Seductive Truths (Seductive Trilogy) (6 page)

    
Then the questions began to form, one right after the other leaving me no room to think.

     Why would someone send such a text? 
Who
would send such a text?  What was the text about?  Was it relating to Will and I?  An ex-girlfriend of his perhaps that somehow found out we are engaged and decided to send jealous messages in an attempt to scare me?  But how would she have gotten hold of my number?  Why is this all happening to me?
  
I just want things to go back to the way they were!

     Slowly looking up ahead of me my eyes caught a movement further down the road and I realised it was that same guy in the alleyway, in the same place, leaning against a wall.  My heart leapt into my throat and I almost dropped my mobile phone, but before I could think on my actions I was already half way down the street running towards him.

     My eagle eyes never left his person and watched his every move.  As I drew closer, I saw him start.  He abruptly ran into the darkness of the alley.  I turned the corner to follow him but he had vanished into thin air, like he had never been there in the first place.  The only thing that marked his presence was a hip flask at my feet.

     While trying to regain my breath, I peered into the dirty alley to see if I could spot anything resembling a human being, but all I discovered was a big, green dustbin, some scraps of cardboard boxes and a leaky water pipe.

     I bent to retrieve the hip flask and after dusting off the dirt, I walked into the light of the busy street to take a closer look.

     It was silver in colour and could have easily fitted into the pocket of the black jacket he was wearing.  It was smooth to the touch and I felt oddly intimate with the guy as I stroked my fingers delicately over the surface. 

     Slowly turning the object over in my hands I came across the initials G.H. on the bottom followed by a short message,
‘
Drown the Devil in your sins.
’

    
Odd inscription
briefly crossed my mind before it wandered back to the initials.

     Had to mean a name, but what?  George, Gerry, Guy something or other?

     I took one last look into the alley before making my way back to Zoe’s flat.




     I was in the middle of watching Bridget Jones’s Diary (after finding it rammed at the back of Zoe’s cupboard) when the woman herself came through the door.

    
‘
Hi!
’
I called out. 
‘
How was your day?
’

     Chucking her bag on the floor, she replied,
‘
Exhausting and frustrating,
’
then disappeared into her bedroom.

     Five minutes later she returned wearing blue baggy trousers and a baggy white T-shirt with
“My eyes are further up”
written across her chest.

     I managed to get out,
‘
So what happened?
’
before she disappeared into the kitchen.

     Thinking she was going to put the kettle on I started to call out if she’d make me one, but half way through she came back in with two wine glasses and an unopened bottle of red Shiraz.

     Gazing up at her with a smirk I said,
‘
I thought you didn’t drink during the week?
’

    
‘
As of today I do.
’
  Zoe plonked herself down on the sofa next to me. 
‘
I forgot I had this movie.  Where did you find Bridget?
’
she said while picking up the DVD case.

    
‘
At the back of that cupboard over there.
’

    
‘
Ah, the one filled to the brim with junk.  No wonder I haven’t been able to find it.
’

    
‘
So?
’

    
‘
Hmmm?
’
she turned her eyes to me.

    
‘
What’s with the wine?
’

    
‘
I fancied a drink.  Is that a crime?
’

    
‘
Not a crime, just suspicious.
’

    
‘
And what’s suspicious about having a nice, relaxing alcoholic drink after a long day being trapped inside a stuffy office?
’

    
‘
Nothing if you were anyone else.  However, the fact that you don’t usually drink in the week and you despise red wine and only stock it because you know it’s my favourite, kind of gives me a hint something isn’t quite right.
’

     She turned her eyes to the wine bottle, sighing as she unscrewed it to pour.  After handing me a glass and taking a sip of her own, she leant into the back of the sofa and closed her eyes.

    
‘
I’ve ended it with Mark,
’
she blurted.

    
I wasn’t even aware she was seeing him, not in the traditional sense at least.

    
‘
Was there anything to end in the first place?
’

     Snapping her green eyes on me she replied,
‘
What do you mean?
’

    
‘
Well, you weren’t exactly a couple were you?  You’ve only known him a few days.  I wouldn’t have classified that as an item.
’

    
‘
When you put it like that I suppose you’re right.
’

    
‘
So what forced you to
“
end it
”
?
’

    
‘
I’ve been thinking a lot lately since his behaviour the other night.  There’s something about him I don’t trust.  A dark side I’m uncomfortable with.  I can’t pinpoint it exactly, just feel.  In all honesty, he scares me.  The sex was mind blowing, can’t complain in that department, don’t think anyone could, but even that was too intense.  There’s something powerful waiting to burst out and I don’t want to be in the firing line when it does.  It’s not me.  I can’t cope with a man like that.
’

    
I could
sprang from the depths of my mind. 
Where did that come from?
  I hastily took a mouthful of wine to cover up the sudden heat that flamed my skin.

    
‘
I phoned him while at work.  The conversation didn’t last long.  Thinking back, there wasn’t really a conversation.  I said what I had to and he simply grunted and hung up.
’

    
‘
Well, to me, it sounds like you did the right thing.  He’s not worth your time and effort.  There are better men out there for you.
’

    
‘
Thanks Alex,
’
and a weak smile appeared on her tired face.

    
‘
Right,
’
I said as I patted her leg and stood up. 
‘
I suggest we drink our weight in wine and listen to some of your bizarre taste in music.
’

    
‘
Sounds like a good plan, but first I’m going to open the Sauvignon Blanc.  How you could drink this vile red stuff I do not know.
’




     Ten o’clock came and went, along with the two bottles of wine.  By now we were feeling rather mellow and our vision hazy.  A couple of times that night we had bumped into each other and fell over laughing.  The music was blaring and we were attempting to sing along.

     So consumed in our reckless behaviour we did not hear the fierce pounding on Zoe’s front door, not at first.  Yet it got to a point where it was so forceful I thought the door was going to come off its hinges.

     With the music still booming, Zoe stumbled across the room to answer the violent thumps, knocking a few objects onto the floor as she went.

     All I heard were mumbled shouts.  Jerkily I strolled over to the CD player and turned the music down.  That’s when it happened.

     Zoe was almost thrown back into the room, landing in a heap of drunken mess on the floor, followed by a raging black alpha male storming towards her.

    
‘
I told you not to touch me,
’
he growled.

    
‘
I-I…
’
Zoe whimpered, struggling to get to her feet.

     Sobering up almost instantly and anger streaming through me, I launched myself over to them and feebly latched onto the man’s shirt sleeve and hauled him backwards.

    
‘
Leave her alone!  You have no right to…
’
but my tirade cut of
f when his stee
l eyes struck mine, holding me in place.

     My breathing hitched as he took a step towards me.  My heart switched to overdrive, pumping fiery liquid around my body, blood vessels pulsating.  His eyes unnaturally drew me in a way I was unable to control.  Unconsciously I licked my lips as my eyes strayed towards his parted mouth then back to his mesmerising pools.  I was overcome with this want to do something, anything to ease the ache forming between my legs.

     And then it hit me, shocking me back to reality.  This was the guy from the alley.  Zoe’s mysterious Mark was the same guy I spotted lurking in the shadowed alley.

    
‘
It’s you…
’
I whispered but was immediately distracted by the direction of his gaze.  He was looking at something over my shoulder.  Whipping around I saw it.  The hip flask I left haphazardly lying on the corner table.   

     The moon’s rays bounced off the shiny silver, tormenting me, mocking me.  It was a beacon of light calling out to be held, cherished.

     Silently Mark walked over to the object, carefully picked it up, and observ
ed for a brief second
before pocketing it in
h
is trousers.  In the next moment he had stealthily brushed past me and disappeared out of the door, eyes trained on the floor all the way.

     Feeling my legs about to buckle I lowered myself onto the sofa and a wracked sob quaked my throat.    




     During my encounter with Mark, Zoe had made her way, albeit unsteadily, to her room unnoticed and that was where I found her ten minutes later, fast asleep, the alcohol finally taking effect. 

     Looking down on her as she slept she appeared every inch an innocent child in a woman’s body.  My heart silently cried out for her.

     After pulling the covers up and around her I settled on the edge of her bed, one hand delicately stroking through her hair while my thoughts drifted to what had occurred that night.

     So many conflicting emotions sparked through me.  Pain and pleasure, fear and want, strength and weakness, all fuelled by one man.  Who was he?  Why had he entered my life?  What is it about him that made me react the way I did?

     My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my mobile.

     Quietly shutting the door, I ran over to the kitchen table and rummaged through my bag.

     It was William.

    
‘
Hello,
’
I whispered.

    
‘
Hello Alex,
’
the familiar, masculine voice echoed from the other end. 
‘
I miss you.
’
  That did it.  Silent tears trickled down my cool cheek. 

    
‘
I miss you too.
’

    
‘
Please
come home.  I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to snap, I never meant any of the hateful words I said.  Please baby I hate arguing with you. All it causes is hatred towards myself.  Say you’ll come back, my arms are empty without you.
’

     My heart constricted with emotion, every feeling I held for him, all the love, the worry, came flooding back.  The fear niggling at the back of my mind was overlooked.

    
‘
The last was a bit corny, but yes, I’ll come home.
’
  I smiled through the tears.

    
‘
Can I come and get you?  Are you at Zoe’s?
’