Chapter 28 Chapter 28
The morning started like all the others. I walked to the small grocery shop near the pier with my basket, humming a tune I’d picked up from Anika at the fruit stand. It felt like an ordinary day.
Inside, I filled my basket with the usual bread, fruit, a few tins of beans, and coffee. I chatted with the woman behind the counter and joked about how the tourists bought all the good wine. I remember feeling light. Free, even. Then I stepped outside.
It was the sound that caught my attention first. the low purr of an engine that didn’t belong here. Too smooth, too new. My eyes followed it without meaning to. A dark SUV sat across the road, windows tinted so black they looked like mirrors. The kind of car that didn’t fit in a place like this.
I froze. Just one heartbeat. Then another. My breath stopped somewhere between my ribs. I told myself it wasn’t him. Couldn’t be. It was a tourist or someone passing through. But my body didn’t believe it. My pulse was already racing, my skin prickling cold despite the heat.
When the driver’s door shifted slightly, just enough to move, I turned and walked fast. Not running. Not yet. Just fast enough to make it look like I had somewhere to be.
The air felt heavier with every step. The sound of my sandals on the pavement was too loud. I turned the corner toward the path that led up to my street. The SUV didn’t follow. I didn’t look back to check. I didn’t need to. I could feel it.
Halfway home, I broke into a run. My basket banged against my hip, the fruit spilling out behind me. The sun was too bright, my breath too loud, and the ground didn’t seem steady anymore. When I reached my porch, I fumbled the keys. My hands shook too hard to fit them into the lock. I dropped them once, twice, before finally getting the door open. I pushed it shut behind me and leaned against it, chest heaving.
I told myself it was nothing. A car. Just a car. But my heart wouldn’t listen. I locked the door, checked every window, and then sank to the floor. I don’t know how long I sat there before the shaking stopped. I must’ve fallen asleep; when I woke, it was dark out. The house was dark except for the faint light leaking in from the moon. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. Everything felt too still. Then the air shifted.
It was subtle, the kind of change that you don’t notice until your body does. The faint scent of something unfamiliar. A sound, maybe a breath, too soft to belong to the wind. Every muscle in me went tight. I sat up slowly, eyes straining in the dark. And that’s when I saw him.
He was sitting in the chair near the window, half in shadow. Still, silent, completely at ease. My breath caught; my voice was gone before I could even say a word.
“I will always find you.” He said , that same low, cold Possessive tone.
The words made me freeze.
“You can never escape me, darling. You’re mine,” he continued.
And in that moment, hearing his voice, knowing the world I’d built, the one I’d tried so hard to believe in, fell apart. He was still a shadow, he stood up and started walking towards me,and instincts had me scrambling backwards. I ran to the door and threw it open, only to be met with a wall. Two men. Their backs to me. I was trapped. When he closed the distance between us, he grabbed me, picking me off the floor. My back against the wall. I braced for it, for him to grab my throat, but it didn't happen. Instead, he leaned in and buried his face in the crook of my neck.
“Did you really think you made it this far because you escaped?” he asked, and it hit me. I was never really safe. I didn't escape him even for a second. I wanted to ask, but the words wouldn't come out.
“Beauty, the minute you climbed out that window, I knew. The second you went to that place in Argentina, I knew. I had my eyes on you the entire time.” He said before licking my neck, and my body began trembling.
“Now my question is, where did you get the money?” He asked, and I froze. If he knew Zaiel was the one that gave it to me, he would probably do something to him. He was an asshole, but I didn't want him dying.
“Answer me,” he said softer this time, but I didn’t answer; I couldn’t.
“Tessa, I am trying very hard, very, very hard, to not touch in any other way. Answer me. Where did you get the money?” He asked again.
“Z… Zaiel. He paid me. “To…” I said, and he began chuckling.
“He paid you to kiss him? Why?” he asked.
“For… a few… pictures,” I croaked out.
“So that’s what the pictures were about,” he muttered more to himself than to me.
“You will return home. And back to your job because you are fond of the woman. But you won't be living in that small house anymore. You’ll stay in the apartment below hers. I will take care of you.” He said it, and I felt the anger rise up.
“So you want to conquer me, right? you want to keep me as your fucking whore?” I said through gritted teeth.
“You are a lot of things, baby, but not a whore. I will take care of you,” he said.
“Why? So you can fucking rape me again?” I asked, and he let go of me and stepped back. I stood looking at him or what I could see of him. He was tall like Zaiel. His sinister face was hidden, even his eyes. His voice was different, even his smell.
“If you had listened to me, I wouldn’t have done that. If you hadn’t allowed another man to touch you, it wouldn’t have come to that.” He said, "ground out."
“WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I OBEY YOU? WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU BUT SOME STALKER WHO TOOK WHAT DOESN'T BELONG TO HIM?” I yelled. He made a move towards me but stopped.
“Tessa,” he began but stopped.
“Don’t say my name.”
“Are you going to return willingly, or do I have to take you back by force?” he asked quietly.
“No. “I’m not going back, never,” I said, making it clear I wasn’t returning to that life.
He walked toward me and grabbed me again, pinning me against the wall. This time he grabbed my throat.
“I gave you space and gave you freedom for a few months. I asked nicely but it seems like you dont want nice. So it’s my way,” he said as he began ripping my shirt off.
“Pl… please… don’t,” I whispered, the tears forming in my eyes, and he stopped.