Page 40 of Seek Me Darling

There’s a pause. Too long. Something catches in her breath.

She hesitates.

That’s all it takes. I smile a little to myself, because that’s the sound of guilt. Or… maybe something else.

“Oh my god, you have!” I say, pouncing on the moment like a bloodhound. “Spill the details! Who is he? Is he cute? Tell me everything!”

She doesn’t answer immediately.

And that silence is loud.

My smile starts to fade.

“It’s… complicated,” she finally says, her voice softer now. “I’m not sure it’s about having fun. It’s more… like a dangerous game, and I’m not sure where it’s going.”

My chest tightens. Something in her tone needles its way under my skin. I push off the post, walking slowly down the sidewalk, scanning instinctively for anything out of place.

“Are you safe?” I ask, carefully. Not just out of sisterly concern—out of something deeper. A whisper in my gut that refuses to shut up.

“I’m doing everything I can to stay safe,” she replies, but there’s something in her voice—like she’s not telling me everything. I know that tone. I use that tone.

I feel my phone vibrate in my hand, a second buzz low and sharp. A text coming through.

But I don’t check it.

“I need you to promise me something,” she says suddenly.

“What is it?”

“Be careful. Watch your back. Trust your instincts. Promise me, okay?”

“I promise,” I say. And I mean it. But I also know the promise is only half a lie. I can’t tell her about Cruz. About the meet. About Rule. About what happened last night. Because if I do, she’ll try to protect me. And we both know how that ends.

There’s a beat before I say, “And you promise me the same. Don’t take unnecessary risks.”

“I won’t,” she lies, just as smoothly.

We chat a few more minutes—lighter things, Organization gossip, some teasing about the new recruits. She makes me laugh, and for a few breaths, I remember what it’s like to just be her sister. Not her shield. Not the one holding back a tidal wave of shit with a loaded gun and a bad attitude.

Eventually, we say our goodbyes.

I end the call and the street around me is quiet. Too quiet.

Then I check the message.

UNKNOWN

You only have yourself to blame, darling.

Unknown number. Yet another one. No name. But I don’t need it to be signed off. It was Rule or Ruin—hard to say which this time. Not that it fucking matters.

I’m still staring at the screen when my phone starts to ring.

Eli.

I blink. That's... weird. I literally just left him ten minutes ago. He’d barely had time to chain-smoke his cigarette and bitch about surveillance logs.

I swipe to answer. “What now?”

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