Buried Obsession: Book 1 of the Obsession Trilogy

by Sinclaire, Roxy

  Adrien.

  Shit!

  She turned for home and walked on the far side, away from Adrien. Even though he wasn’t hiding, he wasn’t actually looking her way. She could recognize him even from a distance, though, with his unique features, second only to his brother’s. He still wasn’t looking her way, as she wished she had checked when she’d walked into the store if he was around. She’d taken a good half hour to get her things, pay and get out, so there was no way to tell if he’d come before he knew she would be there.

  Still, it was problematic that he was this close to where she lived.

  When she arrived at home, she was breathing heavily because she’d practically run all the way back.

  “Camila?” Her mom, hearing the door being slammed open and closed came out of the kitchen and saw how hard she was breathing. She frowned, moving closer. “You didn’t have to run all the way, you know. We can have lunch a little later, it’s not like it’s really a problem.”

  Camila looked at her mom, and thought about telling her. She even opened her mouth to say so, but then her lips curved into a smile. “It’s fine,” she said. “I just wanted to hurry back because I was doing something. No need to worry.”

  Her mom looked skeptical, but she didn’t argue.

  “All right,” she said hesitantly, taking a couple of the bags.

  She helped Camila take the groceries to the kitchen and put them away, leaving what she was going to use to make their lunch.

  “I shouldn’t have had you make the run,” she muttered. “We could have just as easily gone out. That restaurant a couple streets over, we haven’t been there in a while, have we? We’ll go next time, okay?”

  “Sure, Mom,” Camila murmured, her voice tight. “Next time.”

  Her mom didn’t seem to pick up that something was wrong, so Camila ran to her room to hide before she gave it away. She didn’t want her mom to worry, and besides, it might have been a coincidence.

  That’s right, she thought, trying to convince herself. There’s another reason he could be there…

  She had never actually seen him around her street, so she didn’t think he knew exactly where she lived. As long as she was careful, things would stay that way. Actually, it would probably be a good thing if she went off on a trip for work that would help her keep a distance for a while, but she didn’t want to have to explain to Samuel the reason why.

  He took his responsibility over his brother seriously. Camila could tell that he was furious with Adrien for his behavior, but he was also mad at himself for not being able to stop it. She wouldn’t bother him, either.

  Besides, there was still the protection order, although her guess seemed to have been right. Adrien would have had the same document sent to him that she had telling him to stay away and to stop trying to contact her. He didn’t care about violating the no contact order, because he always did whatever he wanted.

  Camila decided to be careful from then on. Over the next several days, she rarely even stepped outside of the apartment unless she really needed to go out. Anytime she thought about leaving, she began to panic, thinking Adrien would be there.

  Even for work, when there was something for her to do, she had her colleagues email her the copies so she wouldn’t have to pick up the documents. And then she even paid for a courier to bring ones with confidential files that could not be digitally distributed.

  Hey, beautiful, would you like to go to dinner tonight? Samuel texted a few days after the grocery store incident.

  Camila frowned. She wanted to say yes, she’d missed him terribly in self-enforced imprisonment, but the thought of leaving terrified her. She had officially become the agoraphobic she’d worried about!

  I’m sorry, I can’t tonight I have to finish a project. She sent back. It was a lie, but she didn’t want to tell him how afraid she’d become.

  Alright, we’ll plan it for another night then, beautiful. I have to go out of town for a bit, but I’ll give you a call tomorrow before I leave.

  Sighing, Camila set her phone down.

  She’d thought it would be enough, staying in her apartment and never leaving. She’d thought he’d give up and go away, and for a few days, things were quieter. No calls, no messages from Adrien. She started to relax.

  She was working on an assignment when the phone rang. Picking up her phone, she noticed it was from an unknown number, but it could have been someone calling her from a borrowed phone or something, so she answered.

  “Hello?” she said, only passably curious. “Who’s this?”

  “It’s me.”

  She didn’t say anything as thoughts raced through her mind. For a lot of people, just saying ‘it’s me’ wouldn’t be enough to tell who it was. Except this voice was very familiar, and at the same time, not. At first, she even thought it was Samuel, until he spoke again.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t remember me, Camila. It hasn’t been that long since you last saw me, right?”

  The moment she realized who it was she was on the phone with, Camila was petrified. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands were shaking, but she shook herself out of it quickly and cut the call, then dropped the phone on the desk and stared at it.

  That… had been Adrien. He’d sounded different, because it was the first time he had talked to her with his voice sounding so…strange. Usually, he was a ball of excitement compared to his brother, and it always showed in his voice. For his voice to suddenly change that way, even she wouldn’t recognize it immediately.

  “Why am I afraid of a phone?” she muttered to herself, suddenly scowling at her phone.

  What was the point? It wasn’t as if he could see it on the other end of the line, and the call was cut already.

  “Note to self,” she sighed, going back to work. “No more picking up calls from unknown numbers.”

  Her heart was heavy, but she ignored it and worked.

  The phone continued to ring, from different unknown numbers, so she turned the phone off. She had hoped once again that would be the end of it, but of course, it wasn’t.

  She couldn’t escape going to the office at least a few times over the past couple of days. Her boss would no longer allow her to pay a courier to pick up the documents. He wanted to put them in her hand himself and she didn’t want to explain why she didn’t want to come in. She was on edge every time she stepped out of the apartment to go there. Fearful that she would see him, she rushed the whole way to the office and back home again. She lived in fear of Adrien creeping up on her and doing…something. What, she had no idea, but it was the thought that drove her to hurry faster.

  Camila sat at her computer, answering emails when she noticed one from her boss.

  Camila, I have been trying to reach you, but your phone isn’t working properly, and it keeps going directly to voicemail, but the box is full. I need you to come into the office, I’ve got a project for you, and it’s time sensitive. As in ASAP. Now.

  Camila sighed. She’d been in the office earlier that morning and he hadn’t mentioned anything. Looking at the time on the email, she saw he’d only sent it ten minutes earlier. She opened her phone and noticed one hundred fifty-three missed calls from the unknown number, as well as fifteen from her boss.

  Crap.

  Throwing on a hoodie, she headed out of the apartment. She furtively looked about as she made her way down the street and that was when she saw him. He stood right across the street, staring right at her. His face was a stone mask. It felt like her heart shriveled inside her chest in panic.

  Looking around, she saw a cop further down the street, checking parking tickets. As she rushed toward him, looking over her shoulder, she noticed Adrien keeping pace with her, just several feet behind her on the opposite side of the street. Camila focused on the cop again. He had something strapped at his waist, and she hoped it was a useful weapon that could keep Adrien away. She rushed over to him.

  “Excuse me,” she said. “Sir?”

  He was
fairly tall, so being small herself, she had to look up to see his face. Not as much as with Samuel, but she hoped this guy could help.

  “What can I do for you, ma’am?”

  She smiled nervously, deciding to go the blunt route. “I’m sorry, but my crazy ex is following me. Do you mind if I stick to you until he’s gone?”

  He arched his eyebrow then looked around. She could tell he instantly believed her, at least, by the way he looked down at her in concern.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, frowning a little.

  Camila nodded her head a little jerkily. “Yes. I have a protection order for him to stay away, but I don’t think he’s taking it seriously.”

  She glanced around the cop and realized Adrien was still right there. Standing across the street, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared at her, his face still in that stone glare.

  “Would you like me to talk to him?” the cop offered.

  “No, sir, thank you,” she said quickly. “Just let me hang around you for a moment, he should go away quickly.”

  He was still frowning, but he went back to his job, and Camila stuck close to him, occasionally glancing Adrien’s way. After a few minutes, she turned back to Adrien, only to see him walking off, and she sighed with relief.

  “Thank you, he’s gone now,” she said to the nice cop.

  “Anytime, Miss. If he continues to bother you, be sure to let us know.”

  “I will, goodbye,” she replied and continued on to the office. She was able to quickly get the needed files from her boss, before rushing back out of the building. Without stopping, she hurried home, cursing him the entire way because they were not so confidential that a courier couldn’t have been used.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Camila! I’ll be heading out for a bit, okay?” She heard her mom call out to her through the door. “But I have my phone on me, so call if you need anything!”

  She didn’t have any work, and she didn’t feel like doing anything, so she was just lying in bed even though it was the middle of the day. She was tempted to call Samuel, but he’d told her he would be out of town on business for a while and he hadn't contacted her other than a few texts here and there for the past couple days.

  “It’s fine, Mom,” she called back, listless. “Don’t forget to carry your spare keys, okay!”

  “Will you be going out?”

  “I’ll probably just fall asleep, so don’t wait for me.”

  She listened until she heard the door open and close. She didn’t move from her bed, though. She’d already moved twice, once for breakfast, the second time for lunch. She wasn’t planning on getting out of bed unless it was for dinner. She even knew she wouldn’t be getting any jobs for a few days because she’d asked to take a short time off. It usually happened anyway in between her huge projects when there weren’t any mid-level or smaller projects for her to work on.

  “I’m so damn bored, though,” she groaned to herself, rolling so she was lying on her front with her face buried in her pillow. She quickly felt suffocated like that, though, so she rolled back over onto her side. She didn’t know how true agoraphobics lived like this. She was bored out of her mind.

  She stretched her arm toward the nightstand and picked up her phone. As expected, though, there was nothing. No new texts or calls. She didn’t like to read a lot and the news right then didn’t interest her, so she was left bored. She could always go through her pictures again… but she’d done that yesterday and the day before already. She’d put up some pictures for sale and they had gone pretty quickly. It helped that she had a good reputation and that there was actually a lot of people waiting for her photos whenever the ones she put up were sold out.

  Maybe go out and take pictures?

  It was a good plan. If nothing else, there was always photography to make her happy. Taking photos had been a hobby of hers for a long time or she wouldn’t have chosen it as her career. But… where would she go? She was too afraid to leave her own street. Considering how many times she had run into Adrien, but never this close to home, she felt that going too far would be dangerous.

  She had been lucky with all their previous encounters, but what would happen if she met him, and there wasn’t even a cop or security guard in sight? She didn’t want to think what would happen to her thanks to that bastard.

  Camila didn’t have that many friends, and it was in times like these that she really felt it. The few people she spent the most time with were either at work while she wasn’t or busy with their own thing. She thought of calling Brianna, but ever since they met, Brianna mostly just communicated by writing things down. She didn’t speak, just made soft sounds sometimes. She also didn’t have a personal cell phone, or Camila would have texted her already.

  Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Camila practically jumped for it, only to be disappointed and annoyed when she saw who it was. She sneered as she directly cut the call and put the phone back down. The last person she wanted to hear from was Jordan.

  With nothing else in mind to do, Camila rolled over in her bed, pulling the sheets up around her shoulders, then she closed her eyes. In a matter of minutes, she fell asleep.

  When her eyes blinked back open, her room was a lot darker. The curtains were drawn, so light from outside was coming in, but she could tell it was dark already. With a yawn, she pushed herself out of bed and picked up her phone to check the time.

  Whoa.

  It was getting pretty late already, eight p.m., and she hadn't had dinner yet. She’d left her bedroom door unlocked just in case, so did her mom just leave her to sleep on her own instead of disturbing her?

  She ran her fingers through her hair as she slipped out of bed. She was in a tank top and a pair of shorts, and with the day gone, and out from under her blankets, she could feel the chill. She pulled on a pair of khaki pants over her shorts, and a hoodie over her top. Then with another yawn, she left the room.

  First, she stopped by the bathroom to wipe her face with some warm water. Then she patted herself dry with the towel, and left the bathroom.

  “Mom?” she called out, heading for the kitchen because she didn’t see her mom in the living room. Only to frown when she got there and found no one, still. “In her room, maybe?” she muttered to herself as she headed that way.

  Even after knocking, though, there was no reply. So she tried to open the door, and it actually opened. No one inside.

  “Is Mom still out?” she worried to herself.

  She didn’t like it much when her mother stayed away for too long because it made her worry. Especially this late at night! Mom might be able to take care of herself, but when Camila checked her phone, there wasn’t one missed call or text, which was unusual since her mom always informed her when she was going out. She was too protective to do anything less.

  Camila tried calling her number, but no one picked up. She debated calling again, but decided to leave it alone. If her mother could trust her, then she could at least repay the favor.

  Her stomach grumbled, and she pressed her palm to it. She hadn't done a thing besides sleep, and yet she was feeling so hungry. With a sigh, she headed for the kitchen to see what she could make. Her mom may or may not come back… but in that case, she could take care of her own meal, because Camila didn’t feel like cooking too much.

  Actually, she didn’t feel like cooking anything. So after giving it a bit of thought, she figured she’d just not cook. She thought about ordering in, but then remembered she hadn't been outside yesterday or today, and she’d gone straight to bed both times. Also, it had been a while since she’d had that much exercise. There was always Samuel to pick her up for their dates, but with him out of town on business, she wasn’t leaving the house that much recently. She’d already noticed she was a bit out of shape, every time she had to run she got short of breath quickly.

  “Time to hit the gym,” she said with a groan, then sighed. “Or maybe find some nice trails and go hiking…”

  Cami
la wasn’t sure if that was something Samuel would be into, but she would ask him about it when they met up later that week. She had been so busy between work and dating, and two different guys within a matter of months, no less, that she hadn’t realized the last time she’d had a nature walk was too long ago. She did it pretty often because it made for the best of pictures that her boss even sometimes used for the blog.

  Maybe over the weekend? If he’s finally free from work and home again. And would Brianna like to come along? There might not be anyone there depending on where we go… though with her pale skin and how fragile she is, it might not be possible…

  As Camila was thinking, she’d already picked up her purse and was heading for the door. She figured it had been a while since she’d eaten out, and she knew just the place to go.

  She opened the door to go out, only to pause with her eyes widening, her head tilting back.

  “Samuel?” she breathed out, putting a hand over her harshly beating heart. “I didn’t expect you to be here.” She thought he was supposed to still be out of town. He must have gotten back early and come to see her.

  A slight frown marred his brow. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you okay?”

  Camila was staring right at him, wondering what was wrong. Samuel was standing in front of her, and it should make her happy. She hadn’t been expecting him, but now here he was. However, something felt off and she frowned. It was in his eyes. Camila’s blood went ice cold and she gasped. “… Adrien.”

  The frown on his face deepened.

  He didn’t say a thing for a moment, but she was already sure. Now that she had spent time with the both of them, she could tell their differences. Samuel was reserved, but he always had a gentle look in his eyes when he let his guard down, and it hadn't been up around her for a long while. Adrien on the other hand, always looked like he was a step away from cracking a joke, like life was a big party. Or doing whatever else to lighten the atmosphere, whether or not the joke was tasteful.