Chapter 42
A
Leah and I finished up the day’s work, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything. My mind kept wandering to Sera lying in that hospital bed, to the similarities between her story and mine, to the way Tristan had dropped everything to be there for her.
When we finally closed up, Leah offered to drive me home as planned.
“Actually,” I said, making a sudden decision, ‘could you drop me at the market? I want to get some things to make dinner.”
She looked surprised but nodded. “Of course. I can wait for you if you want.”
“That would be great,” I said, grateful for her company. The thought of being completely alone right now didn’t appeal to me,
The market was busy with the evening rush, families picking up last–minute ingredients for dinner, couples debating over wine choices.
I moved through the aisles mechanically, grabbing ingredients for Tristan’s favorite pasta dish. Cooking for him felt like something concrete I could do, a way to show care when everything else felt so complicated.
I was walking back to where Leah was parked, bags of groceries in both hands, when something made me freeze in the middle of the
sidewalk.
A man was walking about fifty feet ahead of me, and something about his silhouette made my breath catch in my throat.
The way he carried his shoulders, the length of his stride, the familiar set of his dark hair.
But it was his clothes that made my blood turn to ice. The same black shirt he’d been wearing the day I rejected him.
Daxon.
It couldn’t be. It was impossible. He was an ocean away. There was no way he’d followed me here, no way he’d tracked me down after all
this time.
But as I watched him walk, every instinct I had was screaming that it was him.
“Athena!” Leah was calling from her car, probably wondering why I’d stopped moving. “Everything okay?”
I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but stare at the figure walking away from me with growing certainty and terror.
I had to know for sure. Had to confirm whether my worst nightmare had just become reality.
Dropping the grocery bags where I stood, I started following him, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
He was moving at a casual pace, like he had all the time in the world, like he wasn’t being followed by the woman whose life he’d
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Chapter 42
destroyed.
I didn’t know how far I’ve been following, but then he suddenly stopped walking.
The man took what felt like an eternity to turn around. I stood there frozen, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard I thought it
might burst.
My hands were shaking uncontrollably, the tremors starting in my fingertips and spreading up my arms like an earthquake through my
entire body.
46
It was only then that I looked around and realized with growing horror where I was. We were in an alley. A narrow, dark alley with brick
walls on both sides and only one way out – the way I’d come from.
I hadn’t even noticed my surroundings when I’d chased after him. I’d been so focused on confirming my worst fears that I’d walked
straight into a trap.
How could I be so stupid? All those hours of training with Kiara, all those lessons about being aware of your environment, and I’d thrown it all away the moment I thought I saw Daxon. I’d let panic and old trauma override every bit of common sense I’d managed to rebuild.
If this really was him, if he’d somehow tracked me across an ocean and found me here, there would be nowhere to run.
The alley was a dead end, and even if I screamed, who would hear me? Who would come running to help a girl who’d been dumb enough
to follow a dangerous man into a place with no witnesses?
Comments
R Visitor
would t she be at the open end of the alley though?
7 days ago
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
