Page 52 of Dauntless

“You’re going away,” she said.

I nodded.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I love Dane, and he loves me too.”

“He does, just like I told you,” I said. “You don’t need to be sorry for that. I’m happy.”

“I’m sad,” she said and frowned. “For you. It’s not over.”

“It will be very soon,” I told her. “Don’t worry.”

She shook her head. “My game is over…”

“No more about games,” Nella tutted as she walked over to us. “You promised you’d stop that nonsense. I don’t mean to be rude, Gia, but Angel needs to think in the present.”

“It’s fine, and I want to hear whatever you want to share,” I said to Angel.

“Angel needs rest right now,” Nella replied. “Last night was difficult for her too.”

“Of course, apologies,” I said and hugged Angel gently, then followed Nella out of the room, down the hall to where Dane was speaking with Kevin.

“I’ve arranged to have my plane fly you out,” he said to me on approach. “It’s the least I could do. I’ve given Kevin the information.”

“Dane, you don’t have to,” I said, but I knew him well enough to know it was useless to refuse. He pulled me in his arms and kissed me deeply. I broke away and shook my head smiling.

“What can I say,” he said. “I still want you. That won’t ever change.”

We stared at each other, and my heart expanded. “Goodbye for now, Dane. I’ll call you soon. Thank you.”

***

My return to Washington was sunny; conversely, the walk back to my house in Bellevue reminded me of how much I didn’t want to be there. I made a note to call the realtors to list the property and look for a temporary condo. I thought about going to Elliott’s, but I hadn’t asked. I had also booked a flight to my dad’s place in a couple of days. There had been no more incidents with me since the video, and with Kevin guarding me, I was safe.

After completing a few business phone calls with Stuart along with a few hours of zoning out watching TV, I ached to return to work, which I began planning as soon as possible. Although I didn’t want to return full time. Astrid and Perfetto were working fine. The work on Angel’s show had inspired me to take more action. I wanted to do something along the lines of helping women protect themselves so that they wouldn’t end up in my kind of situation. I put on dinner and simultaneously started to research ideas on my laptop. In the middle of writing out thoughts on my notepad, my phone chimed with an incoming call, and when I checked, I was happy to find that the caller was Elliott.

“Already finished?” I asked.

“Not yet, getting everything in place though,” he replied. “Just caught a break and wanted to see how you’re doing. You all right?”

My heart skipped a beat. “I am.” My doorbell rang and when I looked out the window, I saw it was Liz. My jaw tightened. “It looks like I have company outside.”

“Who?” he asked.

“Liz,” I replied flatly.

“Don’t go anywhere with her,” he told me.

“You don’t even have to say that,” I said, and we ended the call.

Kevin met me at the door with her. “I was about to start my check around the house when she walked up to your front path. Do you know her?”

I pursed my lips. I used to. “Yes, I do.”

She glared at him. “He frisked me.”

I shrugged. “Thank you, Kevin. I can’t be too careful these days.”

“I’m sorry for just showing up,” she said. “I spoke with Astrid, and she said you might be home.”

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