CHAPTER THIRTEEN
391 Words
EVANGELINE
i watched the guards change from my window like it was a fkn prison rotation.
and he wasn’t there.
not on the cameras. not in the shadows.
gone.
but my chest still knew him. it squeezed like he was close—like he’d never left.
i tried to keep it together.
i tried to pretend like his absence didn’t gut me.
but every corner i turned without seein him? every time marcus stepped too close?
i wanted to scream.
so i did the only thing that made sense.
i found his number. the one he made me memorize in case things ever went bad.
and i texted it.
> you left. i’m not ok.
nothing.
> i don’t care what my father said. come back.
still nothing.
so i did the dumbest thing i’ve ever done.
i took my father’s spare keys.
and i ran.
NIKOLAI
i heard the knock and thought it was death.
i deserved that.
instead, it was her.
wet hair. eyes fire. lips trembling.
“are you just gonna let him control everything?” she said.
i stared at her. still bloody-knuckled. heart raw.
“you shouldn’t be here.”
“but i am.”
she walked past me, into my apartment, like she owned it. like she owned me.
“you gonna throw me out?”
i didn’t answer.
i couldn’t.
she looked around. the walls were bare, like i was too scared to decorate a life.
“so this is where you hide?” she asked, bitter.
i swallowed. “you think this is easy for me?”
“you left me like i didn’t matter.”
i grabbed her wrist. “you matter too fkn much, Evie.”
she shuddered. not in fear. in want.
and that was it.
i kissed her.
hard. angry. aching.
she kissed back like she’d been holding her breath for weeks.
clothes dropped. hands pulled. mouths devoured.
“tell me this is wrong,” she begged against my throat.
“i can’t,” i said, lifting her up, pressing her against the wall. “cuz it’s the only thing that ever felt fkn right.”
SOMEWHERE ELSE.....
a man stood in a dark office.
he watched security footage that shouldn’t exist.
nikolai.
evangeline.
proof.
he smiled, slow and dangerous.
“let’s see what Moretti does with this.”
- Writer
