Page 218 of Their Arrangement
“I trusted you.”
He didn’t raise his voice. That would’ve been easier. I could’ve cried for that. Screamed. Instead, he gave me something worse.
“You broke something I don’t think you even understand.”
I opened my mouth.
No words.
Nothing.
Just the sound of my heart beating too loudly in my chest. He looked down at his desk like he was already done with me. Like I was just another entry on a ledger he hadn’t closed yet.
“You can go,” he said.
Just like that.
Dismissed.
But not released.
I left.
But I didn’t stop shaking. Not all day. It came after midnight. Of course it did. I was in Wolfe’s apartment. Alone. Wrapped in one of his blankets. The soft grey one that always looked untouched on the back of the couch. The TV was off. The lights low.
The city bled through the windows like it didn’t care what I was about to do. I hadn’t seen Wolfe since the office. Not really. He’d left before I did.
No message.
No note.
No call.
Just silence.
And I didn’t know if he was angry…or preparing for something worse. The chain around my neck felt heavier. Like it knew.
My phone buzzed.
I didn’t want to look.
I already knew.
SELENE
One message.
One sentence.
You know what you have to do.
We’re waiting.
My throat went tight.
My fingers trembled against the screen.
I wanted to throw the phone. Smash it against the tile. Watch it break so I wouldn’t have to be the one doing the breaking anymore. But I didn’t. Because part of me still wanted to answer her. And part of me wanted to text Wolfe instead.
