12. Watching

Raelyn’s pov

As soon as I put my key in the door downstairs, I felt uneasy.

The glimmer of hope that I had felt during lunch disappeared, and instead dread began flooding my mind.

It wasn’t just my mind. My hands were shaking as I walked up the stairs. I could have taken the elevator, but I was delaying going home as much as I could.

I was out of breath when I reached my floor, but I would have walked another ten more floors if it meant not having to go back home.

When I reached our apartment door, I was full-on sweating, my heart racing, and I was on the verge of tears. I wasn't sure if it was my bad physical condition or my nerves.

My mind was racing. Something was wrong. Everything was wrong.

I had made a mistake. Dylan would know about our lunch, and he would see it as a betrayal.

It is a betrayal. I had lunch with another man. I let Torin compliment me and pay for lunch. I let him hold my hand. I allowed his leg to touch mine.

It was wrong. So wrong.

When my phone began to ring, I dropped it out of fear. There is only one person that calls me, and it’s Dylan.

But I knew that not answering was so much worse. Avoiding the inevitable would only make Dylan more angry.

I sat on the floor, feeling like if I got up my legs would crumble, and I took a deep breath as I answered the call.

“Lyn…”

God, he sounded so cold. I would rather he shout at me.

“Yes, Dylan?” I carefully replied, trying not to sound scared.

“Why did you go into my office?” He calmly asked. How did he know?

“Torin came by.” It was best not to lie. If he knew I went into his office, he probably spoke to Torin about the laptop. “He needed your laptop, and it was the only place I hadn’t looked at. But I didn’t touch anything.”

“And then you left with my boss. Why?” It felt like I was being interrogated by the police.

Should I tell him the truth? I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep Torin for myself. If Dylan found out I had a friend, he would take him away from me. Who knew what Dylan would tell Torin to make him back off?

He’d make Torin hate me, and the thought of Torin hating me broke my heart a little. I needed Torin to like me for some reason that I couldn’t explain. I was willing to risk Dylan's wrath to achieve this.

“I walked Torin out and then decided to go for a walk. I didn’t go outside for the last few days and wanted some fresh air.” I explained.

He scoffed, “you left to go for a walk? Then why did you change your outfit?”

Change my outfit?

I could explain how Dylan knew I went out; if he watched the doorbell footage, he could have seen me and Torin walking in the hallway. And Torin could have told him about the laptop, but the rest?

Was he watching me?

“How…?” I asked, knowing it would anger him.

“Do you really think I still trust you after you stole my money?” Dylan replied. His voice terrified me. “Why are you sitting on the floor like a child? Get the fuck up and stop acting like a baby.”

I looked around, wondering where he put the camera. He must have put a camera somewhere.

Dylan began to laugh, “look at you, Lyn… You look so dumb right now. I’ve been able to watch you whenever I wanted to.”

I had so many questions, but I knew asking them would lead to problems. How long had he been watching me? Where are the cameras? Are they everywhere?

Is anywhere safe anymore?

I didn’t want to give Dylan the satisfaction of watching me cry, but I couldn’t help myself. I felt so violated. This was supposed to be my home too.

“Ah, you’re so pretty when you cry.” Dylan taunted me.

Quickly I wiped away my tears and got off the floor, walking to our bedroom. I needed a shower. I needed to think. “I’m sorry, Dylan.” Not even knowing what I was apologizing for.

“So, how was lunch? Or did you skip lunch and go straight to an hotel room?”

I froze. He had heard and seen everything. There was no point in lying.

“We went to lunch and that's it.” I replied. “I only went because he’s your boss. I thought maybe I could help, -“

“I don’t need your help,” he sneered. “How could you possibly help me?”

“I just told him how motivated you are and passionate about your job,” I tried. I had hardly spoken about Dylan at all during lunch.

He scoffed, “you can’t be that naive to not see he wants to get inside your pants, Lyn.”

“We just ate something, and then he brought me back here, I promise.”

“I know when you’re lying…” He warned me. “If I find out anything else happened, I will hurt you so bad you won’t be able to get out of bed for weeks. You remember last time? It will be so much worse than that.”

I knew he meant it. It felt like I couldn’t breathe; it even felt hard to swallow. But I needed to answer him. “I am not lying. We talked and we ate lunch, and then I went home.”

“You can’t see him anymore, Lyn. You’re my wife.”

I nodded, “I know. I’m your wife. It was just one time. I didn’t want to anger your boss by telling him no. He was just trying to be kind.”

“You should be worried about angering me, not him.” Dylan replied. “I’m really disappointed in you.”

I could hear a female voice in the background, “do you have a minute?”

“I’m sorry, Dylan, -“

His voice changed into a cheery version of himself, “I always have time for you, just give me a sec.“ I heard him say to the woman. His voice turned cold again as he spoke to me. “I need to go. Remember, you did this to us. You screwed up. Anything that happens now is your fault.”