She Belongs to Me [A Stalker Series]

Dinner

~Emily's POV~

Sitting in here in the dark basement gave me a chance to pull my head together. If I was ever going to make it out of here alive...I had to stop fighting Vincent so hard. I had to make him trust me, trust that I could be left alone in the house without being locked in a basement. And the only way to do that was to start being kind to him.

My eyes squinted when the door to the basement finally open. The light of the hallway shone on Vincent as he stood in the doorway. He was shirtless and had a big white bandage secured on his shoulder. He stood there silently for a few seconds before extending his hand down towards me. "Come here, Emily. I have something I want to show you."

The tone of his voice made me feel uneasy. He seemed to be void of any emotion.

I took in a shaky breath of air and stood from the hard floor. When I made my way up the stairs, Vincent turned around and began walking towards the living room like a zombie. What did he want to show me? Was I walking into some sort of trap? When we reached the doorway leading to the living room, Vincent stopped in his tracks and turned to face me.

My heart nearly stopped as his deep brown eyes gazed thoughtfully at me. What was he up to?

"I went into town while you were in the basement." He said. "And I got you a little surprise."

He stepped into the living room and I cautiously followed suit. My eyes widened in disbelief when I saw an adorable puppy sitting on the couch. It had long sandy hair and dark blue eyes. There was a red bow wrapped loosely around it's neck. "Her name is Pinkie." Vincent said, taking the happy puppy in his arms. "She's a long haired chihauhau. Do...do you like her?"

"She's great..." I said, plastering a fake smile on my face and ruffling my hand through Pinkie's soft fur. Did Vincent really think he could BUY me off with a cute dog!? Sure, it would be nice to share the company of someone other than Vincent but if he thought I was going to forgive him for being a psycho, perverted....

I had to stop myself right there. I couldn't afford to get angry again. Vincent would just escort me back down to the basement.

"I got you a few other things, as well." Vincent said, snapping me back to reality. He set Pinkie back down onto the couch and opened the nearby closet, pulling out quite a few shopping bags. "I took the liberty of buying you some new clothes." He reached into one of the bags and pulled out a skimpy looking red dress.

"I want you to wear this to dinner tonight." He said, his face beaming. "I kn-know you'll look so beautiful in it."

*****

I took a glance at myself in the mirror before heading down to dinner. My hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun and my face was doused in the cheap drug store make up Vincent had purchased for me. The dress was tight around my waist and my breasts were threatening to pop out. I looked like a cheap hooker.

But I put on another fake smile as I stepped into the kitchen. I hated to admit it but Vincent looked handsome in the dressy blue shirt and crisp black slacks he wore. He was standing above the stove stirring some sort of white sauce while Pinkie stood next to him on the floor, eating the scraps he dropped for her. I cleared my throat and Vincent turned around. His mouth flew open and he stared at me like I was some sort of ghost.

"Do...I look okay?" I asked, unsure of the expression on his face.

He walked in front of me and put his hands on my shoulder. "You look absolutely radiant. I knew this dress would be perfect for you." His eyes shifted down to my breasts and his cheeks flushed pink. I cleared my throat again and he returned his gaze to my eyes. "Please, sit down." He pulled a chair out and I took a seat.

He ran back to the stove and started fixing our plates. I watched Pinkie as she hopped up and down, awaiting more scraps. Vincent obliged her by dropping a small piece of chicken. She took it into her mouth and ran into the living room.

"Dinner is served..." Vincent said as he set a bowl in front of me. "For starters, I made a nice Italian Wedding soup. Then, we'll have my world famous chicken tetrazini with a homemade cherry gelatto for dessert. How does that sound, my sweet?"

I cringed at the nickname. "It sounds wonderful.."

As we were finishing our gelattos, Vincent droned on and on about how beautiful I looked and how happy he was to be sharing a meal with me. I kept smiling and nodding my head, trying to resist the urge to reach across the table to strangle him. His voice was so annoying!

I kept my cool as he stood up and removed the small bowls from the table, taking them to the sink and rinsing them.

"Well, thank you for a lovely meal. Umm....good night." I said, standing up to go change out of this uncomfortable dress.

But Vincent turned around a grabbed my arm with a wet hand. "Actually...I-I was hoping we could spend the rest of the evening together in the living room."

"Oh..." I muttered, my shoulders sinking down. "Okay."

"Great!" Vincent said as he grabbed a kitchen towel from the counter and wiped his wet hands. "Come on!" He put his hand on my back and escorted me to the living room. We sat down on the couch and he stared staring at me with that annoying expression of his.

"You are so beautiful..." He said, running his hand through my hair. The awkward factor jumped up to a ten when he started leaning his face closer to mine.

He was going to kiss me....