Fourteen
The past fewdays had been a complete and utter shit show.
Both Rose and Knight were missing, with only a single text from Knight that they were safe and would contact us when they could. I was going to wring his neck when I next saw him.
She'd gone completely and utterly silent and it was killing me inside.
I'd known at some point that I was going to have to give her some space but I hadn't considered the thought that it would be so soon, or so throughly.
It was driving. Me. Insane.
I felt out of control. Completely at the mercy of a woman who'd gotten under my skin and buried herself under my ribs, right where my once dead heart dwelled.
The sight of her that first time had kick started it, and day after day of being with her brought it back to life, pounding with vitality and excitement.
For the first time in years, my life wasn't about keeping Coulter alive. I had something to wake up to in the morning.
Her beautiful face was all I could think about.
It gave me a reason to want to exist beyond the litany of survival. To want to actually live, to want to grab my life by my hands and squeeze all the fucking joy out of it.
And now, she'd gone and fucking disappeared.
She'd left me. When she’d promised she wouldn’t.
Just like Lily.
Just like my mother.
My heart warred with intense pain and anger so live and electric it could light a whole city.
I couldn't believe that she'd left me.
I would never open my heart to another woman. Never.
Not after this.
Frustrated, I threw my phone on the couch. What I really wanted to do was smash it against the wall. To stomp it to pieces. To throw it over the balcony.
But, like always, I kept my composure.
Doing all these things wasn’t going to make Rose magically appear in the room. Besides, then I would have to go through the hassle of getting a new phone and prying out the old SIM card to put it in the new one.
Why? Because this was the only number that Rose knew, and I wasn't taking any chance that she would call and not be able to reach me.
I was so fucked up over this girl. If I could see the future, if I could’ve predicted how she would affect me, would I have gone through it in the first place? Getting to know her, taking her to the museum, watching her smile for the first time, sliding my hands over that perfect, perfect body…
I shut off my thoughts, not liking my instinctive answer.
Luca was on the sofa next to where I was pacing. He'd been tapping on his phone for the last hour but I could feel his focus on me with every passing minute.
I knew I had to keep my cool or he'd know how much she meant to me, but I couldn't hide the anxiety I felt for her safety. I growled at him, needing to get my aggression out. “I still can't believe you took her where she wanted to go."
His fingers paused and when he looked up at me, he gave me a curious gaze. "You think I should've gone back on my word?"
"No."
An eyebrow ticked upwards. “Then what was I supposed to do?"