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When I pulled up to my house, I sat in the car and scanned the nearby tree line. Unease crept up my spine even though daylight still spilled among the trees. It was only ten paces to my front door and I shifted my keys in my hand, locating the one to open it. My breath shook as I opened my car door before running to the house, unlocking it and slamming the door behind me. I latched it up tight before breathing a sigh of relief.
Throwing my handbag on the counter, I kicked off my shoes and put my jacket away. It was only then that I noticed a little box on my counter. My heartbeat felt like it shook my whole chest cavity as I gaped at the box, which definitely hadn't been there before I left.
Going from window to door, I checked them all. Every one was locked up tight.
A prickle tingled up my spine as I felt like I was going to puke.
Not even the locks could keep him out.
The box was red velvet, long and thin, and there was a notecard beneath it. The writing was in a fine script which said one word. Sweetness.
Goosebumps arose as I remembered that word on the masked man's lips. It's time to sit on my face, Sweetness.
The card trembled in my fingers as I turned it over. On the reverse side it said, Stop picking at your wrist, toy with this instead. I'll be watching. Don't make me come in there and tie those hands up again.
Running a finger over the painful, raised scab, I looked at the windows. Was he watching?
The box's exterior was exquisitely soft as I ran a finger over it before picking it up and opening it. It was a bracelet made up of small black beads, with a golden clasp. It said David Yurman along the inside of the box's lid. The tiny spherical gemstones were cool beneath my touch as I picked up the bracelet. It looked expensive. Growing up as the daughter of a crime boss who was drowning in ill gotten money, I had plenty of jewellery. I looked it up online, finding the exact bracelet easily on the brand's site and saw the thousand pound price tag.
Good god.
That was a lot for a stalker to spend on me. Where did he even get that kind of money? Unless he was a syndicate too. Could he be one of my brother's men? Or one of Dad's enemies?
I held the bracelet out like it might well explode in my face. What I wanted was to throw it in the bin. Or to toss it out of the window. Leave it for him to find and let him know he can't boss me around. Neither option was the one I chose. I looped the smooth onyx stones around my injured wrist and closed the clasp.
It fit perfectly, the gentle weight of it reassuring against my skin.
When I went to bed that night, I stuffed chairs under my door handles to keep anyone out. Whether Tommy, or the masked man, I didn't want either of them in my home. I needed space, and sleep without the worry of my home being invaded.
As I lay in bed, I twirled one of the beads around the metal beneath it, the sensation calming me.
Tommy had been uncharacteristically sweet since picking me up to attend his band mate Evan's birthday party.
The limousine rolled to a stop outside of Evan's gaudy mansion, from the outlandish statues that lined the stairs to the inlaid golden features that decorated just about everything possible. The band was doing well, but there was no way Evan wasn't up to his eyeballs in debt with the amount he must have shelled out for the vast home on the outskirts of Glasgow. It probably had a laundry list of celebrity former owners.
It was better than Tommy primarily drinking away anything he earned. Living hotel to hotel between crashing at my place. He did own a modest home, but he'd never taken me there. I wasn't convinced he had even been in it since I'd met him.
My door opened as the driver made to let me out, but before I could shimmy out, Tommy pulled me back toward him and kissed me. Really kissed me. In the way that made my insides melt. Or had.
As his tongue slid over my lips, invading my mouth, a panic filled my chest. His body pinned me and sent flashbacks of being pinned to the bed beneath bloody hands.
'I love you so much baby,' he whispered against my lips as I scrunched my eyes closed, his whisky tainted breath turning my stomach. 'You are all I need.'
I submitted to the onslaught of his kiss as he held me tight to him, my hand went to my other wrist, where the spot I tended to pick was. Instead of the rough patch of broken skin, my fingers found the smooth bracelet and I turned the beads as I zoned out beneath Tommy's tongue.
'If you ever left me,' he said under his breath between kisses, 'I'd have to find you. There's no-one else for me.'
'Come on, stop joking around and let's go in before you miss Evan's party.' I needed to get out of the stifling car.
Tommy met my eyes when he pulled away from me slightly, his hand gripping my arm so hard it made me yelp. 'I'm not joking. I'll never let you go. You're end game for me.'
I swallowed hard as that same, unhinged glaze crossed over his face. 'I know.'
'Good. Let's go get a drink.'
He slid toward the door before yanking me out behind him.
As we walked hand in hand toward the entrance, a familiar tingle travelled up my back as I searched amongst the gardens. I couldn't see my masked stranger anywhere. Was I imagining him?
