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Don’t do it.

“Follow me.”

Chapter Three

Wren

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The smell of leather and citrus stirred me awake. I moaned softly, feeling a crippling ache shoot through my entire body. It made me feel like I had been repeatedly thrown against a hard surface.

When my eyes snapped open, they latched onto a luxurious fireplace crackling hard with flames. I frowned, confused, wondering where I was.

Then the memories of last night swept through me like a tidal wave.

“Did you want to fuck him?”

“You are nothing without me.”

“Wren, get back here.”

Derek.

My eyes burned with tears. I could still feel him inside me, his hands on me, and his voice inside my head. Derek was a monster. He slowly took everything away from me, isolating me from the things I loved and knew until I ended up becoming a shell of myself.

I thought he was everything I wanted, the kind of love I had always yearned for. I was a vet tech at Covington Hills Animal Clinic. He brought his dog, Bruno, in for some treatments. I thought he was kind, beautiful, and an absolute Prince Charming. Everyone kept telling me how lucky I was after I found out he was one of the richest men in the city. It was cute at first.

I considered myself lucky until I found out that our entire meeting had been orchestrated. He had been stalking me the whole time, waiting for the perfect moment to get close to me. It freaked me out, but I was starting to fall in love with the man in the suit, the illusion he wanted to trap me in.

When he started getting restless and possessive, I wanted to leave, but he found ways to pull me back. Derek was as manipulative as he was seductive. He’d use my body against me, and I hated that I always fell for his seductions. He was constantly scared that I’d leave him. He started getting paranoid, watching me, hiring men to keep tabs on me.

That was when the monster came out to play.

Every time I complained about his obsessive methods, he accused me of having something to hide. He started snapping at me for little things, then gradually started hitting me at the slightest provocation. The first time it happened, I wanted to leave him, but he begged me to stay. He told me he loved me, that it’d never happen again.

He wouldn’t let me leave him. He claimed he loved me and that he was the only one who could protect me. I’d never find anyone who would love me as much as him.

Derek turned me into his possession and tried to get me pregnant to relish in the sick control he had over me. The only reason he made me keep my job was because he thought it’d craft the perfect image of a girlfriend who was big on caring for “helpless creatures.” He thought it’d make me likable as his woman.

A few months ago, he asked me to marry him.

I didn’t even have the guts to turn him down because of the fear of what he was capable of doing to me.

I wished I could turn back the hands of time and that I had never gotten involved with him. I had lived in his shadow for the past three years, and I knew running from him was the easy part. He would never stop hunting me, and it seemed the only way I would get out of this was if I was dead.

I glanced around again, noting where I was. The house of the scary gunman from last night. The space was furnished with a modern, futuristic touch, in tones of light gray, dark brown, and black. Glass walls strategically covered the area overlooking the front entrance, and by extension, the miles of property that stretched ahead into the woods.

What was I thinking? Letting a man as dangerous as him take me in. I stirred, pushing the large black hoodie off my body. I let out a relieved breath when I realized I was still in my silk cocktail dress from last night. He didn’t touch me, and he hasn’t tried to kill me. Maybe he was just waiting for the perfect moment to stab me to death.

Our deal was that I would stay for the night. Although heavy rain was pouring and thunder was cracking violently across the sky, it still looked like morning. I had to leave. My lungs were burning. My muscles were on fire with every step I took, but I managed to tiptoe to the door, my fingers brushing over the knob.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I flinched. Hard. I spun around with a pounding heart.

His intimidating, muscular figure had emerged from where I presumed to be the kitchen. He was almost like a panther because I was certain he wasn’t lurking around when I woke up.

“Um ... hi!” I chirped. “So ... thank you for last night, but I think I’m going to take my leave now.”