Page 15 of Fearless Bond

He wasn’t leaving again, was he? “But… don’t go far.”

“I’ll be in the kitchen.” He gave me the tiniest smile and a nod.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah.”

Barclay stood and walked away. I stared after him, dazed. Did that just happen? All I had to do was inhale his scent and look into his eyes, and all my symptoms vanished with a poof. Was he some kind of hypnotist? A wizard?

But I couldn’t think about that now. I would only start questioning myself and head back into panic mode. I had to get hold of Laure.

First, I deleted twenty-seven missed calls from my father. Miraculously, my fingers were steady. Then I messaged him.

Me:I’m well. Damian is looking for me, but I don’t want to see him. The relationship is over.

Father:Call me now.

Me:I need time for myself. I’m safe, but I won’t be picking up any calls.

Father:I’m blocking your cards unless you call me immediately.

Me:Then block them.

I’d left my wallet in the car anyway. My stomach protested, but I was determined now. I wasnotgoing back. I wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes.

I quickly went into my settings and blocked both Damian and my father from contacting me.

Then I called Laure.

It took a few tries, but with my friend, one just had to keep calling. After a few minutes, he called me back.

“Hi, Laure.”

“Calvin! What’s the emergency?” Laure’s world-famous bright voice chimed into the phone.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry. I just needed to get hold of you.”

“Hey, I get it. It’s me who’s lousy at staying in touch.”

“You’re busy.”

“Not now, I’m not. Where are you? What’s up?”

“I’m in the mountains, a place called Beauville.”

“Yeah? Did Damian finally take you on a decent vacay?”

“No. I’m by myself.”

Laure’s tone dropped. “What’s going on?”

“I broke up with him.”

“Hallelujah!” His loud cry made me pull my phone away from my head. “I need a fist to bump. Wow. Sorry. Erm. Are you… okay?”

I was still tense from the exchange with my father, but Laure’s outburst made me grin. “I am now. I made the mistake of telling him in the car. He got livid. He stopped in the middle of nowhere and told me to get out. So I did. It was dark and snowing, but I didn’t want to stay on the highway because then he’d just come back for me. I found a town on the map on my phone and hiked through the forest. A local guy on a four-wheeler spotted me, and I’m at his place now.”

No need for Laure to know about me almost freezing to death. He’d have a fit.

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