Page 38 of Shadows of Obsession

Logically, I know I'm breathing, but my head feels submerged underwater and my heartbeat's thundering in my ears. No idea how long I've been here, frozen. There's noise around me, but it's all muffled, nothing breaking through this paralysis I'm trapped in.

Just one thought loops through my mind:Aidan found me.

Chapter 18

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Roman

I'm on the phone with Lev, who has no trace of Devin. Something's not right. A man doesn't just disappear from the face of the earth. Suddenly, Felix bursts into my office, and if he weren't immune to anything I might say, he'd be six feet under from the look I give him.

"Roman, something's wrong with Luna."

Her name is enough to make me hang up on Lev and rush past Felix. While my mind tries to process what the hell is wrong with Luna and where she could be, my gaze stops on the elevator, where I see her huddled and trembling with her whole body on the floor.

I approach her slowly because I don't know how she'll react in this state, butwhat the hell happened in the forty minutes since she left for lunch with Clara?

“Luna,” I whisper, dropping to my knees before her.

The irony doesn't escape me - this woman's literally brought me to my knees. The rational part of me says to let Felix handle this. Call an ambulance, do whatever protocol says. That's what I'd do with any other employee. I wouldn't be here, feeling my sanity unravel, fighting the urge to murder whoever reduced her to this state.

She can't hear me - that's clear from her vacant stare. That emptiness in her eyes feels like a fist around my heart.

I cup her tear-stained cheeks, gently tilting her face toward mine. I try to soothe her with soft touches while my voice takes on a commanding tone.

"Luna, look at me, love."

I see her head shake slightly - a silent 'no.' I can’t leave her on this elevator floor. When I lift her up, she feels impossibly soft against me. Her head finds the crook of my neck, hands automatically wrapping around it - not holding on, just there. She's ice-cold, like all the warmth's been drained from her.

“Felix, make her chamomile tea,” I tell him, carrying her into my office and heading for the armchair.

It's what Anuska does for my men when they come back from raids.

I keep her in my lap after sitting, stroking her hair, murmuring her name now and then.

Felix sets the tea on my desk and leaves. If he finds it weird that I'm cradling my employee while trying to comfort her, he keeps it to himself. Values his job and those fancy suits too much to push me right now.

Minutes crawl by, and I'm about to call Kai to check on her - her silence is starting to scare me - when I feel her nose press against my neck and hear a whisper.

"I really like your cologne."

I swallow and close my eyes for a second. I don't tell her that her perfume, changing daily, is what I look forward to every morning. I don't tell her how I instructed Felix to prepare her coffee exactly as she likes it, based on what Lev learned fromtracking her coffee shop orders. I don't tell her how adorable I find her with her curly hair and round glasses.

I don't tell her about all the things I like about her.

I hate to break this moment, with her curled against me willingly, but I need to know who did this to her.

So I can make sure they never breathe again.

Something must shift in me, because she lifts her head from my neck, bracing against my shoulders. Her eyes are bloodshot, tears staining her cheeks. A hint of color returns to her face - I'll take that as a good sign.

“Sorry for falling apart like that. Can't control these episodes.”

Her lower lip quivers as she speaks, fresh tears welling up. The urge to touch that trembling lip is so strong I have to focus everything I have on staying still.

I can’t stand watching those tears fall. I lock eyes with her, my voice tight with barely contained rage.

"I never want to hear you apologizing. Not to me. Not to anyone else. Especially for something that's not your fault. Do you understand?"

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