Predator - A Stand Alone Suspense Romance (12 page)

“Please stop,” I croak, my lungs burning for air.

He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m not answering your question though, am I? I kept you because you have no one. There’s not a single fucking person out there that cares if you die. I saw someone who was shoved into this fucked up world to fend for herself, and she couldn’t. I saw someone who needed to be protected.” He sucks in a ragged breath and then he whispers, “I see the most beautiful fucked up woman in front of me and she’s perfect. You’re so beautifully broken and it makes me want to keep you.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t hear the words he’s saying, they hurt too much. I scoot off of the bed and walk away from Damian and his honesty.

I’m not sure what half of what he said means. I’m not sure what he feels for me. I’m not even sure how I feel about him.

I’m dead sure that I’m far from ready for any kind of relationship.

I was right. It’s time to leave.

The water is red all around me and the blood tastes sweet. I hear the familiar sound coming at me and I wait for the pain to slice into my back, but then it burns.

The sound isn’t the propellers hitting at the water, it’s skin on skin, hitting, kicking, raping. The water holds me. It starts to claw at me, groping, with long watery fingers. They’re everywhere. Inside of me, until there’s only water and nothing left of me.

There are dark clouds scattered across the heavens, the same color as Damian’s eyes. I stand at the backdoor staring up at them and I take my first step out into the backyard.

Jean is somewhere inside the house and I want a moment longer to myself after the rough night I’ve had. I walk towards the lining of trees behind the house. When I get closer I see a small creek. It’s real pretty out here and I regret not coming out sooner.

I sit down on a fallen branch and I stare at the trickling water, glistening over the smooth rocks. I close my eyes and listen to the soothing sounds all around me.

“Here you are.” Her voice shatters the peace around me and I groan inwardly. “I saw you walking this way and was hoping to find you.”

I squint up at her. She has an odd beauty. It screams at you to notice her. It’s a beauty that belongs under a spotlight. I quickly glance away. She doesn’t belong here all dressed up, with her sandals and frilly blouses. Her eyes are dark with make-up, and it brings out the blue of her eyes, but still – she doesn’t belong here.

I start chewing at the skin on my thumbnail, nervous tension coiling in my stomach.

“So what do you think of Damian?” she asks as she sits down next to me. I hate that she’s followed me out here.

I scoot up a little so we’re not too close to each other. Damian is the last subject I want to discuss with her.

“He’s nice,” I give the most average answer I can think of. It’s one of those questions I can’t really answer, because the truth is that he’s scary as fuck! He’s a killer – a monster with a heart of gold.

“Nice,” she repeats my word but it sounds different coming from her. I stare hard at the water.

“Have you been friends for long?” The words just spill out of me. I clench my fists and jaw.

“We’ve known each other for a few years now. He’s different than all the other men I know. Of course you would know that seeing as you’re living here … and all.”

I don’t know what she means and my head jerks to the side as I glance at her. There’s a faint smile around her lips, almost dreamlike.

“I met him at the bar. You know the one I sing at?” she asks. “You can say we are friends … I guess.”

I dart up. I don’t want to know what the ‘I guess’ means.

“Did you sleep alright last night?” I ask and I start to turn away from the answer coming. I shouldn’t dig. I should leave well enough alone.

“I did eventually,” she sighs and gets up too. “I…” she stutters and I have to wonder if it’s real or if she’s faking it for sympathy. “My brother got himself into a tight spot with a gang and they keep coming around the house. It’s not safe for me there. It’s real nice of Damian to let me stay until I can figure something else out.”

I don’t need to hear this. Her life does not concern me. I’m just passing through. A year from now Damian will only be a memory. I feel a pang of sadness which I don’t understand. It’s not like Damian and I are in any kind of relationship. ‘
It’s because you feel grateful
,’ I tell myself.

“Now they’re starting to phone me, demanding that I know where he is,” she goes on as if I should care. And somewhere deep inside of me I feel guilty for not caring. How stupid is that? She doesn’t care a single fuck about me. “At least Damian was there to take the call last night.”

Now I care. Why the fuck, I don’t know.

“He was so sweet,” she almost purrs.

I tell myself to walk away. Turn. Walk. Go! This does not concern me.

“It’s always comforting to be held by him.”

Finally! My legs listen and I start to walk.

“Coffee,” I mutter the word out as I leave her behind.

It shouldn’t bother me that Damian was with her last night, that he held her. He means nothing to me besides being a temporary safe haven that has reached its expiration date.

She laughs a lot for someone who’s going through a hard time. She touches him a lot too. A quick squeeze on the arm. A hug. Every time she touches him, I hate her more and more. By the end of the first day I have a bitter taste in my mouth, and it’s called Jean.

Jealousy doesn’t make you nasty. It makes you a fucking actor. It eats away at you until there’s nothing left of the person you used to be. You have to act to become someone, a better person than the one you’re jealous of. Does that make sense?

I hear him go into her room in the middle of the night. Seeing that it’s right next to mine, I can’t miss it. It’s killing me and I don’t even know why.

She’s been here four days and again Damian goes to her room. I hear her laugh and then they walk down the passage.

I shoot up. I’m out of my room sneaking down the damn passage like a criminal. It’s dark downstairs but I take the stairs down. There is a faint light coming from the living room and it lights up a small piece of the entrance hall. I peek in slowly and I go cold.

They’re lying on the couch that’s been pulled out into a bed. They’re watching a movie. I don’t know which one. She nudges him and he nudges her back. This is a side of Damian I’ve never seen.

“So you like sci-fi and fantasies.” I hear her say something about him I didn’t know. I should know that. Fuck, we’ve been living together for a while now. “Your favorite food is Thai chicken curry, and I’m keeping you to it,” she laughs again. “Tomorrow, you’ll make me some.”

Tears sting my eyes, threatening to fall.

He eats curry? He’s going to make her some? I don’t know why such mundane facts about him are affecting me so much.

“If you’ve been a bachelor for as long as I have been, you learn to cook, Babe,” he teases, and I close my eyes.

“You cook, and I’ll stick to singing,” she says.

“You do that.” He throws his arm around her and pulls her in for a hug.

My eyes are glued to them as they laugh and joke. I’m jealous of the friendship they have.

“Come, back to bed with you,” he says, and I turn and run.

I run for the bathroom and I quickly close the door, leaving it open only an inch. I stand with a thundering heart and huge eyes.

I hear her door close but not his. I only hear her door close.

I slide down the wall until my ass hits the floor. After a few minutes, I lie down and place my hands over my ears, just in case. I don’t want to hear them fucking.

Something nudges at my shoulder, waking my aching muscles.

“Cara?” I open my eyes and I stare at the bathroom tiles. Shit! I fell asleep on the floor. I pull myself up against the basin, feeling groggy.

“Are you okay?” Damian asks. I can feel his eyes burning a hole into my back.

“I’m fine,” I grumble. I wipe the sleep from my eyes. I open the warm water and wait a second for it to run warmer before I splash some over my face. I fall into my morning routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face.

“Cara, it’s three in the morning. What have you been doing in here?” I hear actual concern in his voice. Even that hurts.

I finish drying my face and turn around and without a glance in his direction I push past him. How do I explain to him what I saw? How do I explain that I’m jealous of a stupid friendship?

I go to my room and crawl into my bed because I’m still tired.

The next morning I oversleep horribly.

I get up and quickly drag on a pair of jeans.

I’m fine. I’m a survivor. I’ll make it on my own. I will my heart to beat stronger.

I’ve just put on a bra when he knocks. I grab a shirt and don’t bother answering. I have my back to him as he comes in. My hands are cold against my skin as I pull the shirt over my torso.

“I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s eating at you,” he says.

I pull on my sneakers and then only turn to him. “Nothing’s wrong,” I snap irritably.

“What the hell crawled up your ass?” he snaps

“Her!” I shriek. “The woman you have under the same roof as me.” I’m going to lose my shit right here. I’m going to go fucking crazy. “I saw the two of you, Damian. I fucking saw you and it’s total bullshit that she gets to see that side of you.” I straighten my back and take three deep breaths.

I close my eyes and will myself to calm down. I won’t crack. I won’t break. Not over her and him.

When I open my eyes, he’s standing in the exact same spot and his face is giving nothing away. Always the cold killer when it comes to me.

“You know what? Screw this shit. She can have you. If I meant anything I would’ve been your friend. I would have been the one you were lying with, talking to, watching a movie with. It’s obviously not the case. I’m just a mess you have to clean up, right?” I finally finish.

“We’re just friends,” he starts.

I shake my head hard. “And we are not. Don’t keep your friend waiting.” With every word I say a piece in me shuts down, becoming stone again. I don’t even know why I care what he does.

‘You thought you finally made a friend, you idiot!’
a voice taunts me.

“So I’m not allowed to talk to other women?” he snaps, clearly upset with me.