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I walk to the windows and draw the curtains. I can’t shake off the feeling of being watched. I turn on every light as I move through my two-bed apartment. One room has a single bed and a treadmill. The other has a queen bed, and I love my own space away from my mother. I return to the main living room and click on the electric fire. The flames pop up behind the screen, and heat immediately emanates from it. The complex is fairly new, and each apartment is decorated with all the up-to-date modern conveniences. My favorite is my large American-style fridge. I open the door and take out a bottle of Prosecco. Taking down a wine glass, I fill it and take a deep gulp. As I glance around my living space, my body seems to slump.
Daniel O’Reagan. I thought I’d never see him again. I go through our interactions and linger longer than is normal on the kiss. I guess he kisses all the girls like that. Makes them melt at his feet. Since my mother and uncle shipped me to England to start a new life, I’ve barely had anything that resembled a normal relationship. How does anyone compare to him? I finish the glass of wine, but it doesn’t settle my nerves. My stomach hasn’t settled either. Butterflies are putting on the performance of their lives. I shake out of my jacket.
My phone dings, and my heart jumps. Fishing the phone out of my bag, I open the message from an unknown number.
This isn’t over.
Three words that send my heart crashing and a spike of fear through my system.
It never was over, Daniel. Not for me, anyway. I’m staring at his message when a loud bang rattles my front door. I’m clutching the phone and staring at the door.
Did he follow me home? With a hammering heart, I walk to the door and hope against all hopes it isn’t him. I don’t think I could resist him if he was here in my home. I barely escaped his kiss.
CHAPTER SEVEN
DANIEL
AfterLilyleaves,sodoes her so-called friend Jonathan. She refused a lift from my driver. Her pride won’t last long.
“Keep an eye on things. I have to step out for a while.” I tell Franko, my right-hand man. Tonight is opening night, and I had no intentions of leaving, but I don’t like the idea of Jonathan following Lily home when one of my security overheard her saying no to him already. I’d have to teach him a lesson.
My driver followed her home to an apartment complex on Boyne Road. My phone dings as I get into my car.
I have Jonathan.Should I hold him until you get here?
I stop at a set of traffic lights on Dublin Road.Yes. I’ll be there in five minutes.
I put the phone down as the traffic starts to move again. The cars move in a steady line. There aren't many out at this hour of the night. When I pull up across the road from the complex, I spot my driver’s car parked along a curb. I get out and lock my car before jogging across the road. I open the back door and slide in beside a frazzled Jonathan.
“This is kidnapping,” he says the minute he sees me.
“You aren’t a kid. And this is a warning. You stay away from Lily.”
He glances at the dark-tinted window that divides the driver from us before his gaze shoots back to me. “I work with Lily. We are friends.”
I grin. “That sounds like a no to me.”
He swallows, and I want to throttle him, but I restrain myself for a moment. “This is how it’s going to go. My driver will take you home, where you will lie in bed and think about my warning. Understanding that this could go two ways, the other doesn’t end well for you.”
His face turns red with anger, but he wisely keeps his mouth shut.
“Are we done here?” He asks.
I smirk. “For now.” I get out and close the door before tapping on the roof. Walking to the footpath, the car pulls away with its cargo in tow. I hope he heeds my warning and leaves. I enter the apartment building and don’t like how the access to Lily was so easy. The doors to most apartment complexes are normally locked, but someone has left it open. I close it behind me and glance at the long row of mailboxes. I search for Lily’s name and find her. Thankfully, she had informed me she was using her mother’s maiden name, or I wouldn’t have been sure if it was her apartment.
Floor four, apartment number six. I take the elevator to the fourth floor, and I have an excitement buzzing in my blood at seeing Lily again. That kiss was only the start, and I always finish what I start. The doors slide open, and I enter an empty but well-kept long corridor. Overall I don’t mind her staying here. I’m not happy about the front door being left open, something I will have to speak to the complex owner about. I don’t like the thought that Lily could be accessed so easily.
I stop at her door and knock. It doesn’t take long for her to open the door. Shock is visible in her widening gaze.
“What are you doing here?” She steps closer and glances out into the hallway. “How did you even know where I lived?”
I ignore her questions and have this eagerness to see her home, to learn everything I have missed about her.
“Are you not going to invite me in?” I ask.
She folds her arms over her chest. “If I say no….”
I tilt my head and pretend to ponder the idea of not being let in. I could walk right in, but I want to give her a moment to make the right choice.
