Chapter Three
Emma awoke from another terror-filled nightmare. She sat up and looked around her bedroom but saw nothing. The chair she had lodged against her doorknob to keep someone out was still there—an extra precaution against the threat.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and took several deep breaths to calm her racing heartbeat.
When she felt steady enough, she pulled herself from the twisted blanket and walked into her bathroom.
The bright light sent a spark of pure stinging pain into her sleep-deprived eyes, making her blink several times and then squint.
She splashed her face with cold water. When the sweat was gone, she started to dry it, but stopped when she caught a glance of herself in the mirror.
“God, when did I become this shell of a woman?” She knew several factors had changed her, and there was very little she could do about anything.
The first thing that shook her world was Damon pushing her away.
She had thought they’d gone past the juvenile bully stage.
He was always at her house because he was her brother’s best friend.
She’d been in fifth grade when she first noticed him as a cute guy instead of the other people around the house.
Her girly crush had hit her hard. No other boy had ever grabbed her attention like Damon.
It was around that time he started bullying her.
He and her brother had always picked on her, but Damon took it to a new level.
It wasn’t anything traumatizing. Emma knew Damon would never do anything to piss Trent off.
But as a young girl with her first crush, she sometimes felt devastated.
The snide remarks about her bikini being too small or looking rough, and needing to stay home and sleep more.
Her emotions went from happiness at seeing and being near him to anger and then hurt.
A few times, she dreamed he was just concerned about her, but he’d say something else hurtful, and she’d be sad again.
The older they got, the more bullying took on a different level. It was still there, but it had lightened. She felt it was becoming more mature.
They’d slowly built a friendship she cherished. From the look on his face, she periodically made her think he wanted her as more than a friend. Now, they didn’t even have a friendship, and he was gone from her life.
Then her parents died, and she tried to be strong for her brother, but she could only do so much because of her own devastation and broken heart.
When she came home and stayed after the funeral, she thought Trent would be better with her there and vice versa. She couldn’t see herself going back to college and spending time with her friends. Although they were the same age, Emma had always felt older and never carefree like they had been.
After a few months, her brother brought his new girlfriend home while Emma was getting her life back on track.
She’d been so thrilled for him because he seemed content and happy.
It didn’t take long for Emma to see behind Marley’s facade.
The woman was a conniving, entitled bitch, and they quickly learned to hate each other.
Emma had thought about going to her brother and telling him, but he was just starting to be happy again after their parents passed, and she didn’t want to take that from him. She wouldn’t have hesitated if she thought Marley would hurt her brother. But right now, she still made him happy.
Also, she would step in if they got more serious and talked about a wedding. She was hoping he would see the real Marley and not the one the bitch showed most people. She talked to her brother every day, and she had not sensed any unhappiness, so she bided her time.
To make her life even more eventful, she’d picked up a stalker somewhere. It began several months, almost a year ago. It started off harmless, with notes left on her car and little poems or flowers sent to her work. It quickly escalated into threats over the phone or furious-sounding notes.
She’ll never get the sound of the distorted voice on the phone out of her mind. It appeared a lot in her nightmares.
Things had come to a head between the two when Marley found out about the man stalking her. She’d never asked how she found out because there had only been a few people who had known, and her brother wasn’t one of them.
At first, her inclination was to go to her brother for help, but Marley had pointed out she could be putting him in danger by living with him or even by telling him about it.
Emma knew she was using it as an excuse to get rid of her, but the more Emma thought about it, the more she agreed with her.
Trent was the only family she had left, and if he got hurt because of her, she’d never forgive herself, so she’d found an apartment in a secure building and moved into it.
She planned on staying there until the guy who stalked her was caught.
Trent had argued with her about moving. He wouldn’t stop questioning her and what was happening, but she couldn’t tell him.
She was basically on her own now. The police had helped as much as they could, but not until the stalker struck and got physical would they step in.
If they found out who the culprit was, it might help.
It had gotten so bad that the bank manager had asked her to move to a different bank or resign. The thought of doing either made her furious.
They had figured out a way for her to work from home, and it was perfect. She didn’t have to leave the safety of her apartment. She did everything she could think of to keep herself safe. She’d put in extra locks and an alarm if someone broke in.
She remembered that she always felt the most secure when ... he was around. She wouldn’t think of him. He was gone from her life, and she wanted to keep it that way.
Gazing at her reflection without seeing it as her memories came rushing into her mind, she had been fearless and carefree when she’d been young and her parents were alive.
The family had all lived under the same roof.
Her world had been simple back then, and she wished she could go back to that time.
Her world started falling apart at her nineteenth birthday party. That night had changed something fundamental in her, and she’d never been the same.
With each of life’s disappointments and struggles, she’d become more solitary and withdrawn from everyone who cared about her. She didn’t know how to overcome her fear enough to let other people in.
Emma tried to go back to sleep but finally gave up right before dawn and showered.
She spent the morning cleaning every room in her apartment, even though it didn’t need it, just to give herself something to do.
She was trying to get the nerve to go to the grocery store.
Jesus, when had she become such a wimp? She hated that she was letting that bastard stalker affect her this way.
The idea of getting a gun kept circling in her mind. The thought terrified her, but she reasoned it was because she’d never held one. If she were taught the right way to handle one, it would help.
Her body jerked when her phone rang. She stared at it as if it were a snake, then sighed. Because of the stalker, she was even afraid to answer her phone nowadays.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Hey, sis. What are you up to today?”
She relaxed and then cleared the fear from her throat. “I was planning on going to the grocery store. Why?”
“How about coming home? I’m going to grill steaks.”
The thought that Marley would be there made her hesitate, but she wasn’t going to let that woman keep her away from her brother. “At what time?”
“We could do a late lunch or early dinner,” Trent said.
Emma sighed. “How about a late lunch? That will give me time to go to the store before returning to my place.”
“I thought you could just stay here tonight,” Trent said. “That way, I don’t have to worry about you. It’s been a long time since we sat in the family room watching a movie and eating popcorn.”
Emma hadn’t seen him in a few weeks because he was extremely busy, and she missed him. She thought about what she needed to get done in the next few days, and all she imagined was another long, lonely weekend.
“Okay. Then we can eat at whatever time you’d like,” Emma said. “When do you want me there?”
“Come whenever. This is your home, too.”
She pressed her fingers against one temple. “I know.”
“Okay. Good. See you soon, Sis.”
Emma hung up and relaxed against the back of the sofa. She was excited to see her brother but dreaded having to spend time with Marley. She’d suck it up and deal with it. There was no other option right now.
She was not going to let that woman dictate her life.