Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 140 -

Весса.

Two days. Neal had had two days to figure out exactly what was going on, and now that it had been two days, I was sick and tired of being cooped up in the house. I wanted to be able to go out and take care of a few things that were absolutely necessary, like going to a cafe, going to the store, silly things like that. But even though two days had passed, Neal was still persistent that I stay at the property and not leave unless absolutely necessary. And by absolutely necessary, he meant with him, with me.

I was tired of living like this, and honestly, all I wanted to do was to be able to have the freedom that I had when I first moved to New Zealand. As more and more time went by, I became pretty adamant that I was overthinking things, and Neal was being too overly cautious about something that wasn't even anything to begin with.

He always thought that someone was following me, that something was going on. He had no single clue what was going on. The guy that had met me at the market that day was probably just a nice guy, and even though I had told him that, he didn't want to listen to it.

"So we do need a few things. I mean, I can go to town if you want. I know he doesn't want you to go" Layla said as she tried for a millionth time to let me know she could take care of the shopping that I needed done. She was a sweet girl, and I knew she was just trying to help, but at the same time, it wasn't her job to do this. I was a grown-ass woman, and the fact that I was being told that I couldn't go anywhere was beyond irritating. "Thank you, Layla, but I will go," I replied, watching as her eyes widened, and she shook her head.

"But Neal said-"

"I know what Neal said, Layla, but I'm an adult. I do not need his permission to be able to leave this house. He and I are not together. He doesn't control me, and the fact that he seems to forget that is a problem that he needs to address himself," I replied, cutting her off mid-sentence.

I know she was just trying to be helpful. She was trying to make sure that I was following orders because she didn't want Neal and me to fight. But there was no way in hell I was going to follow his orders. I gave him the two days that I promised, and now that that had passed, I wasn't going to keep sitting around twiddling my thumbs, waiting for him to give me an answer.

Kissing my daughter and my godson on the head, I turned to Layla, squeezing her shoulder gently before giving her a small smile. "Stop worrying. Everything will be okay. I won't be long."

She sagged her shoulders as she let out a heavy sigh and nodded her head, casting her eyes from me back down to the children. "I'll go ahead and get dinner started while you're out." "That sounds great. Like I said, I won't be long. I'm only popping into the store. It'll be fine." Turning on my heel, I headed from the bedroom out towards the front door with my keys in my hand.

Neal had been in town all day working and said that he had some major lead that he had to follow, which I honestly highly doubted because that seemed to be his go to response over the last two days.

The idea that there could be somebody looking for me or trying to hurt me or my children, of course, was always lingering in the back of my mind. But honestly, how long is a girl supposed to wait? I couldn't live in fear over something that is a big what if?

The moment that I put my car in drive and headed down the driveway, I could see Allegra quickly coming to the front door in my rearview mirror. I couldn't make out her facial expressions, but as she quickly dialed something on her phone, my car connected, and I answered.

"Yes, Allegra, how can I help you?"

"Where are you going? You're not supposed to be leaving," she stammered quickly as if me leaving the house was the biggest issue we currently had.

"I'm going to the store. The kids need a few things, and I need to pick up some groceries. I will literally be back in an hour," I replied, not that I had to tell her where I was going, but it was better to give her some type of answer instead of nothing at all.

"That's beside the point. You should have said something, and I would have gone with you. Look, I'll go ahead and throw my shoes on real quick. Just turn around and come back and get me. I need to pick up some things as well." I knew that she was literally just saying that because of the fact that she wanted to go with me, but what was it with them thinking that I needed a babysitter as if I was just a teenager?

"No, Allegra, I'm not turning around. I'm able to go to the store by myself. I'm a grown adult. I don't understand what you and your brother's problem is. I said two days. It's been two days. I'm going to the f*cking store, whether you guys like it or not."

She was quiet for a moment. I knew she was still there because I could hear her breathing through the phone. But with her quietness, she finally sighed, giving me my answer that she was no longer going to push forward with this. Which was nice because, honestly, I didn't have it in me to argue with anybody today. I was sick and tired of always arguing with people. It was absolutely f*cking pointless.

"Look, just please be careful. I put an extra can of pepper spray in your car. You never know if it's going to be safe out there. Just promise you'll take it with you into the store. Put it in your pocket or in your purse. I don't care. Just take it with you." Allegra seemed very panicked by the way she was speaking.

I knew that she was just trying to be careful and make sure that nothing happened to me, but it was becoming increasingly annoying. Even if, for some reason, this guy did approach me, I was able to take care of myself.

Or at least I was pretty positive that I could take care of myself.

I ended the conversation with Allegra as I quickly approached the store, the parking lot insight. As I pulled in, the parking lot was filled as it usually was, but I still sat there hesitating for a moment, thinking of everything that Allegra had said. Doubting myself was something that I did often, and I was starting to wonder if I was foolish in my venture to go get groceries and a few other things from the store. Perhaps I should turn around and go back and just wait, or have somebody else go with me, but then if I did that, it would just prove the point-that I couldn't do anything without them.

I groaned and opened the door, climbing out of the car. I was just being ridiculous, and my overthinking brain was one of my worst enemies. However, I did make sure to grab the pepper spray that Allegra was talking about, throwing it in my purse, just in case.

She was right. A person could never be too careful. And as I walked through the double doors of the grocery store, a smile on my face reminded me that I was a normal person and that I could live a normal life.

Up and down the aisles I went, collecting everything that I needed, including diapers, more bottles, and a few other things for the kids. The store had just about everything from home furnishings to groceries to clothing. It was a massive supermarket, and I was pleased to have it so close to the house.

Withall the groceries I needed, I made my way towards the clothing aisle. It seemed that my godson was growing by leaps and bounds, and with his growing body, he needed new clothing. So as I started sorting through it, I got an eerie feeling on the back of my neck as if I was being watched.

My heart began to race, and as I looked around, I didn't see anybody. But it didn't stop the feeling that formed in the pit of my stomach.

"Get your shit together. Jesus. Becca, what are you doing?" I muttered to myself.

With the last of my things quickly collected into the cart, I made my way towards the checkout, and as I approached the cash register, placing my stuff on the conveyor belt, I saw a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. Looking up, I could have sworn that I had seen the man I had seen the other day. The only difference was his appearance had changed slightly, and as I stared longer, the person walked out of my sight, and I was left completely puzzled. I couldn't let myself get worked up over this. The guy looked different even though he was very similar, and perhaps it was just my mind playing tricks on me. It seemed to me that Neal and Allegra had gotten my mind so wrapped up in the idea that this guy was bad that now anywhere I looked or saw someone that looked similar to him, I automatically assumed it was him.

I was practically losing my mind over everything, and as I quickly finished checking out all of my groceries and other belongings that I had purchased, I took the shopping bags in my cart and headed out through the double doors again towards my vehicle.

I just needed to get everything loaded up into the vehicle and then go home, unload it, and sit down with a hot cup of tea.

Taking the keys from my pocket, I clicked the button and watched as the back hatch of my vehicle opened. I placed the bags into the back of the hatch, and as I did, the eerie feeling once again came over me.

Reaching up, I quickly lowered the hatch and spun around just in time to come face to face with the same man that I had seen only a few days before. Deep blue eyes stared back at me with a smile on his face as he held a brown paper bag with obvious groceries in it in his right arm.

"Hey there, you're the girl I helped out the other day. How are the kids doing? Did you guys end up making it home, okay?" The man seemed nice enough, and I was a little hesitant to reply to him, but mustering all the courage I had, I nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks for that. Umm, I don't think I caught your name."

A chuckle escaped him as he nodded his head. "Yeah, sorry, I was in a rush. I had to hurry up and get home. My name's Seth."

Seth? It sounded like a pretty normal name for a guy that lived here. The only problem was he didn't have an accent like the locals did. "So, are you from around here?"

"Yeah, sure I am. Grew up here my entire life." Red Flag number one. Had he grown up here his entire life, his accent would have been much thicker. I knew the locals. He definitely wasn't a local.

"Oh, nice. So you probably know Mr. Thomas that owns the hardware store up the road. He's been here for like twenty years. Super nice guy."

Nodding his head at me once more, he let out another laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, Mr. Thomas is a good man. He and my dad were friends."

Red flag number two, and time to get the f*ck out of here. The old man who owned the hardware store died a few years ago, and his name definitely was not Mr. Thomas. And if this guy's father had been friends with him, he would have f*cking known who he was.

Reaching into my purse, pretending to look for my phone, I kept distracted, content with him not wanting to make it obvious that I knew he was lying. "Oh, I'm glad that you guys knew each other. I actually have to get going, though. I've got cold groceries in the trunk and kids waiting for me back home. It was nice catching up with you again."

The moment that my eyes finally met his once more, I saw that the bag that he had was obviously a prop. He dropped the bag to the ground, and I saw that he was holding a gun at mid-waist level on him, pointing it directly at me. Shit... what the f*ck have I done...

"You knew I was lying, didn't you?"