Chapter 16 Cat and mouse
The rehabilitation centre really is more of a resort. The staff shows me to my own private villa that has a stunning view of the beach.
Even though it's early fall, the temperatures are still warm and sunny, and I lift my face up to the sky to feel the rays on my skin.
The way Ben looked at me with anger and betrayal runs through my mind, and a shiver goes through my body.
I don't blame him. If the roles were reversed and he decided to just up and leave without telling me, how would I have reacted to that?
I'm so confused.
Of course I love him. He's been a major part of my life. I've known him since freshman year and he's always been there for me, even as a friend before we started dating.
That is the kind of man I should spend all my thoughts on.
Yet I can't shake the feelings that lingered after Black left.
Everyone makes mistakes. I made one when I didn't tell Black no. Ben never even has to know, and I should take these two months away from him to get over whatever the hell I had with Black.
I'm exactly where I need to be.
I'll return to the city healed in more ways than one.
I take a deep breath and unlock my phone. I should apologize to Ben, try and make him understand without telling him the other big reason I needed to get away from him.
But there's already a message waiting for me from the same number that texted me yesterday. I didn't reply then, but it could only be Black, so I saved the number.
"You can run, but you can't hide."
Fear and excitement slams through me, and as if he can see me, I look around, waiting for him to jump from behind the bushes.
He has to be following me. That's the only explanation for the text.
The phone vibrates in my hand again, and with trembling fingers I open the next message.
"I can't wait to catch you again."
"Who the hell are you?" I text back immediately. "I'm contacting the police, this is harassment!"
I should change my number, but that would raise too many questions with my family and Ben. What would I even begin to tell them?
"Does it matter who I am?" He taunts me. "Did it matter when I fucked you raw? Did you let Benedict Cargill fuck you after you cleaned my cum out of your hole?"
I don't answer. I can't. Something tells me Black is even more dangerous than I thought.
There's a nagging thought in the back of my mind that tells me it has to be someone I know. Because how does he know about Ben if he was just a random guy who saved me?
But who the hell could it be?
I scrapped the idea that it's a fellow dancer. That thought just doesn't make any sense to me.
But if it's not a dancer, who else could it be?
The thought that it might even be Ben has crossed my mind, but the truth is that my boyfriend's dick is not nearly that big, and Black is far more muscled than him.
So I'm back to square zero.
There's a stranger who knows my number, who knows who my boyfriend is, and who can get into my apartment without having a key.
And who now knows that I'm not home.
"See you soon, keep the bed warm for me."
The next text leaves me with even more questions.
There is just no way that he would know where I am.
The day soon turns into night, and I follow a chatty girl to the dining hall who works at the resort. She keeps on yapping about my dietary preferences, but my eyes follow every guy who might be tall enough to be Black.
He said to keep the bed warm for him.
What does that even mean? Is he going to be here tonight? Will he corner me in the villa like he did my apartment?
Or is he just calling my bluff?
"This place has great security, right?" I interrupt the girl.
"Of course!" She smiles enthusiastically. "We have security guards constantly patrolling the perimeters, too. Also, the resort is quite anonymous, we don't want any of our patients feeling like they are at risk of a fan entering or anything like that."
Of course it is. But if Black could get into my apartment, what would stop him from getting in here?
The guy is making me paranoid. There can't be a way for him to get in here.
"How does grilled salmon sound for tonight?" I follow her to a fresh fish counter where there is various types of fish and I agree with whatever she says.
Dinner tastes like a five-star menu, and she escorts me back, and I make sure all the windows to my villa are closed and the doors are locked before I take what I promise myself is the last painkillers.
I sleep like a baby, but when I wake up the next morning, the sliding door that leads to the beach is slightly open, and the cool ocean breeze blows over me.
I locked it. I even checked twice.
Air whooshes in my ears when I see the single red rose on the pillow next to me.
And I know.
Black was here.