CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jack
A couple of weeks later, Daisy presented her plan to the board.
Just as I’d thought, my family loved Daisy.
After she presented her ideas about marketing to a new female demographic for CaveSphere, my brothers and sister insisted on hiring her.
My sister Laura, especially, was happy to have her aboard.
We’d used an outside marketing firm for ages, and she’d never been pleased with how they’d handled our account.
She wanted Daisy’s help building our own marketing department from the ground up.
Daisy was overwhelmed, but excited, and her days became a lot busier as she studied for her last classes before she earned her degree and began working at Lancaster Games.
I also worked like mad, inspired by Daisy’s ideas and my own imagination.
It was like it always was with me when I’d been stuck over something with the games before.
I would go weeks without working on the game much at all, unable to do anything besides stare at a blank screen.
Then, when hit with a new idea, I couldn’t stop working.
I’d spent less time with Daisy because of my frenetic pace as I worked almost around the clock on the changes she’d suggested.
She was busy, too, of course, getting ready to sit for comprehensive exams she had to take before graduation.
I still spent at least part of every night with her, though.
I had to make sure she was okay. I knew the stalker was out there, and I couldn’t handle thinking she might be in any kind of danger.
And I wanted to fuck her.
“Jack?”
My grandma’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts and brought me back to the meeting we were having.
“What?” I asked quickly, hoping no one could tell I’d been thinking of what Daisy and I had been up to the night before.
God, that girl could suck my cock like nobody’s business.
I adjusted myself and forced my thoughts anywhere else.
I couldn’t be thinking about that while my entire family was staring at me.
“We were just discussing Daisy,” my oldest brother said, a smirk on his face like he knew exactly what I’d been thinking about.
“She’s the best thing ever,” Laura said.
“I’ve been after y’all forever to hire an actual marketing department onsite.
My job is public relations, and I was tired of getting stuck with tasks that should be handled by a marketing team.
” She gave me a sharp look. “You better not mess things up with her, little brother. No more of your…” she glanced quickly at Grandma, Mom, and Dad, “… flirty ways,” she finished lamely.
Everyone knew what she wanted to say. That I better not fuck things up with Daisy by fucking some other woman.
I couldn’t come on too strong about my feelings for her, not wanting to tip them off any more than I already had about how much I liked her.
“I’m good. I have no desire to go out with anyone other than Daisy. ”
“I don’t blame you a bit,” my single brother, Ben, said. I had to restrain myself from growling at him.
Tallon laughed at my reaction, covering it with a well-timed cough, but not hiding his grin.
I rolled my eyes skyward. “I’m about done with the mock-ups you asked for of the new character,” I said to Laura.
Everyone nodded. They knew how I worked.
“Good,” she sighed with relief. “I booked Salazar Nights months ago for the hype party next week. I was starting to worry you wouldn’t come through for me.”
“And look,” I said smugly, sitting up straighter in my chair and pushing some glossy photos her way, “I came through bigger than you could have hoped for. Instead of just me standing up at the podium and talking about the timeline for CaveSphere 4’s release, I’ll have something of actual substance to say. ”
Laura smiled. “Good, that’s great…” she paused and looked up at me after flipping through the images.
“What? You don’t like the character?”
“No, I do. It’s just,” she held them up for everyone to see, and I heard several sharp intakes of breath around the table, “does Daisy know you basically created her?”
I stared at the photos, only just now seeing it. “Jesus,” I said, rubbing a hand over my jaw. “I did, didn’t I?”
“One hundred percent,” my dad said, and everyone else nodded.
“Huh. I intended to base it on her… but I never meant for the character to be her twin.” I stood up, put my hands on my hips, and looked out the back windows of the conference room.
For a moment I wished I was bobbing around out in the waves far below like some of the happy tourists I could see dotting the surf.
I gathered my thoughts before turning back around.
“So, is the resemblance enough that I need…”
“To warn her before the character unveiling at the hype party?” Grandma asked. “Yes, Jack. You can’t just spring it on her there in front of West Bay’s elite.”
I glanced around, saw that everyone agreed with her, and nodded.
“And have you told Daisy about the event? She is going to be your date, right?” Laura asked.
“Um… no and yes.”
My mom motioned with her hands for me to keep talking.
“No, I haven’t told her about the event, and yes, she is going to be my date.”
A look passed between Laura and Mom. “She needs a very special dress, Jack. She can’t just show up wearing a normal cocktail gown. You have to let her know so she can shop and a seamstress can make any alterations quickly.”
I waved my hand. “That’s nothing. I’ll just pay extra.”
“Son, you can’t just throw money at all of your problems and expect them to go away. Not to spout a cliché, but money doesn’t buy everything.” Dad frowned at me.
I knew that was true. If it did, I could buy myself some sort of cure for my anxieties. But even medicine didn’t seem to help me. Not completely.
Though, I thought to myself, my anxiety had seemed less pronounced since I’d been with Daisy.
“I’ll tell her tonight,” I assured them. “About the dress.”
“And that you copied her likeness for the new CaveSphere character,” Laura prodded.
“Right,” I said, even though I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to give her a heads up about that.
I’d gotten to know Daisy over the past weeks and months, and I knew she would try to make me change the character if she knew it was based on her.
She wouldn’t want the attention. But if I unveiled it to her at the hype party?
She wouldn’t have a chance to change it.
Media coverage would’ve already blasted the new character’s likeness far and wide.
I liked that idea better. Because I wasn’t changing the character.
I wanted it to look just like Daisy, so super hot, and I’d given her strength, humor, and intelligence, too.
I’d actually made her a good match for the main male character in the game.
Instead of just the physical beauty that Seraphina had, Flora, the name of the new character, had it all.
Beauty, a great body, kindness, intelligence, fortitude…
everything a great character needed to become a game favorite.
***
I stopped off at the Estates at South house to pick something up and stopped by my camera room to see if Daisy was home from classes yet.
I dropped the binder in my hand when I saw the same mysterious character hanging around outside her condo as before.
It was weeks since he’d been there, but I’d recognize him anywhere.
Again, he looked up at the camera, his face blocked by his hat.
Whereas before he’d seemed cocky, as if he had something over on me, which spoiler alert—he had, this time he was agitated.
He paced back and forth in front of her door.
He stopped to knock now and then, but there was no answer.
My eyes flicked to a different screen, and I was horrified to see that Daisy was at home.
She was leaned against a wall, sitting on the floor, her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking. She was crying.
This fucking bastard!
I grabbed everything and ran, hurrying to the old Camry parked in the garage.
I’d walked over, but I’d be driving back.
I wanted to catch this son of a bitch. Or at the very least, I would catch Daisy before she could hide her fear.
I’d make her tell me what was going on. That way it wouldn’t alert her that I already knew she had a stalker.
Another stalker.
I drove as fast as I could over to Salazar Heights, parked, and practically ran up the back stairs. I used my keycard to access the stairwell. I didn’t want to alert the stalker by showing up coming out of the elevator. I’d come from around a corner and surprise him.
But when I rounded the corner, the surprise was on me.
He was gone.
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath, wanting to punch a wall. I restrained myself and fumbled my keycard in my haste to get to Daisy. I needed to catch her while she was still crying, or, at the very least, upset.
I burst through the door, and she looked up at me in horror. Tears were streaking down her beautiful face. “What are you doing home so early?” she asked, wiping her face the best she could.
“I wanted to see you,” I said lamely, not having thought of an excuse on the way over. Why had I not realized she might have asked that? I got down on one knee next to her. “Hey,” I said, wiping her tears away as I pulled her into my arms. “What’s wrong?”
She looked up at me, her eyes greener than I’d ever seen them. “I…” I could practically see her mind racing as she tried to come up with a lie. Finally, she sighed, a large, heaving sigh that seemed to come from her toes, and told me the truth. “I have a stalker,” she admitted.
“What?” I did my best to sound authentic, but I’d never been known for being a good actor.
Luckily, she didn’t seem to notice. “Yes,” she choked out, “it’s been going on for months now, and I don’t know who it is.
It’s, um, actually one of the reasons I signed up to be in the auction.
I know he spied on me at Cinnamon House, and I was trying to protect the other girls by moving away.
I thought he’d leave me alone once he saw I was in a relationship. But he’s still following me.”
I sat down heavily beside her and pulled her into my lap. “Like, on campus, or…”
“Everywhere,” she said, sounding desperate, heartbroken. “He knew we were in Savannah, he knew we bought a new computer, he sends me flowers, he texts me, he sends me notes.” She glanced at me. “And they are fucking crazy. Like, scary crazy.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my blood going cold. “Show me.”
She got up, with my help, and walked over to the console table where a fresh bouquet of flowers lay. Next to it was a plain, square envelope with her name typed on it. “Here.”
I opened it.
Pretty Girl,
I can’t wait to play with you. It won’t be long now. Do you like games? It doesn’t matter—you’ll play mine. And you’ll like it. Or you’ll scream louder. But that’s okay. I like the screams.
I love you.
I hate you.
You’ll be mine soon.
I stared at her. “What the actual fuck?” This was so much worse than I thought.
She nodded. “I know. It’s bad.”
“We’re not putting up with this shit.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed the mayor. I wouldn’t say we were friends, exactly, but he did like the prestige and tax dollars my video game empire brought to West Bay.
“Reynolds? I need you to get over to Salazar Heights as soon as possible.” I gave him Daisy’s condo number.
“Well, hello, to you, too, Jack. Always nice to be the recipient of your social graces,” he laughed. “I just finished fucking my wife. Care to tell me why I need to leave her arms to come see you?”
I heard his wife, Nadine, exclaim in horror in the background. “Don’t tell anyone that!”
Reynolds laughed softly.
“It’s about Daisy. She has a stalker.” I knew that Nadine and Daisy were friends, though they hadn’t seen each other much since the newlyweds had gotten back from their extended honeymoon.
“Dammit.” That got Reynolds’ attention. “Hey, give me twenty minutes, okay?” He hung up.
“What are you doing? I don’t want to bother them, they just got back…”
I pushed her against the wall gently and held her face in my hands. “You matter, Daisy. You have a lot of people who care about you, and we all want to protect you. Let us.”
Her eyes got wide at the intensity in my voice, but she nodded and even gave me a little smile. “Okay. Thank you.” She crumpled against me, letting me hold and comfort her.
I was going to take care of this, no matter what it took.