Page 81 of Unforgivable Ties

And she was. At the core of this dark, twisted world, she was my beacon of light. The one who kept me human in a realm where humanity was all but forgotten. Cesare had no right to sully her innocence, to mar her with the grisly details of our operation.

Still, my feelings for Stephanie couldn’t, wouldn’t, change the harsh reality of our world. I glared at Cesare one last time before storming out of the room. I had to find her; had to make sure she was okay.

She must have gone home. I sprinted out of the warehouse and to the car, needing to get back to the penthouse immediately.

I weaved in and out of traffic, performing illegal maneuvers and ignoring the irritated honks from other drivers. The city whirred past in a blur of neon lights and shadow, the reflection of the sprawling metropolis mirrored in the slick wet pavement. The penthouse loomed ahead, a stark silhouette against the night sky.

Bursting through the penthouse doors, I called her name.

“Steph,” I said again. “Please come out.”

I was greeted only by silence. I started opening the closed bedroom doors one by one, looking for her but finding nothing. Desperation clawed at my chest, a primal fear seeping into my bones. Every dark corner, every empty room, was a chilling reminder of what I might have lost. The rooms echoed with her absence, casting a ghastly pall over the luxury and opulence surrounding me.

Our bedroom door was wide open, the light still on. Even though my heart knew she wasn’t inside, I still called her name as I walked in.

The drawers she kept her clothes in were wide open and mostly empty. My heart physically ached at the sight—when she had moved her things into my room out of hers, it had felt so right. Now, in an instant, it was gone.

I noticed the closet was half empty. In her frantic attempts to get all her clothes, she had knocked down hangers, and they were scattered on the floor alongside a few forgotten dresses. I picked up a dress she’d worn just a few days back, holding it to my chest as I sat on the bed.

I couldn’t bear the sight of it all, yet I couldn’t look away. Her scent still clung to the fabric, a soft mix of vanilla and peonies, the gentle whisper of her essence now all I had left. I clung to it; the cloth crumpled against my chest, inhaling deeply as though each breath could bring her back.

I pulled out my phone and sent her a series of texts.

I am so sorry.

Call me when you get this.

Talk to me.

All of them showed read, but went unanswered. Sighing, I sent her a final text for the night and hoped she’d get back to me. If not, I’d try again tomorrow.

Please just let me know you’re ok.

Again, the text was left on read. Giving up, I opened Find My on my iPhone. I had entered her information awhile back, just in case anything were to ever happen to her. Her phone pinged at Jessica’s apartment across town. At least she was safe, and not alone.

I rolled on to my stomach and buried my head into her pillow. I had been stabbed, shot, and even waterboarded in my line of work. But none of those pains could hold a candle to what I felt at that moment.

Closing my eyes, I prayed for her to respond or death to take me. All I received was sleep plagued with nightmares.

Stephanie

The last few days without Vincenzo had been the most difficult of my entire existence. Losing him was like losing an extension of myself, as if my shadow had been stolen from beneath my feet on the sunniest of days. The air tasted different, sour and lifeless. The sun seemed dimmer and the nights darker.

His absence felt like a void in my soul that no amount of solace or consolation could fill.

But I refused to contact him. Keeping the secret of what was happening in that warehouse from me was cruel. I had worked in the medical bay, oblivious to the organ trade going on right under my nose.

It was hard ignoring the dozens of texts he sent me each day, but each time I read one, I reminded myself of what had happened. A few times, I had almost slipped, my fingers hovering above the letters to reply.

Luckily, I always held strong and didn’t respond.

Even though I was able to hold back contacting him, I knew he was watching me. I would see his car out of the corner of myperipherals while I was leaving Jessica’s apartment or walking around campus.

I never left the house alone. I had to resort to calling Preston to ask for rides to school, which was a big hit to my pride. He loved to gloat about how he was right about Vincenzo, and I gritted my teeth each time he brought up the topic. But I put up with it. Everything was better than facing Vincenzo again.

Today I resolved to push it out of my head. It was the day I got to observe Dr. Malden during surgery, and I was going to seize this opportunity without thoughts of Vincenzo plaguing my mind.

There was no one around to take me to the hospital, so I ordered an Uber and sprinted to it, praying that Vincenzo wasn’t around. Luckily, I made it inside and to the hospital with no mishaps.

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