So I Married a Rockstar

Chapter Thirty-Four

Ch.34: We Need To Talk About Annie

I was woken by the sound of my phone buzzing. Blearily, I fumbled around for it until I found it half-wedged under my pillow, and answered it without looking at the screen.

"Hello?" I mumbled.

It was probably Tasha – she did call at crazy o'clock sometimes, if she was out partying and didn't realise what time it was.

No one answered at first.

"Hello?" I said again, trying to keep my eyes open.

"Did you get my gift?" The voice on the other end of the phone was deep and male, and alarm shot down my spine.

"Who is this?" I whispered.

No answer. Just heavy breathing.

I sat up, clutching the phone. Since Jude had cleaned the mirror I'd felt okay about being in this room, but that voice, the sound of that breathing catapulted me back to the morning that I'd found my underwear shredded. I felt that same awful sense of violation, the knowledge that someone had come into my private space and touched my private things, and had taken something from me that I didn't know how to get back.

What had happened at Rush was bad enough but the loft had become my home. A threat inside my home felt much worse than a threat outside it.

"Why are you doing this?" I said.

"You know why," the male voice replied.

"I don't."

Beside me, Jude slept on, and I wanted to shake him awake but I couldn't seem to move. I was frozen again, just as I'd been in that cubicle, paralysed with fear from a threat I couldn't see.

The man on the other end of the phone said nothing, but I could hear his breathing, right in my ear, and it shot chills down my spine. I'd suspected Darrell again after seeing those black biker boots, but this wasn't his voice.

"Please," I said, wishing my voice would stop trembling. "Just leave me alone."

"I can't do that."

"Camden?" Jude said, his voice sleep-heavy. "Who are you talking to?"

I turned to him, and he must have seen the fear on my face because he sat bolt upright and snatched the phone out of my hand.

"Who the fuck is this?" he said, harsh with anger.

From the way he took the phone away from his ear and glared at it, I guessed the mystery caller had hung up.

Jude looked at me with burning eyes. "Who was that, and what did he say to you?"

I told him.

Then I told him what had happened in Rush.

Jude's face darkened and his fists clenched. The air around him seemed to vibrate with rage.

"Why the fuck didn't you say anything earlier?" he said.

"I didn't want to ruin your night," I mumbled.

"Jesus Christ, Camden." Jude threw back the covers and launched himself out of bed. "Are you fucking kidding me? Some guy terrorises you in a public toilet and you don't say anything because of a fucking night out?"

Okay, when he put it like that, it did sound kind of dumb.

"Look, I was going to tell you today –"

"You should have told me yesterday!"

My throat knotted. "I really don't need you yelling at me right now."