The Prey: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance (Oakmount Elite Book 3)

In the two weeks that pass, I slip back into the shell of the girl I used to be.

I’m exhausted and so jumpy I scare myself sometimes. I haven’t slept in my room since that night. Instead, I’ve made a makeshift bed out of blankets and pillows in the closet of a spare room on the second floor. Even without windows or a way for anyone to sneak up on me, I haven’t been able to get restful sleep. The worry and fear of Yanov getting close enough that he could easily kidnap me terrifies me.

I’m in a permanent state of exhaustion with no end in sight, which is probably why I nearly trip over my own two feet and slam face-first into Sebastian’s chest. My body bounces off him and sends me backward along with all my cleaning supplies.

Bottles of chemicals and towels cascade to the floor, and I catch myself against the wall. I blink back tears when I catch sight of the mess on the floor. Deep breath. Clean it up and move on. You’ll be fine.

I suppose that would be easy enough if I hadn’t run into him. I’ve been doing everything I could to stay out of his way so that I don’t fuck up and give him a reason to send me away. Not only that, but my reaction to his presence makes me forget that we can never, ever be a thing. That no matter the attraction between us, he will always be my boss, and I’ll always be indebted to him. That, and I need his protection from Yanov more than I need anything.

“What the hell, Ely?” He jumps back. “Pay attention to where you’re walking.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” I trail off, hoping to minimize the damage. At least I didn’t ruin another one of his suits. Right?

I look up from the floor to be sure I didn’t spill anything on him and find his shirt free of any mess. Thank God.

“I’ll just clean this up,” I say, my voice shaky.

Taking a step forward, I reach for one of the many towels I dropped so I can soak up the glass cleaner, and that’s when things go from bad to worse. My foot slips through the puddle, and before I realize it, I’m flat on my back, my head bouncing off the floor. Pain ripples across my scalp, and black spots appear in my eyes.

I lie there for a moment, trying to gather my wits, my thoughts swimming, the glass cleaner seeping into my clothes. I peer up at Sebastian. His huge body looms over me, and those green eyes of his fill with confusion. His lips move, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.

A sudden rush of dread encompasses me, and when I blink, darkness overtakes me.

A man looms over me, but it’s not glass in his hands. There’s a blur; the man morphs before my eyes, and where Sebastian previously stood, now Yanov stands.

“No, please…” I croak and lift my hands to shield my face. My eyes catch on the blood that stains his tattooed and bruised knuckles. There’s so much of it. So much. The air in my lungs wheezes out of me.

I’m a shell of pain, waiting for the moment when my heart stops beating so I don’t have to endure another second of this. I can only hope death will save me now.

“You’ll never escape, never be free. You’ll always be mine,” he growls and then grips me by the hair, dragging me across the floor.

With a gasp, I escape the memory and lift my hand to press it against my cheek. Beneath my fingertips is warm skin. There’s no blood. No pain. It’s okay. You’re safe, I repeat to myself. But am I really safe? Was that a real memory, suppressed due to the trauma in it, or was that simply something my imagination conjured up, given the current events?

I can’t be sure unless I talk to Sebastian or the doctor about it, and I don’t want to do that right now.

My heart thunders against my rib cage, and I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself. Fear still has its claws dug into me, and I scramble into a sitting position, scurrying backward and sending bottles of cleaner flying. I stop once my back collides with the wall.

“Elyse!” Someone calling my name way off in the distance yanks me back to the present.

Shit. I scramble to my feet and move, focusing on cleaning up the spill. Don’t think about the memory or what happened. A dull ache forms at the back of my head. I’m still trembling when Tanya waves a hand in front of my face.

“Hello…Elyse?”

Oh crap. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

Looking up, I scan the hallway, finding Sebastian first, staring down at me. Tanya stands beside him, a bit closer to me with a confused look. “Are you all right?”

I glance side to side, anywhere but at Sebastian, and then realize she’s still talking to me. “Oh, yeah, fine. I’m fine. Just not sleeping well.”

She doesn’t respond, but then again, she doesn’t need to. The expression of disgust etched into her features is all the response I need.

I swallow the bile rising in my throat. “Did you need something?”

She waves at the floor. “Well, yes. I need someone to clean this up. How about you go get one of the kitchen staff to help you. I’m not sure what your problem has been recently, but you need to start paying better attention to what you’re doing. Otherwise, you might not have a job in this house anymore.”

The threat is clear, and I know while Tanya isn’t really my boss, she could easily convince Sebastian to fire me and send me back to my father. The mere thought repulses me. Yanov would certainly get me once I was back in my father’s care. I’d discover very fast then what’s a memory and what’s my imagination.

“Please… I’m sorry. I’m just… I’ll do better,” I squeak the words out.

Sebastian shifts, lingering in the doorway of his room. I still don’t risk more than a glance in his direction. He stares down at me just as Tanya does, and even if his eyes aren’t as cold as hers, they’re still inspecting, watching for any little imperfection.

“Stop. You don’t have to apologize to Tanya; she’s not your boss,” Sebastian orders, shoving his hands into his pockets. He seems to do that a lot, especially when I’m in the same room as him. Is it so he doesn’t strangle me? Probably.

“I understand that, but she is right. I have been very clumsy lately and forgetful, but I promise to work harder and pay better attention.” I look away from Sebastian and back at Tanya, whose eyes have only grown colder.

I hate how desperate I appear, but with the threat from Yanov hanging over my head and Tanya’s warning, I know it’ll only be a matter of time before the other shoe drops. Without Sebastian’s protection, I’m as good as dead. I know it, and surely he does, too.

Looking away, I quickly gather up the rest of my supplies.

“This is your only warning, darling. Next time, you’ll be out the door,” Tanya states matter-of-factly, and I can feel the tension rolling off Sebastian.

“Tanya,” he scolds. “Elyse isn’t any of your concern. I told you that once before.”

I duck my chin to my chest. Doing my best to ignore their presence, I work hastily to dry up the spilled chemicals.

“Anything that affects me, my home, and those I care about is my concern,” Tanya snaps at him.

“It’s barely your home, only in a legal sense, and nothing Elyse does or doesn’t do has any effect on your quality of life, so again—not your concern.”

“What do you mean?” Tanya growls, clearly insulted by Sebastian’s words. “It’s obvious something is wrong with her. I shouldn’t have to explain how I want my things every time she cleans my bedroom. Being a maid is not that difficult of a job,” she huffs. “Now she’s spilling things and making bigger messes. I’m telling you, if it doesn’t get fixed, I’ll hire someone else.”

Sebastian makes a rude noise. “Maybe have that bodyguard of yours do it. I don’t know how he can be ‘guarding’ you while you aren’t even in his presence. Then again, he probably won’t like that he can’t meddle in my business if he’s busy cleaning toilets.”

“I think you’re jealous, Sebby.” Her voice drops to a seductive tone. “Am I not giving you enough attention?”

My skin crawls, and I can feel bile climbing up my throat. It’s been clear since I started living here that something terrible happened between Sebastian and his aunt/stepmom, and every day that I’m around her, I draw closer to the conclusion that she’s the predator in all of this.

“There, all clean,” I announce and shove off the floor with the supplies in my hands.

I need to get out of here and away from these two before I vomit on the floor and make a bigger fool of myself. I’ll have to remember to try harder and complete my tasks without so many errors so I don’t risk Tanya trying to change Sebastian’s mind.

“Oh goodness, I forgot you were still there.” Tanya smirks at me, her eyes dropping to the floor to assess my work.

Yup, time to disappear.

Whirling around on the heels of my shoes, I start back the way I came, but I make it all of one step before a hand lands on my shoulder, stopping me.

The touch catches me off guard, and I twist back around, my heart racing in my chest.

Sebastian. Shit.

“Wait, we need to talk,” Sebastian says and drops his hand from my shoulder. I nod but say nothing. I doubt he wants to talk about anything good. I should probably start packing up the minuscule box of things I own and prepare for what’s to come.

My throat tightens as bubbles of panic rise slowly to the surface.

He abruptly turns his attention back to Tanya. “It’s been nice chatting with you, Tanya, but I need to discuss some things with Elyse, so carry on with whatever it was you were doing before.”

“Excuse me, but you cannot just dismiss me like that,” Tanya huffs.

“I’m not dismissing you. The conversation is over; now move along.”

Shaking her head, she sneers at me, her gaze sending pinpricks of awareness across my skin. After a second, she looks back at Sebastian, and only then can I breathe again.

“Each day, I have to wonder how you turned into the cold, callous man you are today. I know I raised you to be more respectful than this.”

“Tanya,” he growls impatiently.

“Whatever, but we’re not done with this conversation,” she warns and stalks away, but not before she slams her shoulder into mine.

It’s a miracle I keep all the items locked tight in my grip. Can’t say the same about my body since I sway like a leaf being carried away by a gust of wind.

Sebastian notices and steadies me with both hands pressing down on my shoulders.

I look up at him, trying to read his features. There’s nothing there. Not even a hint. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking when he’s wearing that stupid mask to hide his emotions.

“Uh, what did you want to talk to me about?” I ask nonchalantly, trying to act like I’m not close to my third nervous breakdown of the day.

“Did you not realize you hit your head when you fell?”

I shrug. “I did, but I was more concerned about cleaning up the mess. I don’t want to upset Tanya any more than I already do.”

He shakes his head. “Fuck her. I don’t give a fuck about the mess. You could’ve left it there; someone else would’ve cleaned it up.” The bitterness in his voice drains out into his words. I don’t tell him that I care about the mess, especially since I’m the one who made it.

“It’s okay. It’s my job to clean stuff up, and it’s done now, so it doesn’t matter.”

We haven’t talked, but maybe a few words here and there recently, more so him telling me what he needs done or what I should be cleaning, so it’s weird to have a full conversation with him right now.

“Sure.” He sighs. “How does your head feel?”

I’m confused. Why does he care? He’s bound to have some kind of ulterior motive…right?

But no…he’s not the one who left me for dead after beating me and shooting me. “Fine,” I say finally. “It feels like a head should feel.”

He nods, but he doesn’t look like he’s okay with that response. Every inch of his body is rigid and drawn tight like a bow. Shit, is he going to fire me now? Maybe he was just bringing up my head so he had something to lead the conversation with.

“Dr. Brooks wants to do a checkup soon. He asked me to ask if you remembered anything from that night or if you’ve had any flashbacks?”

I tighten my grip on the supplies. This conversation makes me feel incredibly vulnerable, but outside of Sebastian being a total prick most days, he’s never used that night against me, so I’ve never felt uncomfortable talking to him about anything pertaining to it. Not until now, that is.

I have this sudden urge to lie to him, and I don’t understand why. Fighting against it, I force the words out. “I mean, there have been some things, but it’s nothing major. I’ve been a little spacey lately.”

The flicker from earlier resurfaces in my mind.

Yanov beating me and dragging my body across the ground.

I could feel the bruises, feel the impact of his knuckles as they landed on my skin, jarring my bones, dousing my entire body in pain. It felt like a memory, as if I had experienced the events in real time.

“There’s no reason to lie to me, Elyse. If you remember something, you can tell me.”

I look up at him and stare deep into his penetrating gaze. Yes, I want to know if it was my imagination or a suppressed memory from that night, but I also wonder if that will make things worse. Because what if it was a memory, and what if what I’ve thought or come to know all along hasn’t been the truth at all?

“I’m not lying to you.”

His nostrils flare, and his mood sours instantly. “Could’ve fooled me. You act like you’re hiding something.”

I press my lips firmly together to stop myself from saying anything else. I already told myself I wouldn’t drag him into the Yanov mess, and I don’t want to discuss the memories right now. Not with how skittish I’ve been lately. He might ask other questions, and knowing myself, I’ll end up spilling everything by accident.

Lifting my chin, I give him one final, narrow-eyed look before I turn decisively and walk away. “I said I’m fine, and I mean it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”