Page 87 of Until Now
§
Five days earlier, I returned home from the office late and had an early morning flight I was not looking forward to, but duty called me down to Sullivans Island. I pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and walked into the pantry tossing leftover pad thai into the microwave. Scrolling through my phone, I swore I heard the front door open and close.
I listened for any other sound, but the house was still. Quietly, I opened the microwave door and set my phone down on the counter. I reached inside the knife drawer and gripped the wooden handle of a knife.
Tiptoeing, I glanced out of the pantry, but saw no one. The house remained quiet. The only sound thetick-tick-tickof the clock. Nothing out of place, but somethingfeltoff. Through the living room, I froze when I heard something on the stairs in the foyer. Using the fireplace to conceal myself, I waited until they reached the top of the stairs. Adjusting my grip on the knife, I stepped out and my heart jumped seeing a man.
“Damnit, Lee!” I let out the breath I had been holding. “Che cazzo?”
“Hey, Dove.” Lee stood in front of me with a wide smirk. Clean shaven and his hair gelled back, but the top buttons of his shirt undone and sleeves rolled up, he looked unusually casual.
“I could’ve stabbed you.”
“Oh, so scary.” He feigned being scared seeing the knife in my hands.
“It’s not much, but it’s sharper than you.”
Lee mocked me. “I’m just glad it wasn’t your gun.”
I hummed in response and set the knife securely on the foyer table. “How did you even get in here?”
“Time for a new hide-a-key spot.” Lee held up my spare key.
“Pretty sure I can still call the cops for breaking and entering when you come in uninvited.”
“Oh, come on, Dove. Don’t be hasty.” Lee wrapped his arm around me, but I shrugged out of his grasp.
“You need to find someone else to stalk, like your girlfriend. Remember her? About yea high, black hair, and—”
“It’s not stalking if you know the person.”
“What? Yes, it is.” I stepped back. With each step closer, I took two back. “What do you want, Lee? I’m not in the mood for your bullshit today.”
“How about tomorrow?”
“How about never.”
“I just want to talk. I heard you and Nick broke up. But, you can’t call it a breakup when you weren’t really together in the first place, can you?”
I wanted to slap the smug look off his face. “Did you just come here to insult me?”
“C’mon, I’m just playing around.”
I had run out of space, my back against the stone of the fireplace. He leaned in close, his breath fanning across my face. He placed his hands on either side of my head. This was all too familiar, like a bad case of déjà vu.
“I’ll remind you what it’s like to be with a real man.”
“You? Un vero uomo?” I laughed, my heart racing in my chest. I cursed myself for putting the knife down. “That’s cute, but I think it’s time to go home. I’m sure your girlfriend is wondering where you are.”
“Teagan and I broke up, actually.” I can tell by the way he said it, he thought it would change things.
“Oh, did she dump your sorry ass when she realized you were cheating on her?”
“I’m not…I didn’t cheat on her! What did he say to you?”
The look in his eyes scared me. I had never seen that look before, like a wild animal caught in a snare. “What are you talking about?”
“Nick. What did he say to you?” His eyes blazed.