After growing up with eleven older sisters and sharing a room with Savannah, she was used to always having people around. Even at work she always had something to entertain her; now, though, she had nothing. She didn’t have a job to go to, someone to talk to, therewasn’teven anything on TV to entertain her.
She glanced at the burner phone sitting on the coffee table, wondering if it was worth the risk of using. At the store, Vincent had warned her to use it only in the case of an emergency and only programmed his number into it. It couldn’t hurt to call Savannah. That couldn’t be tracked. Fiona nibbled the end of her thumbnail, wondering if she should just go to bed. Maybe make herself come. That always helped relax her and lull her to sleep.
Her gaze traveled upstairs where she knew Vincent was. She couldn’t do that with him in the house. He might hear her. How embarrassing would that be? She could just picture herself rubbing her clit, thinking about him, like she always did, and he would walk in on her, shocked. Then quickly retreat like earlier.
Hehadn’tbeen wrong this afternoon when he asked if she’d be wet if he touched her. He just had to look at her and she was, as much as it annoyed her when she wanted to hate him. Well, dislike him. She never really hated him. She always just said she did.
Dating other menhadn’thelped her get over him. The past few years had just made her more determined to prove to him she was not the shy woman he first kissed. The Congohadn’tbeen one of her finest moments, and hadn’t really shown she was grown up, but she was bound to prove she was now.
She would handle this stalker situation much better than she had the Congo and prove once and for all to Vincent that she was not a child. Vincent was convinced she was too young and inexperienced for him. True, she wasn’t wise in the ways of men, but she wasn’t a novice as he believed.
Before she went back home, she wanted to seduce Vincent. She wanted one memory to hold onto, of something that was hers and hers alone.Something she wasn’t doing to prove a point orbecause her family told her who to be with. She wanted something just for her, and this was her only chance.
Once she went back home, she would be under lock and key. Even if she tried to be independent, her family wouldn’t let her. Her family would just drag her back home where they thought she belonged until she married. Itdidn’tmatter that wasn’t what she wanted. In her parents’ house, their word was law and youdidn’tleave the house until you were married and under your husband’s law.
This was her last chance at freedom. So far, it wasn’t like anything she had imagined. The Congo had been more exciting. There, at least, she met people. Here, she was with Mr. Doom and Gloom, who was sulking in his room.
Fiona flopped back on the couch, blowing out a harsh breath. She was so bored. She wasn’t used to being so idle. Maybe she could walk the neighborhood? Then again, walking in a new place when it was near darkdidn’tsound wise.
Before she could overthink it, Fiona picked up the burner phone, her thumb hovering over the numbers, but froze. Shedidn’tknow what Savannah’s number was. Savannah had gotten a phone when she moved to Texas, but Fionahadn’tmemorized the number yet and Vincent had given her phone to Squeaker to analyze. The only numbers she had memorized were for her family, whom she had no intention of calling right now, and David.
Oh, poor David. David was of her oldest and dearest friends. He worked at her parents’ law firm. They had become fast friends and went everywhere together. He had become a lifeline when she returned from the Congo and her parents forced her to work at the law firm and give up her career at the clinic.
He knew how much that had devastated her. In the medical profession she’d been the happiest. After her parents forbade it, she’d been miserable. Helping at the firm every once and a while was one thing but having to be there day after day was torture.
Thank goodness for David. They’d kit it off when she first started helping out. When she started working at the firm full time, he’d taken her under his wing and helped make the days bearable.
She felt guilty for not telling him she had run away or where she was, but her only thought yesterday had been to run far away. She should call him and at least tell him she was alright. He was probably worried about her. He was supposed to walk her to her car last night but got tied up with a case file.
Fiona dialed his number and waited. She was discouraged when it went to voicemail. He always answered for her, but then she wasn’t calling from her phone. Maybe that’s why hedidn’tanswer. He probably thought she was a salesman or something. Fiona left him a quick message, letting him know she was okay and would be back home soon. She would have given him the number to call her back but shedidn’tknow what it was.
Fiona flopped back on the couch, wondering what she would do next, when the phone rang in her hand. She smiled when she saw David’s number.
“Hi.” She smiled into the phone.
“Oh my god, Fiona, are you okay? Where are you? I’ve been so worried about you,” David rushed out in one breath.
“David, slow down.” She laughed. David was always worried about her. He reminded her a lot of her family. “I’m fine, I just needed to get away for a while.”
“Where are you? All of your sisters have come by today, and by all, I mean all eleven of them.”
Fiona winced; she was sure it wasn’t a pretty sight. “No one was hurt, were they?” Her family took her safety pretty serious and could be a little zealous at times.
“No person was hurt.”
Shedidn’tmiss his tone. “What did they break?” If it wasn’t a person, it was an object. Her sisters were known for their tempers.
“A printer.”
“Oh no,” she groaned. “I’ll have to pay for that.”
“Don’t worry about it now. Where are you?”
“I had to get away for a while. I’ll be back in a few days. I’ve already talked to my brother, so he knows where I am.” Shedidn’tknow why she was being so secretive about her location. This was David, her best friend. He would never betray her, but shedidn’twant to risk the stalker tracking David’s phone and learning her location. Could someone even do that? Shedidn’teven know. She wasn’t tech savvy. The extent of her computer skills was related to social media.
“Why did you leave?” David asked sounding hurt.
Fiona hated herself for hurting him. That had never been her intention. “The stalker contacted me again.” She had told David about her stalker as soon as she received the first threat. He had been a great source of comfort and had even offered to hire a PI to investigate for her, but she feared her family learning of the photos too much to risk it.
