Chapter 17: Crossed Lines
663 Words
The place Daisy chose was quiet.
Too quiet.
Regal arrived first.
Her pulse steady—but her mind wasn’t.
She checked her phone.
No messages.
No signal of Sebastian.
A few seconds later—
Daisy stepped in.
Different.
Not the polished, guarded girl from before.
Now she looked tense.
On edge.
“You came,” Daisy said.
“I said I would.”
They didn’t sit.
Not yet.
Daisy scanned the area quickly.
Then leaned in slightly.
“This is bigger than you think.”
Regal didn’t respond immediately.
Just waited.
“Lucas didn’t die the way you were told.”
That alone changed everything.
Regal’s expression shifted.
Sharp.
Focused.
“Explain.”
Daisy exhaled.
“He wasn’t just your boyfriend.”
A pause.
“He found something.”
Regal’s chest tightened.
“What kind of something?”
Daisy lowered her voice.
“Something tied to my father… and now your case.”
The room felt colder.
“He threatened to expose it.”
Regal’s mind raced.
“And then he died.”
Daisy nodded.
Slowly.
“…That’s the part they don’t want you to know.”
Silence.
Regal’s hands curled slightly.
“Who killed him?”
Daisy hesitated.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
⸻
Outside a figure stood in the shadows.
Sebastian.
He had followed.
Of course he did.
Dressed differently.
Quieter.
Less visible.
But still very much there.
Watching.
⸻
Back inside—
Daisy continued.
“If you stay with him—”
she gestured slightly—
“you’re going to be pulled deeper into this.”
Regal’s gaze flickered.
“He’s already in it,” she said.
Daisy studied her.
“…And you trust him?”
A pause.
Regal didn’t answer.
Not fully.
⸻
A sudden noise outside.
Both girls froze.
Sebastian’s voice low.
“Stay here.”
Regal’s eyes widened.
“Seb—”
But he was already moving.
He stepped into the room.
Calm.
Controlled.
But his presence shifted everything.
Daisy stiffened immediately.
“You brought him?” she snapped.
“I followed her,” Sebastian replied evenly.
Daisy’s expression hardened.
“Typical.”
Regal stepped between them slightly.
“Focus,” she said.
But the tension didn’t ease.
Voices.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
Sebastian’s expression changed instantly.
“Now,” he said.
They moved fast.
Through the back exit.
Down an alley.
Just as men approached the front.
They slipped out.
Barely.
⸻
Back at the apartment—
silence.
Safe.
For now.
Regal stood in the bathroom doorway.
Fresh from her shower.
⸻
Hair damp.
Skin warm from the water.
Wrapped in a towel.
She hadn’t noticed Sebastian yet.
He stood in the hallway.
Frozen.
For a brief moment— just staring.
Not in a crude way.
But caught.
Caught off guard.
Because this wasn’t about control.
It wasn’t about strategy.
It was just…
her.
Regal looked up.
Their eyes met.
The air shifted immediately.
Heavy.
Charged.
“You’re back,” she said softly.
“Obviously.”
But neither moved.
Neither spoke quickly.
The tension lingered.
Longer than it should.
Sebastian’s gaze flickered briefly—
then returned to her eyes.
“You should… get dressed.”
His voice was quieter now.
Regal tilted her head slightly.
“Is that concern?”
A pause.
“…Yes.”
Another beat.
She stepped closer.
Just slightly.
“Or distraction?”
Sebastian exhaled slowly.
“Regal—”
But she stopped.
Not touching him.
Not crossing the line.
Just close enough to feel it.
“Tell me something,” she said softly.
“What?”
“Do you trust me now?”
Silence.
His answer came after a moment.
“…More than I should.”
That was enough.
Regal’s expression softened.
And for a second—
everything else disappeared.
⸻
Elsewhere—
Daisy sat alone.
Her phone in hand.
A new message came in.
Unknown Number.
Unknown:
“They’re getting closer.”
Her eyes narrowed.
And somewhere in the shadows—
someone was watching all of them.
- Writer
