Page 40 of Obsession

I’m so starving, my vision’s blurred. I walk up the flight of stairs, open my apartment door, then shut it and deadbolt it behind me. I breathe a sigh of relief that I’ve somehow made it this far.We do breathing exercises when we train, and it comes naturally to me when I feel the tension along my neck and back.

Deep breath in. Release.

After everything that’s happened the past few days, I feel like I need to scope my place out before I relax.

The kitchen looks untouched. Nothing out of place. I left everything locked up tighter than a drum, the windows shut and locked, the air conditioner on low. The kitchen’s clear.

The bathroom’s got a small, standing shower with a clear glass door, and it’s easy to see it’s vacant as well. Not a towel or tissue out of place.

I turn to leave the bathroom when a loud crash sounds behind me in my bedroom. I scream, swivel on my heel, and my knife’s in my hand before I’ve stopped screaming. I stand in place, my hand trembling.

“Who’s there? Come out! I swear to God, if you don’t, I’ll kill you!”

I walk into my bedroom. A light breeze flutters through an open window, a curtain dancing in the wind. No one’s there.

That’s odd. I never leave my window open. Why the hell would I forget this one?

I swing around and look at my closet, but it’s wide open and so tiny, no one could fit in there if they tried. There’s nowhere else to hide in my rinky-dink apartment.

Why the hell did I think this was a good idea again?Why?

Independence is so overrated.

There’s a fucking serial rapist on the loose, and the guy I’m working for not only has an enormous kitchen stocked with food I saw with my very own eyes, he has things like security guards and guns. Big ones.

Not the only big thing he’s got,I think to myself like a horny teen, but someone’s got to break the tension, and I’m the only one here.

“Good one, Vi. Keep ‘em rolling,” I mutter to myself just to break the silence.

I walk around my room, suddenly angry that anyone’s done anything at all to make me afraid, to think they can come into my goddamn house and hurt me. Blood pulses through my veins, boiling.

Come at me. Fight me.If even Cain Master himself took me on now, it would be a battle to the death.

“Who’s there? Come out! Come show yourself to me!”

Nothing. Not a sound. I look on the floor as something catches my eye. A picture frame’s fallen from my desk. The wind knocked it over, and here I am thinking I have a damn intruder.

I roll my eyes and pick it up. My doorbell buzzes.

Interesting. I go to the living room and push the intercom button, curious. “Yes?”

“Delivery for a Miss Price.”

Delivery?

“What is it?”

“Sake and Sushi.”

Sake and Sushi’s the name of one of my favorite places to eat. “I didn’t order Sake and Sushi,” I say, even as my stomach growls and my mouth waters. I swallow hard. Iwishthat was my order.

“Delivery ordered from a Master Enterprises, ma’am.”

No.He didn’t!

“Come up.”

I hit the buzzer, and a moment later, look through the peephole to find a delivery guy standing with an enormous takeout bag of food.

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