Chapter 9: The Shadow Following Me
746 Words
or a moment, everything around me went silent.
The world.
The wind.
Even my heartbeat.
All I could hear were Dante’s words echoing through my mind:
“Someone sent him here.”
“He’s watching you.”
Lucas?
Sweet, soft-spoken Lucas?
No.
It didn’t make sense.
It couldn’t make sense.
“I don’t believe you,” I whispered, stepping back.
Dante’s eyes hardened. “You don’t have to believe me. Just listen.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Lucas is kind. He helps me with notes. He—”
“He knew your father’s name,” Dante cut in sharply.
My breath caught.
“He didn’t—”
“He did,” Dante growled. “And he slipped yesterday. He told the guys he recognized your face from an ‘old picture.’”
My blood turned to ice.
Old picture?
There weren’t supposed to be any pictures of me online.
My mother made sure we disappeared.
“How do you know this?” I whispered.
Dante exhaled, frustrated.
“Because people talk around me. They think I don’t pay attention, but I do.”
He took a step closer, lowering his voice.
“I heard him. Lucas. Telling someone you ‘weren’t who you said you were.’”
My stomach twisted violently.
No. No, no, no.
I fought so hard to bury my past.
To disappear.
How could it follow me here?
“Why would he be following me?” I whispered. “Who would send him?”
Dante’s jaw clenched. “Someone connected to your father.”
“My father is dead.”
“That doesn’t mean his enemies are.”
The words hit me like a slap.
Enemies.
People my father hurt.
People who wanted revenge.
“Stop,” I said weakly. “Please.”
Dante reached out, gripping my shoulders gently.
His voice wasn’t angry anymore — it was soft.
Too soft.
“Sophie…”
His thumb brushed my arm.
“You need to be careful. Stop being around Lucas. Stop smiling at him. Stop meeting him. Stop talking to him. Just—stay away.”
“What if you’re wrong?” I trembled.
“I’m not.”
“How do you know?”
Then he said something that stole the breath from my lungs:
“Because someone tried to follow you home yesterday.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I saw a car,” Dante said. “Same car that slowed near your street two days ago. I recognized it.”
A numbness crawled up my spine.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.
“You were already scared,” he said quietly. “And I wasn’t sure. But now? I’m sure.”
I couldn’t breathe.
A car following me?
Lucas knowing things he shouldn’t?
Whispers about my father?
Everything was collapsing.
Dante cupped my face gently, his eyes soft for the first time since I’d met him.
“I’ll keep you safe,” he said. “I promise you.”
My lip trembled.
“You can’t promise that.”
“I already did.”
His thumbs brushed my cheeks softly, almost tenderly.
“You’re not alone anymore, Sophie. Stop running.”
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time in years, I didn’t feel alone.
I felt… protected.
But then a voice broke the moment:
“Am I interrupting?”
I jerked back as Lucas stepped out from behind the bleachers.
Dante instantly moved in front of me like a barrier.
Lucas’s face was calm — too calm.
He looked between us, then smiled faintly.
“Sophie, we need to talk.”
“No,” Dante snarled.
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Lucas gave Dante a cold, unfamiliar look. Not the friendly boy from the cafeteria.
Not the helpful classmate.
Someone else entirely.
“That wasn’t a request,” Lucas said.
My heart pounded.
“Lucas,” I whispered, “what’s going on?”
He looked at me with eyes that weren’t warm anymore — they were sharp, analyzing… dangerous.
“You really want to know?” he asked softly.
Then he said something that made my blood freeze:
“I know who your father was… Sophie Moretti.”
My real last name.
A name I hadn’t heard in years.
A name I never told anyone.
Dante swore under his breath, stepping in front of me protectively.
Lucas smiled.
“Yeah,” he said.
“I know everything.”
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