Seductive Truths (Seductive Trilogy) (5 page)

    I relaxed back into the comfort of the bed linen as the heavenly voice of Eva Cassidy washed over me.  My eyelids grew heavy and I succumbed to a peaceful slumber.




     About to get in the bath and Zoe’s phone rung. 

    
Great!

     Grabbing a towel from the rails I wrapped it around myself and headed for the insistent ringing.

    
‘
Hello,
’
I rasped breathlessly, just making it in time before it rung out. 
‘
Zoe’s friend speaking, how may I help you?
’

     The crackling of the line was my only reply.

    
‘
Hello?  Anyone there?
’

     Still no voice, but as I pressed the phone closer to my ear I heard a wheezing breathing sound, as if whoever was on the other end of the line was desperately trying to gain their breath.

    
‘
Hello?  I know you are there, I can hear your heavy breathing.  Come on, who is this?
’

     Nothing.

     Stilted silence.

     Not even the gasping could be heard.

    
‘
Come…
’
but the person hung up before I could say more.

    
Hmmm, I wonder what that was all about?

     With a shrug of the shoulders, I shoved the incident to the back of my mind and strolled towards my waiting, scented bath water.  However, before I was able to make good on the enjoyment the phone rang again.

    
For goodness sake!

    
‘
Hello?
’
  The same thing happened. 
‘
St
op fooling around.  I swear to G
od, if this is a prank call I’ll…
’
but once again I was halted in my monologue when the connection cut off.

    
Bloody pranksters!  Sod this I’m going for that bath.

     Thankfully I was uninterrupted when I finally managed to relax and enjoy the warmth of the water lap at my skin.  The heat soothed my aching muscles as the perfume scented bath salts eased my bunged up nose.  It was a luxury I wasn’t afforded very often and basked in the moment.  But it wasn’t to last.

     Stepping out of the lukewarm water the ringing was back. 
Not again!

    
‘
What?
’
I snapped.

     The crackly line vibrated in my ears.

    
‘
This is ridiculous.  If you have something to say then just bloody say it!  I have better things to do than rushing back and forth to the phone every five minutes!
’

     Rustling of material could be heard.

    
‘
I give up.  This is pointless.  Good da…
’

     I was interrupted by a rumbling growl.

    
‘
What was that?  What did you say?
’

     A cough and then silence.

    
‘
What…

    
‘
I’m sorry,
’
the distinctive male voice croaked before he put the phone down.

     I numbly stood there holding the phone, unable to move. 
Sorry?  Sorry for what?  Sorry for something to do with Zoe or sorry for something to do with…to do with me?

     The distant humming of the dead line brought me back and slowly I returned the phone to its holder.




     Eleven o’clock in the morning and I was bored out of my mind.  I know Zoe said I could help myself, but the question was, to what exactly?  She wasn’t awash with entertainment. 

     There was nothing on TV, she had no decent book to read, I had no work to complete and as far as music went!  Half of her collection boarded on insane while the other half would have driven
me
insane.  There were only a couple of CDs that suited my taste, but unfortunately I wasn’t quite up for listening to depressing music.  I was missing Will far too much as it was.

     The way he caressed my cheek, encouraging me to wake to a brand new day.  The smile his lips would form just before he kissed me.  The look in his eyes holding so much promise for our future.  The look in his eyes the night before.

     They were so different.  I thought I knew them until then.  His chocolate brown irises turned almost coal black.  A passion of great magnitude to which the likes I’ve never witnessed, not in those circumstances.  Not once ha
d
he lost his temper with me, not like that.  It was a dark side to William I did not like and led me to wonder what
had
set it off.  The thought alone sent a shiver down my spine.

     Children’s laughter
from outside
snapped
my attention away from the disturbing thoughts.

     Stretching out the kinks from my tired body, I strolled over to the window, still covered in rain droplets after the torrential pour down of the night before.  The weather was now a complete contrast to earlier, with the sun shining and warming up the world it looked down upon. 

     With a bit of tugging here and there I managed to push the window open and a rush of warm air immediately enfolded me.  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled my troubles away. 

     Looking down onto the street below, I saw an elderly couple walking past, hand in hand, with a little dog at their side.  Approaching in the opposite direction was a youngish woman trying to control two unruly kids, without a great deal of success by the look of things.

     My gaze shifted across the road to a café opposite Zoe’s flat.  On a table outside sat five attractive women, clearly having a very animated chat and enjoying the sun while it lasted.  They were totally oblivious to the three guys on the other table eying them up.    Just as I was about to look away, one of the guys got to his feet, tugged at his shirt collar, looked back to his mates for encouragement, before he sidled over to the women.  There were smiles, laughter and shakes of the head.  Soon the man turned and walked back to his mates with his hands in his pockets and shoulders slumped. 
Rejected!
  That just goes to show you charm and looks aren’t everything.  I’d have wagered that that man’s ego was a tad deflated after that little encounter.

     A commotion further up the street caught my attention.  The pub on the corner had just forcibly ejected two very drunken men.  I estimated that the pair were in their late forties with tell-tale signs of hard physical labour (sunburnt skin and stained clothing), builders perhaps.  There was a quick (and notably feeble) exchange of drunken blows between the two, then they shook hands and stumbled further off down the street. 

     My eyes were in the middle of making their way back to the café when they caught sight of a figure in a darkened alleyway.  I frowned as I tried to focus my eyes to enable me to distinguish his appearance.  From what I could gather, he was wearing a knee length black coat with the ties hanging loose and unused at his side and the collar turned up around his neck.  I caught a quick glimpse of his hands before he shoved them into his pockets.  He had on black leather gloves.  Further down his body were dark trousers I thought to be made of denim.  On his feet were black boots.  With his coat open I could vaguely discern a light grey shirt, possibly with the top few buttons left undone. 

     With his fashion effectively analysed, it was time to take a look at the man himself.  I couldn’t see much of his face as he had on a pair of black sunglasses, but from what I could make out, it was handsome in a roughish way, with dirty blonde hair flopping down the sides.  The casting shadows caused his contours to be submerged amongst the darkness, but I was able to see he was broad shouldered and muscular.  His stature screamed masculine power and self-assurance.

     I tried to move onto my next subject of scrutiny, a young girl playing hopscotch with her friends on the pavement, but for a reason I couldn’t explain, I felt an undeniable force guide my eyes back to the mysterious man.  I looked at the place where the shadows had hidden his face and drew a sharp intake of breath.

     He was staring right back at me, sunglasses held delicately by the tips of his fingers.  My spine began to tingle as my female intuition warned me that something wasn’t right.  I wanted to yank the window shut and leg it back to the safety of the spare room, but couldn’t.  I was trapped, fascinated by his unwavering gaze.  Like a rabbit caught in headlights I was rooted to the floor next to the window.

     Just when I thought I couldn’t stand much more of the tension, he abruptly turned and disappeared into the darkened depths of the alleyway. I suddenly became aware I had been subconsciously holding my breath when I felt air rush out of my lungs.

     At that moment the shrill ringing of the phone disrupted the peace once again.

     I couldn’t take much more.  I was scared out of my wits.  Someone was hunting me.  Before I even knew what I was doing, I found myself shut away in the spare room and under the duvet cover, attempting to hide from the outside world, as my mind raced to unravel what
I had witnessed. Was this just paranoia induced by the mysterious note I had received? Or was someone playing games with me?

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

     Hunger pains woke me up around two in the afternoon.

     With all the fear and tiredness that had built up over the past few days, it was not surprising I had cried myself back to sleep.

     I stretched and wiped my tired eyes then went in search of some food.

     Nothing was in the fridge apart from coconut yoghurt (Yuck!) and some cheese so horrendously mouldy that even a mouse wouldn’t risk a nibble.  The cupboard wasn’t all that promising either as all it contained closely resembled rabbit food masquerading as cereal. 
Does she ever eat?

     There was only one thing for it.  I had to go and brave the outside world in the name of food.




     I ended up outside the café opposite the flat - the one I was spying on earlier.  In fact I was sitting at the same table those women were, but unfortunately I had no gorgeous guy eyeing me up.  In place of the cocky men was a snotty kid with ice cream smeared across his face.  Defini
tely not the type of “eye candy”
I was hoping for. 

     While basking in the last few rays of the afternoon sun, I tucked into a delicious melt in your mouth, cheese and tomato toasty and washed it down with a creamy, full fat latte.  The high calorie meal calmed me after my stressful morning. 

     However, my momentary peace of mind was soon disrupted as thoughts of Will invaded.  I remembered the times we used to meet for lunch near enough
every
day during the early stages of our relationship.  How he always insisted on paying for everything and the playful banter I initiated to persuade him otherwise.  I usually won, but he’d end up buying me a gift to make up for it.  Though not as romantic nowadays he still managed to surprise me in his own way.  With that, my thoughts drifted
back
to the puzzlement of the note.

     Looking back on our argument, I found myself wondering why he had overreacted.  Why was he being so secretive all of a sudden?  Was I reading too much into his actions?  Perhaps my own reaction had been driven by my personal insecurities, jealousy and anger. I had been angry at my fear. Angry with myself for the uncontrollable surge of lust I’d felt when the note had filled my mind with seductive images. It was my own guilt that had made me lash out at Will.  Yet I still felt that he had done something wrong, although I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

     Just then I felt my mobile vibrate.  Every part of me was wishing, no begging, for it to be my fiancé.  

     Yanking it out from my pocket, I looked at the display ID.  Not Will.  There was no number
or name at all, just the words “
1 new message
”
.  I unlocked my phone then opened the message.

     It read:
             

             
The Beauty is marrying a Beast

    
The Beauty is marrying a Beast
. 

     Those words kept on resounding through my head, terrifying me each time.  They started to blur as I stared continuously at the screen.  My eyes filled with water as they strained to see what was in front.  The world around me became insignificant and pointless.