

I said nothing.

Peter stroked my nipple through my nightie. “I know I have acted badly, but it’s just because I love you so much.”

I moaned. Yes, the stroking turned me on, but something else in my brain had turned on. An idea.

The idea that in order to be safe, I had to pretend that I did still want Peter. Because if I didn’t, there was no telling what he would do.

“You’re afraid of what you feel for me,” he said as he pushed my nightie up, exposing my breasts. “I know, because it scares me too. That’s why you’re avoiding me.”

“Y-yes,” I said.

“Because when you see me, when we’re together, our bodies connect in a way that we simply cannot stop.”

Peter used both hands to stroke my nipples. He stroked and tweaked until they were hard. He moaned his satisfaction, then began to suck my nipples in turn, arousing me even through my fear.

And proving that what he’d just said was one hundred percent true.

We connected so powerfully sexually that our bodies seemed to have a mind of their own.

When Peter raised his head, he kept his hands on my breasts. “Are you sure you didn’t speak to the police?”

Peter had gone from sucking my nipples to asking me about the police. He might enjoy touching and tasting me, but he could just as easily wrap his fingers around my neck again, maybe this time slowly strangle the life out of me if I said what he didn’t want to hear.

Goose bumps popped out on my skin.

“Of course I’m sure,” I told him.

“If it wasn’t you who turned me in, then it was Marnie,” Peter announced.

My eyes widened slightly. “You can’t assume it was Marnie. Lots of people were outside the club that night. Maybe someone saw us, and they know who you are, reported you to the police.” My explanation sounded pathetic. I only hoped it was enough to appease Peter.

“It was Marnie,” he insisted. He abruptly stood. “That’s all I wanted to know. That bitch.”

What did that mean? Suddenly, I was worried for Marnie’s safety. I don’t know why, but I got the sense that Peter would hurt her, the same way he had hurt Teddy.

Hurt her for betraying him.

He turned and started for the bedroom door. I threw the covers off and jumped out of bed. “Where are you going?”

“I am leaving,
bella.
”

“But—but—what are you going to do?”

His right eyebrow shot up. “You think I am going to do something…perhaps something bad?”

I didn’t answer. He’d obviously read my mind.

“Why don’t you ask me,
bella?
”

“Ask you what?”

“Ask me if I beat Theodore.”

I paused. Then, “Did you hurt him?”

“Yes.”

I was so surprised by the answer that I stepped backward.

“I saw him again at that bar. He said something crude about you. So I gave him what he deserved for disrespecting you. For hurting your friend. For wanting to hurt you.”

I opened my mouth. But I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed quiet.

“What do you think might have happened if I had not come to your aid?” Peter asked. “Do you think he would have hurt you? Perhaps tried to rape you?” Peter gave me a pointed look. “I protected you,
bella.
Protected you so that he would not dare to hurt you in the future. I protected you because I fell in love with you the first night I saw you. How can I not do everything to keep you safe?”

His reasoning made sense, and once again, I was confused. Maybe I
had
overreacted. Maybe I shouldn’t have called the police. I
had
been afraid of Teddy. In my gut, I knew he would have gotten violent if Peter hadn’t come around. He’d pushed Marnie to the ground, trying to get to me.