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Will this nightmare ever end?
Closing my eyes, I put my hands over my ears in an attempt to drown out the hellish sound.
Fuck off, Hobbs! Just leave me the hell alone.
Finally, something inside me snaps and I decide I will not put up with this crap any longer. I will not be intimidated in my own home. Crawling on my hands and knees, I move discreetly through the hall and in one swift movement, rip out the phone cord from the socket. An eerie silence descends and for what seems forever, I stay rooted to the spot, listening for the sound of a car engine outside. But I hear nothing. Not a thing. Everything is quiet and still.
Hopefully Hobbs has gone away.
After a while, I get to my feet, dust myself off, and head towards the kitchen for a glass of water. My throat is so parched it feels like it’s on fire. Taking a mug from the drying rack, I go to the sink, turn on the cold tap and pour myself some water. Gulping it down greedily, I swiftly pour another.
Suddenly, I hear a subtle rustling noise behind me. The mug slips from my fingers and smashes to pieces on the floor. Suddenly, the room feels ice cold and without even turning around, I know that I am not alone. Beads of moisture pop out on my forehead. Slowly, I turn around and almost pass out from fright.
Alex Kingswood is standing in the kitchen doorway. He’s wearing the long-hooded cloak that partly obscures his face and at the sight of him, my knees go weak. Trembling with shock, I grip the countertop to steady myself. For a moment, we both just stare at each other, the only soundtrack in the room the distant sound of traffic. Then he takes an imperceptible step forward. Panicking, I snatch a large knife from the chopping board and wave it menacingly at him.
“Stay back!” I hiss. “Don’t you dare come near me. Don’t take another step forward or I swear to you, I won’t hesitate you use this. Do you hear? How did you get in? What the fuck are you doing in my house? Did you break in or what?”
Alex doesn’t answer, doesn’t move, doesn’t finch, just keeps his eyes locked steadily on mine, anger radiating off him like electricity.
“Answer me!” I scream. “What are you doing in my house?”
“Calm down, Jessica,” he says quietly. “Put the knife down and we’ll talk, okay? I promise I’ll explain everything but first you need to put the knife down. You must know that I mean you no harm.”
“Like hell you don’t! No, I will not put the knife down. Just stay the fuck away from me.”
“What happened to our plans for this evening? I thought we had a date?”
“What happened to Hobbs? Why are you here instead of him?”
“I suspected from our conversation on the phone earlier that you might try to bail out on me. I thought you might need some persuading to come out of your house. And it looks as if my suspicions were correct. Now my beauty, I’ll ask this just one last time. Put the knife down. You don’t want things to get messy, trust me. I’ve told you, I’m not going to hurt you; I merely want to talk.”
At last, I completely lose it. “No, no, no! No more games, Alex. I keep trying to tell you, but you refuse to listen. I don’t want to be with you, okay? I can’t be your girlfriend, I’m sorry. This relationship isn’t going to work. Now please, I’m asking you nicely, get out of my house and please just go away. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
“No, I will not go away,” he replies, his voice laced with menace. “It will never be over between us. Never ever. You’re in my head, Jessica. You’re the air that I breathe, and we have a bond that can never be broken.”
“Jesus, you really are insane, aren’t you? What are you talking about? What bond? We barely know each other.” I blow air through my cheeks. “The truth is, I’m fucking scared of you and I don’t want you anywhere near me or my family because I don’t trust you.”
“You don’t trust me after all I’ve done for you?”
“Ha! Let’s talk about what you’ve ‘done for me,’ shall we? I know everything, Alex. I know what you did to Georgina Wickham. I know it was you who set fire to her home. You threw a bloody petrol bomb! Don’t try to deny it. Did you know her arm was severely burnt in the blaze? Doesn’t that even bother you at all?”
Abruptly, he goes quiet, and his silence speaks volumes. A wave of nausea washes through me. So, it’s true. Hediddo it.Flipping hell.
“Now Jessica, don’t do anything stupid, please be rational…” Alex takes another small step towards me. With a shrill cry, I lunge forward with the knife and attempt to strike him, but he’s far too quick for me. In one swift, deadly move, he snatches the weapon, twists my arm up my back and has the knife held to my throat before I can even blink. “All right, baby,” he breathes against my neck, “if you want to play with knives—fine! We’ll play with knives.”
Quivering like a leaf, I try desperately not to move, the edge of the blade precariously close to slicing through the delicate skin of my throat. I can feel the coolness of the metal, the sharp serrated teeth that are just on the precipice of causing everlasting damage. Fuck! Closing my eyes, I exhale softly and try not to think about the enormous erection pressing up against my back. Try desperately not to get aroused by the fear…
“Okay, I admit it,” Alex whispers, his lips seductively caressing my earlobe. “I burned down the bitch’s house in retaliation for what she did to you. I have no regrets and I would do it again in a heartbeat. For making your life such a misery, that evil bitch deserved every single thing coming to her.”
“But surely you can’t think it was okay to burn down her house? What about the other people at the party? What if they’d been hurt too…?” My voice trails off.
“I followed you that night you went to the cinema,” Alex continues calmly. “I saw what those bitches did to you, heard all the shit they said about you, and how upset you were. I saw how that little prick boyfriend of hers stood you up and left you hanging. You wanted Jack so badly, didn’t you, my sweet? Watching the two of you together sent me crazy. I saw how much he turned you on, how much you wanted to fuck him, but then he stabbed you in the back, and you hated him for it. He rejected you the same way you rejected me and right now, I bet you could quite happily murder him. Don’t worry, if the bastard so much as breathes in your direction again, I’ll rip out his still beating heart and dance on his grave. Nobody, and I mean nobody, fucks around with my property, understand?”
His words send a chill down my spine. The depth of his devotion is scary, and it both excites and frightens in equal measure. Never did I dream I would ever meet someone who would be so committed to me that they would go to these lengths to settle a score on my behalf. Right now, I have so many conflicting emotions and my head is so messed up, I don’t know whether to laugh or scream.
“You’re insane,” I whisper feebly.
“Don’t play innocent with me, Jessica. Deep down, I bet you’re thrilled about what I did. You can’t tell me you didn’t once fantasise about doing something similar yourself? All I’ve done is provide you with the ultimate wish fulfilment.”
