Sweet Surrender (45 page)

“Thank you dear, I know you would have had plans for this evening and both your father and I greatly appreciate what you are doing. Now, your father has arranged to have Jason and Gavin to attend the event with you, but they will keep out of sight.”

“Ok, Mother. Who is my date?”

She really was not up to being set up for the night.

“Since it was just your father and I going, you can choose your own date. But please pick wisely as you are representing the Winters’ name.”

She rolled her eyes at what her mother said. She wasn’t stupid. She had been doing these events for years now and knew the drill.

“I’ll ask Joel, he has gone to several of our events.” Walking out to her kitchen and switching on the coffee machine, she waited.

“Your father will be happy about that. Now, I have let both Jason and Gavin know and they will be arriving at your place at 8p.m., on the dot. Please, be ready then. I can’t have you showing up late to this event.”

“I promise, I’ll arrive early. I need to go, have heaps to do before tonight,” she mumbled around eating an apple.

“Ok, dear. Thank you again for doing this. Enjoy the night.”

I will, Mother.”
Thank God that didn’t last any longer than normal.
She really wasn’t up to tonight, but she needed to do it.

As she made herself a cappuccino, next on her list was asking Joel to come with her. Taking a sip of her coffee, she spat in out across the bench.
Shit!
It burnt her bloody tongue. He answered her call just as she took a sip of cold water.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Joel.”

“What is wrong with your voice?” He snickered.

“I burnt my tongue on my coffee,” she mumbled.

He was still laughing at her over the phone. “Stop laughing, you fool!” she growled as best she could.

“Sorry, so what’s with the phone call, then?”

“You aren’t busy tonight by any chance, right?”

“No, have nothing on. Why is that?”

“I need a favour, a big one.”

“Ok, give it to me, then.”

“Mum rung and asked if I could go in place of Dad and her to this charity event tonight. Dad got sick and they really need me....Would you like to attend as my date?”

“Well, since I have nothing better to do, I can do that for you, Chan. What time do you need me at your place?”

“Thank you for doing this, I owe you big time. Can you be here at 7:30.p.m., no later?”

“You don’t owe me. You’re getting me out of the house, now I won’t be so bored. I’ll be there at seven.”

She giggled. “Ok, I’ll see you then.”

Next, she had to decide on what she was wearing. There was one dress she was dying to wear but really had nowhere to show it off, until now. Running towards her room, she flung open her closet, and pushed everything aside until she found the dress at the back of the closet.

Lifting the bag out and gently placing it over her bed, she unzipped it and carefully lifted it out. It was dark blue in colour and was strapless from the front but was clipped up like a bra across her back, with an open teardrop from the mid of her back that ended just above her ass. A large split ran up the right side of the dress, which would show the top of her stockings and plenty of leg, every time she walked.

The shoes she chose for this dress were a different shade of blue, with stiletto heels and individual straps that buckled up to her knee. She even had a hair piece to match the dress.

Leaving the dress where it was, she walked back out into the kitchen. There wasn’t much she had to do today besides doing the wages and paying the suppliers. Once that was done, she had the rest of the day to get herself ready.

She needed to keep herself occupied. Dom had left late last night. She knew the moment he left her bed, but couldn’t bring herself to wake up. She was not going to cry in front of him, there was no point; he would be back on Saturday night. Only tonight away from him, she could handle that.

After doing her chores around her house, she dressed and drove into her shop. She had let the girls know on her way that she was only dropping in and grabbing the wage slips and the list for the supplies and going home.

After spending too long at her shop talking to customers, she drove back home. She grabbed everything out of her car and snatched the mail that was poking out of her letterbox, and then went inside.

Placing it all down near her desk, she started up her laptop and waited.
I really needed a new one soon
, she thought as her bank page came up. After paying the wages, she moved onto the supplies list, glad that it wasn’t as long as last month.

As she waited for the page to load, showing new items she could potentially order for her shop, she opened the mail that she received.

Several of the letters were bills, but she was a happy to see a small package containing the necklace that she ordered last week. When she came down to the last letter, she saw it had her full name on it, and felt hard inside. Frowning, she ripped it open and out fell a DVD, as well as a note.

Opening the letter, she read:

Chantal,

You make me sick to my stomach, allowing him to do the things that he has done to you!

How can you have let him do that to your beautiful body? He doesn’t deserve you at all. YOU ARE MINE!!! Stop letting him do these things to you, you are so much better than him.

This is your last warning. Stop seeing him or something bad is going to happen. I will never hurt you, but if you keep this up, you give me no choice.

Yours truly, the one that holds your heart!!!

“Oh God.” Her hands shook as she picked up the disc and placed in into her computer. As she sat there, the video player popped up on her screen and the movie started.

The first thing that came over the screen was her, facing the wall with Dom behind her, hitting her with a crop. Then it jumped back as he was between her legs, and then forward again, as he kissed over the marks that he had left on her body. The last scene really got to her; she was sound asleep in her bed, by herself, as the camera zoomed in on her still form.

Holding her hand to her mouth, she ran towards the toilet and threw up. Someone had a camera set up in her room...filming her!

Holy shit!
Someone had been in her house and set up a damn camera. Standing up quickly, she raced around locking every single door and window she had. Grabbing the main phone as she passed the kitchen, she went back into her office and locked that door, too.

She started dialling Dom’s number, but he had no idea what was going on, as far as with the letters that she had received. She couldn’t call Joey, either, as he would call Dominic straight away. So, her only chance of anyone was Nate.

Dialling his number, she listened as it went straight to voicemail. The same happened with his workshop, too. Having no other clue as to where he would be, she rung Skylar’s number, hoping he was there with her.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Skylar, umm...have you seen Nate?” she asked, doing the best she could to keep her voice from shaking as she spoke to her.

“Yeah, he’s here, what’s up?”

“Umm, not much, just something to do with my car.”

“Ok, I’ll grab him for you.”

Chantal breathed out a sigh of relief that Sky believed what she had told her.

“Hey, Chan. What’s up?”

“I need you to come over, like straight away, please.”

“Ok, what’s going on?”

“I received another letter, I’m at home. Can you please hurry, Nate, I’m scared,” she sobbed.

“Shit, ok. I’m heading over now. Lock everything up, I’ll be there soon. Do not answer that door unless it is me, understood?”

“I promise, please hurry,” she whispered.

“Leaving now, sweetheart.”

She hung up the phone and sat down on the ground under her desk. She held her phone to her chest as she glanced around the room, hoping there wasn’t a camera in there, too.

The room was silent. She could not hear a thing, not even the air-conditioner coming from the other room. No cars drove up her street, not even a bird or dog sound came from outside. She moved into the corner under the desk.
Why did I think that whoever was doing this to me, had stopped?

She never should have thought that at all. Now, she was huddled under her desk, scared, and they knew where she lived. They knew where she worked, so was knowing where she lived be difficult to figure out? How had she never realized that they might be watching her in her own home? She hadn’t heard anything else about the box left at her shop, only that it was definitely not a human heart. There were no fingerprints or any leads to go on.... But, the video was somehow scarier than that gruesome gift had been. And she had gotten over that quickly because that is what Dom did to her. He made her forget everything else around her that was happening. She was so preoccupied with him that she never thought about who was stalking her, until now. He was nowhere in sight, again, like the first time it happened.

The phone in her hand started ringing, making her scream and drop it as it vibrated as well as rung. Picking it up off the floor, she uttered in a shaky voice, “Hello.”

“It’s me, I’m pulling up now.”

“Ok, shit! The front door is locked, Nate.”

“All good, sweetie. I grabbed your spare key from Skylar.”

Ending the call, she waited to hear his truck pull up. She could usually hear a lot of noise from the street she lived in, but now she couldn’t hear anything. It was like her hearing was only picking up on certain things around her.

The sound of the hinges on her front door squeaking open nearly had her screaming again, but her brain worked quickly, registering it was Nate coming in.

“Chantal.”

Crawling towards the door, she opened it from the floor. “In here!” she called out and moved back into the room.

Seconds later, Nate pushed the door further open and walked in, closing it behind him. She sobbed in relief, as she was not alone anymore.

Sitting down beside her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into him.

“What did you get this time?”

“A note and DVD,” she whispered.

“What did the note say?”

“It’s up there on the desk.”

Lifting her up off the floor with him, he moved over towards the chair at her desk and sat down with her still in his arms. She turned her head away, as he read the latest letter she got. She didn’t need to read it a second time, as she memorised what it said the first time around.

“Who are they talking about?” he growled, as he scrunched up the letter in his fist.

“Dom.”

“What did he do?”

“I really don’t want to say.”

“Ok, so you said you got a letter and DVD. What is on the disc, have you watched it?”

“Yeah, I watched it. But I can’t tell you.”

“Can I just watch it then, if you can’t tell me?”

“Only if you don’t judge me.”

He nodded and she got off his lap, and then sat on the spare couch in the office, as he played the DVD. It didn’t go for very long, snippets of what happened last night flashed across the screen. His fists were white, clenching the top of the desk as he watched, growling at what he had seen.

“Nate....” she whispered.

“Give me a second.”

She understood completely. After watching it herself, she had no words to say.

“Ok, so someone has filmed you with Dom. I know what he is into, and what you both do in your spare time is your own business. But someone has been in your house and filmed this, Chantal. You need to tell him about this, now. It’s not just you in that video. And for fuck’s sake, this is your fourth letter that has been sent, plus video of you two together and a fucking heart in a box! What is it going to take for you to tell him what is going on? You
dead
, is that it?”

“No, I can’t tell him now, he’s away on business and won’t be back till tomorrow. I’ll tell him then, I promise, I will do it. I can’t take much more of this anymore. Whoever it is knows where I live, and has been inside.”

“Call him and leave a message. He will ring you right back.”

“I don’t want to do it over the phone, Nate. Plus, I also don’t want to disrupt his business trip.”

“He won’t give a shit about the business trip. He cares for you, Chantal. He would drop anything he has going on and come back if he knew what the fuck was happening,” he growled.

“Let me do it when he gets back?”

“If I hear from him before he comes back, I’m telling him, Chantal. This has to stop, now. It’s not safe for you anymore. You need to stay somewhere other than here. What happens if they decide to come when you are actually in here or sound asleep? What are you going to do then?”

“I know, Nate. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

She slouched down on the couch further. She really had no clue as to what to do.
Crap, I almost forgot about tonight
.

“Shit, tonight I have a charity event I’m going to.”

“Cancel it.”

“I can’t, Nate. I already promised my mum I would go for her. Plus, Dad has arranged for two of his security team to arrive with me, and leave with me.”

“Well, that is a good thing, you won’t be alone.”

“I can’t stay here, Nate. Where am I going to stay?”

“Well you can’t stay with Skylar. She’s going to ask too many questions, and with the baby due in a couple of months, she can’t handle any more stress. I know your parents are out of the question, so that leaves only my place.”

“I can’t stay with you, what will Skylar think? And I don’t want to bring my problems to your house.”

“We’ll tell her something, ok. You’ll be safer at my place than here, Chantal, someone will always be close by if and when anything happens. If I’m not there, Craig is next door and Joey is only seconds away. It’s your best option.”

He was right. She had no better plan, and she needed someone close if something did happen. “Ok, I’ll stay with you. For the time being, I need to organise things for tonight.”

“You do that, pack a bag for a few days, and I’ll wait out in the lounge room for you until you’re ready to leave.”