Page 153 of Healed

Ashleigh paused then, before saying, “He’s hacked into my phone?”

“It looks that way.”

“Oh, hey, Ashleigh, I didn’t know you were coming today,” Rachel said, coming into the kitchen. “What’s up with you two? And what’s all this shit?”

“Nico has left a message.”

Rachel plucked the note from her fingers and then swore under her breath.

“I’m going to ring Dante.”

She handed the note to me, and before I could stop myself, I was picking it up and reading.

Hello, princess. Glad to see you’re finally getting that therapy you so desperately needed. How flattered I am that your calls are mostly about me. Seems we both miss each other equally. I can’t fucking wait for you to come home, we’re going to have so much fun together. But since you care so much about improving your mental state first, I thought I’d help. You’re working on your grounding techniques, right? Using your senses?

Here’s something you can see—a nice Polaroid of our time together.

Something you can touch—fuck, princess, I miss touching your skin. The feeling of your warm blood on my skin. I want you to feel it, too. I want you to know what it means to me. There’s a slice of skin from my thigh inside the plastic wallet. I bet you touch yourself with it when you realise how good it feels. Fuck, I miss you.

Sick.

The man was fucking sick.

Something you can hear—your cries soothe me to sleep, princess. When I wrap the strands of your mother’s hair around my cock, jerking myself off, it’s your cries I hear. It’s your begging that gets me off. Plug the USB in. Remember us together. It’s only going to be better when we’re reunited.

Smell—you always did have the best scent. Especially when you wore that perfume I bought you. You left it behind, princess. But not to worry. I’ve sent it back to you. New and improved. Not a single drop of my obsession for you has gone to waste. Cover yourself in me, princess. Cover yourself in my desire.

And finally… Taste—fuck, I miss tasting you. Your tears. Your blood. Your sweet pussy as it reluctantly weeps for me. God, I miss you fighting it. I miss making you cry whilst I forced you to cum on my cock. I’m hard again just thinking about it. Do you dream of tasting me as much as I taste you? You always were so good at swallowing me. I’ve left you a taster. Drink it, and come back to me.

Don’t make me ask again, Gabriella.

And don’t make me fucking come and collect you.

My patience is running out.

“They’re on their way back,” Rachel said, returning to the kitchen. “Are you okay?”

I looked down at the letter, the contents of the bag on the table, and sighed. “Do you know what? Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“Really?” she asked, looking as though she didn’t believe me for a second.

“Yeah. Because this,” I said, waving at everything. “This shows a man unravelling. Unhinged and unstable. And unstable men don’t think clearly. He’ll make a mistake.”

“And when he does, Vienna will find him.”

“Exactly,” I said with a small, shaky smile.

“So, in the meantime, let’s go see about that apprentice, huh?”

I stood up on shaky legs and brushed my hair off my shoulders. I wasn’t okay. I was far from okay. But I refused to let that monster set me back again.

Chapter 47

Vienna

There was no sign of Nico.

The frustration was fuelling my anger more than anything.