Page 83 of King of Ruin

My hand slips from his arm, and I step to the side, brushing against the clothes hanging on his side of the closet. I touch them to help me think, letting the fabric slide through my fingers.

But my ponderings are short-circuited when, in the pocket of his jacket, I feel something small but firm.

Almost like a…

I reach into the pocket, my fingers wrapping around the case of my phone.

I’d know it anywhere.

My case is distinctive. I picked it for that reason. It helps me differentiate it when several are sitting on a table.

I pull it from his pocket, clutching it against my chest in both hands.

Has Roman had my phone this whole time?

Why?

Why would he have my phone and not give it to me?

My breath catches.

Roman must hear it. He pivots, his bare feet brushing the carpet. “Maddie?” But then his breath draws in on a quick inhale.

“Why is my phone in the pocket of your jacket?”

There is the slightest pause, it crackles in the air. “The police found it in the back of Vigo’s car.”

I cock my head. “What?”

“Jack brought it yesterday.”

I feel the tension. It’s the same tension that filled the air when I met Alex.

And I just know…he’s lying. He lied then and he’s lying now. I can hear the change in his voice. Subtle. I didn’t recognize it at first but now… “If the police found it, why isn’t it in an evidence locker? Why don’t they want to talk to me?”

“Maddie.” It’s a plea.

I start to shake. He had my phone this whole time. He cut me off from the world, my only access through him.

Tears fill my eyes. “You did this. You kept it from me.”

“Maddie,” he says again. “It’s not like that. Look. I…”

I spin around. I’m only wearing a bra and underwear, I don’t even know where I’m going but I sprint out of the closet, banging my shoulder on the door frame.

Roman catches up to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. I scream, trying to tug away. “Sweetheart,” he pleads. “Don’t run. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

I feel the tears streaming down my face. “Tell me the truth. Where was my phone? Why did you take it?”

“I wanted to search for Kate’s last known location.”

I blink back my tears. Because that is a really logical explanation, but it also means that Roman did, in fact, lie to me. What else has he lied about? “Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“You were so scared that first night,” he tries to pull me close, but I resist, my hands coming to his chest to keep some distance.

It’s not that he’s wrong. I might have been too scared to hand it over. But also… how can I trust him now? “You lied to me.”

“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” He does pull me close then, and I let him, though I’m still burning with the agony of betrayal. “I won’t make excuses, but we were frantic to find Luke and?—”

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