Page 120 of Fallen Empire
Millie was gone.
Chapter 25
Millie
I hung up the phone, and every single nerve in my body felt like fire.
If Jaxson was leaving Savannah to head to the office, whatever the fuck was going on was not good. Not at all.
He didn’t leave her. Ever. Especially Not now. Not after everything she’s been through.
I shifted in place, my foot tapping against the scuffed tile floor of the café, trying to will the order to come quicker. My eyes scanned the room, restless. Two people by the window. A woman at the counter, reading a menu she’d clearly already decided on. Some guy in a baseball cap, nursing a half-empty coffee like it owed him money.
Everyone looked normal. Relaxed. Like they had no idea my entire world might’ve just cracked wide open.
Behind the counter, the teenage barista laughed at something her coworker said. She leaned her elbows on the prep station, twirling a straw in her fingers like we weren’t all walking around with targets on our backs.
I wanted to scream at her to move faster.
Didn’t she know people were in danger? Didn’t she knowIwas in danger?
I stood straighter, crossing my arms to still the tremor in my hands. My mind raced, trying to rationalize. Trying to calm the storm Jaxson’s voice had stirred in my chest.
Maybe I was just being paranoid. Maybe the panic was just leftover adrenaline. I’d get the food, walk back to the Penthouse, and everything would be fine.
It had to be.
There was no other option.
The only way someone would get to Savannah now was if they broke into the fortress that made up Jaxson’s Penthouse.
And after what happened last time, he’d amplified security tenfold. He wouldn’t dare make the same mistake twice.
And Ben…
God, Ben was going to besopissed that I left.
But he’d get over it. Eventually.
Maybe this would make us even—for him not telling me Aleksei was still a threat.
Was that it? Was that what I heard in Jaxson’s voice? The urgency. The way he said my name like he’d been holding his breath, waiting for me to answer.
Was it all because of Aleksei?
“Here you go, you’re all set,” the girl behind the counter said cheerfully, reaching across to hand me the bag of food with one hand while sliding the coffees forward with the other.
“Thank you,” I muttered, snatching the bag with more force than necessary. My nerves frayed, my hands trembling.
I turned toward the door, half-ready to leave the damn food and run back, when the bell above it jingled. Someone held it open for me from the other side.
A man stood by the door.
Tall, clean-cut, dressed in an expensive coat, but the cologne didn’t match. He stepped forward to hold the door open for me. I recognized him immediately.
The man from the hospital.
“Let me get that for you,” he said, his voice smooth, polite… too calm.
