Taken By Creed ✔[Fan-Fiction]

Chapter 9 | Hotline Not-So-Bling

I stayed on that yacht for three more weeks. I left my phone off the entire time. When it beeped to life three weeks later, I had a massive amount of missed calls and texts from Eddie, Michaels, Donnie, and an old friend of my named Nichole. I went through them and responded as needed to let them know I was still alive and kicking. Well, all except Donnie. He doesn't need to know I'm alive and kicking.

I pressed send on my last text message to Nichole when he called again. His name lit up my screen and I had to force myself not answer and let it run to voicemail. He would at least know my phone was back on since it didn't go straight to voicemail. It took everything in me to steel myself against the voicemail he left during my hiatus. My screen lit up again: voicemail from Donnie.

The cab ride back to my condo was short and sweet, just enough time for me to go into the guessing game for what he left on my voicemail. When I finally made it up to my condo and I'd checked every room to make sure everything was normal and I ran back my security protocols through my A.I. I finally sat down at the island in my kitchen, pressed the voicemail button on my phone and clicked on his name. The screen popped up with a play button, little status bar and the length of the voicemail. I paused again when I saw it said two minutes.

Courage straightened my back and I pressed play, ready to hear his husky voice come through my phone. I was expecting another voicemail asking me why I'm not answering his calls or where was I.

"Stormy,"

He said his little nickname for me only once and I watched the time tick by, it got to 1 minute and 50 seconds before his voice cut through my phone again.

"I broke up with Bianca, and I just found out from Balboa that you and Eddie aren't together."

His voice dropped an octave.

"You know what that means, right?

You're mine."

And the line went dead.

I sat at my island, on the edge of my bar stool for 20 minutes trying to get the whirling under control. How the hell did Balboa know that Eddie and I weren't together? I didn't realize they had that kind of relationship. I listened to the message five more times, thinking that I'd misheard him. Surely... surely, he didn't mean that he and I would...

I started when there came a knock at my door. From my perch at the island I had a direct line of sight to the door and considered ignoring it, until the knock came again. My feet were moving on their own towards the door, my steps muted from the thick socks I wore against the marble tiles. The knock came again when I was a foot away from the door, louder and more aggressive. I reached out towards the side panel to check the camera before the voice came through the door.

"I know you're home."

"Shit." I breathed, considering just going to my bedroom.

He knocked again, "answer the door, Le." I was silently cursing at the door. I hadn't told anyone I was home and he certainly wasn't on the list to get up to my floor.

I heard his body lean against my double doors, and the deep sigh he let out. I bit my lip and reached out over towards the panel again to see my visitor. When I clicked the view button his image popped up on the screen. He was alone and he was in his workout clothes, all black with a set of white Nike's with his earbuds stretched across his shoulders and behind his neck.

I watched him pace back and forth, running his fingers across his face and hair. His muscles rippled in his back and butt when he moved. He was like a well-oiled machine. My choices were limited, and though I wasn't in the mood to talk I didn't know how long he was willing to wait outside the door. Eventually, he would have to leave to go home and sleep.

I prayed it was late enough for him to go until I plainly saw the four o'clock displayed on the digital screen below the camera image. I squared my shoulders and was prepared to chicken out! There was no way to know if I was home, my car had sat in its parking spot for weeks – unmoved. I crossed my arms and took a step back, still riveted towards the screen.

He had stopped moving and was looking down for a moment. I watched him pull the earbuds from around his neck and store them in his pocket. He looked right up at the camera, and smiled, raising his hand to the door to knock one last time.

"That red light wasn't on before on this hall camera. Open the door, Le. We need to talk."