Frayed Obsession, page 1
FRAYED OBSESSION
THE FRAYED TRILOGY #1
SHERRI WHITE
Copyright © 2022 by Sherri White
Editing: Swish Design & Editing
Proofing: Swish Design & Editing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronical or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imaginations. Any resemblance to persons, things, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Author’s Note
Playlist
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Author’s Note
Frayed Obsession is written in Australian/UK English.
This book contains sensitive subject matter which may be upsetting to some readers. Please find a list of specific triggers below
Sebastian and Emery’s story deals with issues of child neglect, sexual assault against a minor, violence against a minor, references to drug use, references to self harm, mentions of rape, mentions of human trafficking.
Follow your dreams.
Even when they seem impossible.
Playlist
Carry You- Ruelle
Lost Boy- Ruth B
Imagination- Shawn Mendes
Stone- Jaymes Young
Rescue My Heart- Liz Longley
Chapter One
Emery
The tell-tale rustle and crunch of leaves under my shoes send chills through my body. Now ablaze with colour, the trees alert me to the change in seasons, waking me from the daze where each day bleeds into the next.
I’ve been here too long.
I should have disappeared as soon as I had the chance, fought the pull keeping me here.
A myriad of earth-toned colours covers the wide path around me. With hues of orange, red, and gold, the leaves are more striking now as they fall from life than they were when they were alive and flourishing.
Like a slow, beautiful death.
A lie.
Death isn’t beautiful—it’s bloody and gruesome.
It leaves a stain on your soul.
My fingers flex around my camera, itching to capture the contradiction, but I know I don’t have time to stop.
The crisp morning air wraps itself around me, and my long, dark hair whips around my face in the breeze as goosebumps prickle my skin despite my windbreaker. The sun is just starting to peek over the city’s tall buildings, but it’s not enough to raise the temperature this early in the morning, and my jeans are barely enough to keep me from freezing.
I flinch as someone runs past me close enough to almost brush my arm, and I almost drop the camera I’ve been carrying as my head snaps up to scan the faces of those around me. My muscles tensing—ready to run at the first sign of trouble. Although, no one seems to be paying me any attention. The jogger carries on their way through the park without so much as a glance in my direction.
You’re being paranoid.
Trying to try to calm my racing heart, I press a palm to my chest.
Paranoid? Maybe, but I can’t go back.
He was going to kill me. It might not be anytime soon, but it would have come eventually. My agony was his ecstasy. He took everything from me. I’d lived that life for nearly seven years, but he’d never lost control before like he did that day. A shiver rakes down my spine at the memory of lying on the floor of his office, my body bending and breaking under the strength of his blows until I couldn’t move—couldn’t hear anything but the rushing of blood through my ears and his ragged breaths as he beat me to within an inch of my life. I knew then if I didn’t find a way to escape him, I wasn’t going to survive.
The reminder of how careless it is to stay in this city sits like a lead weight in my stomach.
With a shake of my head, I push the thoughts aside, continuing to make my way through the park. The clearing to the main street comes into view as an old black classic car pulls up to the curb in front of a small café.
My heart beats harder for an entirely different reason, and I step off the path by the trees, raising the camera to my face. Nobody pays attention to what I’m doing. I learnt how to blend into the shadows years ago.
To be invisible.
The familiar feeling against my cheek and the weight in my hands is like a calming balm through my veins, and the sight that greets me through the lens, once again steals the breath from my lips.
Sebastian’s tall frame unfolds from the passenger side of the car, and his muscles strain with effort against the confines of his suit. The way the expensive navy material hugs every contour of his body makes me wonder if it’s been tailored especially for him. The top button of his white shirt is undone, showing the barest hint of his tanned chest.
He stands on the sidewalk with his shoulders pulled back and chin high, an air of authority flowing off him in waves. His dark hair sits neat and stylish, though I doubt it’s anything but natural. I’ve seen him run his hand through his hair so many times, only for it to fall perfectly back in place. His face is etched into hard lines, but I know what he hides.
What he doesn’t want anyone else to notice.
The slight smudge of purple under his eyes and how he continuously tenses his jaw. There’s a coldness in his eyes that wasn’t there before, icing out the warmth from those blue depths.
The soft click of the camera echoes in my ear, and my skin tingles with awareness from being even this close to him.
I wish I could be closer
Close enough to breathe in his scent.
To touch him.
To imagine how safe I would feel in his arms and forget about my past. But I know I’ll never forget—it’s seared into my mind and the first thing I see every time I close my eyes.
The smattering of crimson leaves around me sends me further into that nightmare, and my chest tightens almost impossibly. I try to swallow past the lump in my throat, not even realising I’ve closed my eyes.
When they flutter open, a pair of cold, hard eyes are narrowed in my direction. Not just in my direction—looking directly at me.
My heart thumps in my chest, trying to break through my ribs.
Stumbling back, my foot catches on a raised tree root as my camera slips from my hands. I fall backwards, pain lancing through my ankle as it twists, and my hands burn as they slide over the gravel and dirt in a weak attempt to stop the inevitable.
A distinct crack cuts through the air as I hit the ground and a part of me hopes it’s my ankle and not my camera.
This isn’t happening.
I suppress the cry that tries to escape my throat.
This is nothing. Get up!
Turning over, I spot my camera lying on the pavement nearby, but before I have a chance to process anything, my gaze flies up.
Sebastian is already making his way across the street, his powerful thighs propelling him forward.
Crap.
I scramble backwards, pushing myself to my feet. Blood trickles down my palms, and a sharp pain shoots through my ankle as I put pressure on my left foot, but I have no choice other than to ignore it.
A glance confirms how quickly his determined strides are eating the distance between us. Without a second thought, I turn and run as fast as I can.
Chapter Two
Sebastian
Stepping out of Easton’s mustang and onto the sidewalk, I straighten my suit as I peruse the few faces passing by. Another hour and the sidewalks will be bustling with businessmen and women on their way to fill the scores of offices in the city.
My skin prickles as my back straightens with awareness. The tingling sensation of being watched returns, and my vision sharpens as I again search the street around me.
It was late afternoon, a couple of months ago, when I’d first felt it. The office had been quiet as it usually was on a Saturday, but I’d had a business meeting with Easton that morning, so he’d dropped me off at the office afterwards to get some extra work done. Dusk was settling over the city as I exited the building to
Ever since that day, the sensation has trailed me, except I’ve never been able to pinpoint the cause, and it’s not always there, leaving enough room for doubt to question whether it’s not all in my head. And after everything that happened with my parents, I don’t know what to believe.
Though, the strangest part is the feeling isn’t quite as threatening as it should be.
It’s probably stress.
The stress of unexpectedly becoming CEO of a multimillion-dollar company.
I knew this was my future, but it wasn’t supposed to be now. Ten years. Maybe fifteen, knowing my father. He would retire, and I would take over just like he trained me to do.
But I just can’t help but feel like I’m not prepared. Though, I don’t know if that has more to do with running the company or not being ready to lose them.
The thought of my parents has my chest tightening, and I’m suddenly the little boy left alone on the streets again to fend for himself.
Fuck.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair when a glint of reflection catches my eye across the street. Narrowing my gaze in that direction, I see someone—a woman—standing in the park with something held to her face.
A camera.
A camera pointed at me.
“What’s wrong?” Easton asks, closing his door.
The feeling that’s been plaguing me hits me with full force, and I know it’s her. Sure, she could be taking photos of the trees or the sunrise or what-the-fuck-ever, but I know this is who has been following me.
I can feel it.
The woman startles at my stare, only strengthening my suspicion, and a flash of brown hair fills my vision as she stumbles. Rage fills me as adrenaline pumps through my blood, but I’m already moving.
Easton is calling my name, and the echo of car tyres screeching almost drowns out his voice, but my sole focus is the girl scrambling to get off the ground.
A horn blares, and I slap the hood of a car that stops mere inches away from me. “Motherfucker!” The driver flips me off and hits his horn again, but I’m already on the move again.
A growl rumbles through me when I notice the girl is already halfway through the park, and I push more power into my legs as she turns left. She glances over her shoulder before disappearing from my sight behind all the trees lining the pathways.
Car horns continue to blast, and I know Easton is right behind me.
The distance between the girl and me narrows, but I don’t see her when I round the same corner.
Fuck!
A woman pushes a pram, and a man rides his bike, but there’s no dark-haired girl running for her life. With no direction, I slow to a jog, and it’s not long until Easton is by my side.
“Where’d she go?” he asks.
“I don’t know.” Several paths branch off the main one we’re on, some leading to other streets in the city. “Shit.”
I head further down the main path, glancing down the various ways she could have gone, but I don’t see anything.
My stomach hardens, and I turn to Easton, who’s only a step behind me. A black camera is clasped in his hand.
“Is that hers?” I ask.
“I think so.” He frowns.
Desperate for any answers I can get, I hold out my hand for the camera, and he hands it over.
“Find her,” I say, letting authority bleed through my voice.
East is my best friend, but he’s also the company’s head of security. Though, I doubt he would ever let something like this go, even if I hadn’t given him the order. He nods but doesn’t say anything, his expression hard.
Questions rush through my mind as we head back towards the car. From the glimpse I caught of the girl when she glanced at me over her shoulder, I didn’t recognise her, but she was too far away and gone too quickly to make out her features properly, so I can’t say for sure. Why the hell was she following me?
“Stress my ass,” I mutter to myself as I examine the camera.
I turn the device over in my hands. The lens is smashed—a few chunks of glass clustered on one side with spiderweb-like cracks spreading out from there.
“What do you mean?” Easton asks, pulling me from my inspection.
“What?” I glance towards him.
He stops mid-stride. His eyes are narrowed at me as he waits for more of an explanation.
“You know what I’m talking about. What did you mean?” Easton asks again, an edge to his voice this time. Sometimes he’s too fucking perceptive.
He’s a couple of inches taller than my six-foot-two height, and I straighten my back, putting myself as close to his height as I can. We have similar builds, and whilst I take care of myself, East keeps to a more rigorous routine.
“I thought someone was watching me.”
“What the fuck? Why didn’t you say anything?” He clenches his fists, and a muscle ticks in his jaw.
I probably should have mentioned it to him, but I had my hands full with Reed Shipping International. And as head of security, Easton was busy placating our other clients—convincing them it’s business as usual and nothing needed to change now that I was running things. Some clients were sceptical, whilst others used the opportunity to try to broker new contracts for no other purpose than lining their pockets. I wasn’t going to let that happen. My father built this company from the ground up, and despite the sudden changes, I am good at my job, and you don’t win in this business if you let yourself get pushed around.
Money doesn’t faze me. Reed Shipping brings in enough revenue that losing the dark side of our business would scarcely impact me. They need me more than I need them. Although I wasn’t about to let the business my father created fall apart either. So as long as they were getting their shipments on time and intact, most kept quiet enough.
“I never saw anyone. I thought it was just stress.” Hearing it out loud now, I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince more. Him or myself.
“It doesn’t mean they weren’t there! Jesus, Sebastian, after everything that happened?” he bites out before closing his eyes, letting out a deep breath, but when he looks at me again, his eyes soften.
I turn away, refusing to see any pity that might be held in them. I’ve noticed that look too much recently.
“I’m doubling your security,” Easton says. “We don’t know who she’s working for or what they want. It might be connected to…” he trails off, but I know what he’s thinking.
What if it’s connected to my parents’ death?
I nod, but the thought leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and we continue our way back to the car without another word.
Flipping the camera over in my hands, I switch it on. The screen lights up, but the camera itself makes a strange clicking sound. If the lens weren’t smashed, the sounds alone would alert me to the fact the thing is broken.
Just as we reach the car, I find the playback button. Pausing by the passenger door, I make no move to get in. Instead, I squint at the small screen and see… me.
I knew what I was going to see, but I hadn’t really prepared myself for it. My thumb presses so hard against the arrow button, I threaten to break the camera beyond repair.
So many photos. Going back at least a month, maybe two.
Jesus Christ.
Most look like they were taken from a distance and zoomed in close. But some had definitely been taken up close and personal. Easton is in a few of them, but it’s clear he has also been purposely cropped out of a lot.
How had I never seen her before?
My stomach twists, and my blood runs cold when there is one from a recent business meeting. A meeting no one, outside the few men there, should know existed.
“Shit.”
The shot was taken from a distance, but you can clearly make out Easton and me, along with a couple of my men. The men we met with are facing away from the camera, but I doubt they would think twice about putting a bullet in my head if they knew these photos existed. This is far from the only off-the-books meetings we’ve conducted this year, and I can’t help but think of how many more might have been compromised.
