Page 129 of Oblivion

Penny

“Yo, Dante here. Leave a message.”

“Dante, it’s me. Seriously, whereareyou? I’m getting worried. I haven’t heard from you all day, which is weird. Please call me back soon.”

I stared at the screen long after my thumb tapped the disconnect button. Something was off. After the last few weeks together, it seemed out of character for Dante to completely ignore me.

Today left me exhausted. My eyes were red and gritty, my throat was sore, and I had a pounding headache that refused to ease even after taking painkillers.

Lying in the spare bed at James and Lizzie’s house, I was gutted I hadn’t returned home to Vivi. I missed her and Lydia so much. However, the thought of sleeping in my room absolutely terrified me.

I broke out in chills every time I thought about it. I wanted to be free, to live my old life without a care in the world, but the invisible chains shackling me to the abduction wove deeper than ever. While I was with Dante, they were gone. Not completely forgotten, but loose enough I could step free from the clutches andlive.

Now that he was ghosting me, all the uncertainty and unease lingering in the pit of my stomach gathered strength.

Anxiety formed and clouded my head. Tears tumbled from the corners of my eyes when I squeezed them shut.

The room dimmed as soon as my cell phone screen faded, and the growing shadows emphasized how alone I was. They accentuated howlonelyI was without the man who’d been my rock for the last few weeks.

I called Dante once more before giving up for the night, vowing that if he hadn’t returned my calls or texts by tomorrow morning, I would go to Cole Security and seek my own answers.

CHAPTERFORTY-NINE

Dante

A knock on the door early the next morning had me groaning. I didn’t want to get up from the couch. I didn’t want to see anyone. And I sure as fuck didn’t want totalk.

I gathered my shitty attitude and stomped to the door, whipping it open with the full intention of telling whomever it was that now was not a good goddamn time.

I froze as if coming face-to-face with a ghost. In a way, I was.Shewas the last person I expected to find standing on Chen and Mei’s doorstep at eight in the morning.

“Sadie,” I breathed out.

“Aww, baby, I’m so sorry to hear about Forrest.”

She threw herself into my arms and hugged the ever-loving hell out of me. Despite our history, despite how she betrayed me, I clung back just as hard, not realizing how much I needed the contact before now.

I held her while walking us backward and flicking the door closed. I held her while she cried into my neck, all the while biting down hard to stop my own tears from falling. After the mind-fuck of yesterday, plus the current hangover, I didn’t have enough energy to deal with these emotions so early in the morning.

“Why are you here, Sades?”

“To make sure you’re okay. My heart broke for you, and I justknewI had to be here for you.”

I gently peeled her off my shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “You shouldn’t have come.”

She gave me her puppy-dog eyes and pouted lips—the same look that used to precede her manipulating me.

“I just want to make you feel good. You know, like old times.”

My fingers flexed on her upper arms when she cupped my dick.

“You need to stop,” I warned, acutely aware that we were heading for dangerous territory.

“You don’t want me to, baby,” she purred. “You forget that I know you. I know exactly what you need, and I know exactly how to give it to you.”

A long groan vibrated within my chest as she started rubbing with purpose, concentrating on the growing swell of my dick.

Sadie took this as encouragement and tugged down the front of my sweats without a hint of protest on my behalf. Hell, I even raised my hands as if to say I had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of her actions.

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