“Needs must, my friend.”
* * *
“I’m stuck at this goddamn meeting, so I may not be home until a little after six,” Caleb tells me as I talk to him on loudspeaker as I drive.
“Is it going well?” I ask him, because I know he wants to land this account, but the boss sounds like he’s hard to crack.
“I’m still waiting for it to start, but who knows how it will go when you’re dealing with corporate arseholes who have no regard for anyone’s time but their own.”
“Remind me why you ever got into marketing when you just described ninety nine percent of the people you have to deal with?” I say with a smile.
“Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“You mean during the dark ages?” I tease.
“Oh, baby, you are going to pay for that comment later,” he says, the underlying threat doing nothing but fuelling my excitement of what he’ll do to me when he gets home.
“I look forward to it, Mr Carter,” I purr as I pull onto the driveway.
I hear him groan on the other end. “You know that when you call me that it does things to me.”
“Try to keep your focus on the meeting and I’ll be waiting for you when you get home… more than likely naked and spread on the bed.”
“Dear fucking God, woman,” he says before I cut the call and hop out of the car. Nothing like keeping him chomping at the bit until he gets here. It’ll make him all the more feral when he does.
I lean in and grab my bag and phone, locking the car and making my way to the front door. I feel good after my chat with Marcie earlier, more at ease.
I unlock the front door and then re-lock it behind me once I’m inside, stripping off my heels and dropping my bag, phone and keys on the table by the door. I know there are a couple of steaks in the fridge, so I decide that I’ll cook that when Caleb gets home.
But when I enter the kitchen, it seems my plans are about to go to shit, because sat at the kitchen table, eyes pinned on me and a smirk on his face, is Danny.
I stifle the scream that wants to rip free from my throat as he says, “Hello, little one,” and it sounds like the creepiest thing I have ever heard.
My body is rendered useless for a few seconds as my mind catches up with what the hell is going on, but then it’s like it springs back into action as I race out of the kitchen and back to the front door.
I grab the keys and jab them in the lock, ready to get the hell out of here, but it seems I’m shit out of luck as I’m about to push the handle down when I feel Danny’s hands on me, his fingers gripping mine and squeezing hard. The keys dig into my skin, and I let out a pained cry as I try to drop them but his hold on me won’t allow me to.
“Now, now, no need to be afraid,” he whispers in my ear and every hair on my body prickles from the sensation. His other hand grabs hold of my hair, which is in a ponytail, and he drags me down the hallway. I almost trip over my own feet as I scramble behind him, my scalp silently screaming as he tugs hard and quickens his pace to the lounge. And then he’s pushing me down onto the sofa and snarling in my face, “You don’t get to leave me. No one does.”
The panic that engulfs me is like nothing I’ve experienced before. He looks nothing like the Danny I once knew, and I have no idea where he’s going to go with whatever fucked up plan he’s formulated.
I remain quiet as he continues to stare at me, making me more and more uncomfortable by the second.
“Everyone leaves me, but not you. No, no. I’m going to keep you.” And then he’s swooping down and licking up the side of my cheek. I am paralysed with fear at this point. I mean, it’s like he’s turned into a goddamn horror villain.
“Danny… please—”
“Please what?” he says, his lips by my ear.
“What is this? What are you doing?” I whisper.
He stands back until he’s at his full height, and I’m thankful that he’s no longer breathing on my skin or running his tongue over it.
“You didn’t think there would be repercussions for you trying to make me jealous by fucking my dad?” he says, and I look at him aghast.
“You’re crazy,” I say before I can stop myself. He’s lost it. Totally and utterly lost it.
“Crazy for you, yes,” he says with a smile. “I know you don’t really want him. I know that you’ve only done it to get back at me, but you didn’t need to fuck my dad for that to happen.”