TIFFIN 3

24

TRIGGER WARNING: There will be mentions of abuse in this chapter so beware. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read. 

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My heart still raced when I reached the house. 

Keys fumbling in my hand, I shut the gigantic door, locking it.

What in the world just occurred? Who was that with Diedre?

I shut my eyes doing my best to gather myself. I knew, without a doubt, that I'd been an idiot. The voice in my head had been warning me away and I almost got kidnapped.

Wait-

Is that what almost happened? 

No. I was overanalyzing this. There had to be a logical explanation.

No... 

There wasn't. 

Diedre had been acting odd. She shut me away in a secluded environment and did her best to keep me from leaving.

Who had been standing by her side when I left? It couldn't have been a woman unless they lifted weights for a living.

It was a man. A tall, lean man.

I shivered as I felt the door. I realized- with my heart in my mouth- that Diedre knew where I lived. 

What if she led him back here?

Oh, Hero...

If he was here, he'd snap that man's neck in half just from looking at me.

I pressed my hand to my chest, giving into my tears.

                                                              DIEDRE'S POV

"You incompetent woman!"

I shrank against my chair, the lights in the cafe as bright as could be.

"I'm sorry-" I began, but was immediately cut off by his gravelly voice.

 He was upset.

The man paced in front of me, the erection in his slacks quite evident.

"I almost had her," he said in a rocky tone, "I could practically taste her and you let her walk free."

I did my best to come up with a good response but I came up with nothing. It had been a long time since I'd seen him lash out and lose control but this...

No. He was all rage.

And he was turned on. 

Thank god I was much older than what he was looking for.

"I apologize," I whispered. "Kristina is infuriating. She does what she wants. If I had grabbed onto her, someone at the dry cleaners would have raced over here."

He narrowed his cold eyes, assessing my fear.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I don't think you refrained from fear of getting seen. No, you're much too brazen for that. You let her go because you wanted to spare her from me."

I gasped, shooting up from my seat. This was horrifying. Like some mind reader, he could tell each emotion crossing my face.

"That was hardly the reason!" I bit out. "If that were the case, I would have never brought her here. I despise that bitch. It would have made things a hell of a lot easier if she were gone!"

For a moment the man seemed eased by my response. But of course, it didn't last. He eyed his painful bulge.

"I'm going to have to do something about this." He said. "You know I hate blue balls. Unfortunately, you're not ripe enough for me."

I let out a ragged breath though I didn't let my guard down. He wasn't finished with me yet.

Turning away from me, he brandished a bungee cord, the hook hanging off the end. I scrambled out of my seat, cowering like some pathetic waste.

I knew what he intended. 

Pain. Lots of it.

"Grit your teeth," he ordered, "this will be another lesson."