Chapter 15: Too Close
649 Words
Regal stared at the message for a long time.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Unknown Number:
“You’re not safe.
We need to talk. Not through him.”
Her chest tightened.
Daisy.
It had to be.
She typed slowly.
Regal:
“Where are you?”
The reply came almost instantly.
Unknown Number:
“Doesn’t matter. I’m being watched.
My father knows I saw you.”
Regal sat up straighter.
Her pulse quickening.
Regal:
“Are you safe?”
This time the reply took longer.
“No.”
The word hit harder than expected.
Before she could type again her door opened.
She looked up sharply.
Sebastian.
Of course.
His eyes went straight to her.
Then to her phone.
Then back to her.
“Who are you texting?”
His voice wasn’t raised.
But it didn’t need to be.
Regal locked her screen.
“Does it matter?”
That was the wrong answer.
Sebastian stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
“Yes.”
She exhaled.
“I told you—I’m not a child.”
“And I told you,” he replied, moving closer, “this isn’t a game.”
“It’s my life,” she shot back.
“And you’re risking it.”
Silence snapped between them.
Tight.
Electric.
Regal stood.
Ignoring the way her body still protested.
“You don’t get to control everything I do.”
Sebastian stopped just in front of her.
Too close.
“Watch me.”
The words came out low.
Dangerous.
Her breath caught.
Just slightly.
“See?” she said, but her voice wasn’t as steady now. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
“Then stop giving me reasons to worry.”
“I didn’t ask you to—”
“You didn’t have to.”
That stopped her.
Because there it was again.
That thing in his voice.
Not control.
Not strategy.
Something else.
Something real.
“You act like this is just a case,” Regal said more quietly now. “But it’s not, is it?”
Sebastian didn’t answer.
He didn’t step back either.
The space between them gone.
“You’re too involved,” she added.
“And you’re not involved enough,” he countered.
Her chest rose and fell.
Faster now.
“You’re impossible.”
“And you’re reckless.”
A beat.
Neither moved.
Neither looked away.
The tension shifted.
Changed.
It wasn’t just anger anymore.
It was something else.
Something heavier.
Hotter.
Regal became suddenly aware of everything—
How close he was.
How his gaze had dropped—just slightly to her lips.
Her breath hitched.
“Sebastian…”
She didn’t even know what she was going to say.
He leaned in, just a fraction.
Close enough for her to feel it.
The shift.
The possibility.
Then he stopped.
His jaw tightened.
Like he was pulling himself back.
“Get some sleep,” he said, his voice lower now.
Controlled again.
And just like that he stepped away.
The distance returned.
But it didn’t feel the same.
Regal stood there, stunned.
Heart racing.
“That’s it?” she asked softly.
Sebastian paused at the door.
“That’s all you’re getting,” he replied.
And then he walked out.
⸻
Regal let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
Her heart was still racing.
From anger.
From adrenaline.
From something else entirely.
⸻
Across the house—
Sebastian closed his door.
Harder than necessary.
He ran a hand through his hair.
Exhaling sharply.
“That was a mistake,” he muttered.
But it didn’t feel like one.
And that was worse.
⸻
Back in her room—
Regal picked up her phone again.
Hands still slightly unsteady.
Regal:
We need to meet.
Unknown Number:
I’ll find a way.
⸻
Elsewhere—
Daisy stared at the screen.
Her grip tightening.
This had gone too far.
And now there was no going back.
- Writer
