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Inside, in immaculate handwriting, is a note.
I had to get a new phone. Call me as soon as you get this.
Then, written beneath that, is a cell phone number.
I pull out my phone and dial the number, holding my breath as it rings.
“Hello?” His deep voice answers the call, and every cell in my body screams with relief.
I can speak when I try to answer him.
“Antonio,” I stutter.
“Seraphina,” he says, excitedly. “You got my message? Where are you right now?”
“I'm at the hotel. I thought something happened to you. I thought you were dead. I came back to find out what was happening. I was so lost and scared without you.” The words rush out of my mouth between desperate sobs of relief. All the worry and fear from the past few days floods out of me, streaming down my face.
“Where have you been?” he asks.
“When you didn’t come home that first night, I went to Marcus, hoping that he knew someone or something. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You did the right thing. I had to get rid of my phone after I found out that they were tracing it, and I could not call you on your phone, as I assumed they were tracing yours as well. They had a hit out on your name. They wanted you dead, and when I went back to the hotel, and you weren’t there, I thought,”
His words choke for a moment, and I hear him taking a deep breath. “I thought you were dead, or that they had taken you. I have been looking for you.”
“If they have a hit out on my name, am I in danger? I'm at the hotel right now, sitting in the foyer.”
“Go back up to the room. Wait for me there, alright? I'm coming right now. I'm already getting into the car. I'm on my way to you, little bird.”
“Please, hurry. I need to see you.”
For a moment, after hanging up the phone, I can't bring myself to stand. I have so much emotion rushing through me that my body is not in my control. My legs are shaking, and my hands are barely holding my phone.
I drop the phone into my lap and rest my face in my hands as more tears flow from my eyes. I sit for a long time, trying to catch my breath and get myself under control.
I thought he was dead, and I thought I had lost the person I love most in this entire world. But he is alive, and he is on his way to see me right now.
“Mrs. Aoi? Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help?” the receptionist is standing near me, leaning over my seat. I look up at her with bloodshot eyes.
“No, thank you, no. Everything is fine.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, unconvinced.
“I'm sure. I'm going back up to my room. Thank you for your help,” I say, standing up, feeling embarrassed, and expose my feeling in the foyer, under the public eye.
I hurry into the elevator and up to the penthouse. Inside, I wash my face in the bathroom, splashing cool water over my eyes to soothe them and regain control of myself.
I'm staring at my reflection in the mirror and dabbing the clean white towel on my face when I hear the door opening.
At first, I freeze, remembering what he said about there being a hit out on my name, but then I hear his voice, and I drop everything and run toward it.
“Seraphina,” he says as I leap into his arms. I am holding him tighter than I have ever held him before. I can’t help it when I cry again, overcome with the emotion of seeing him, able to accept that he is alive and now with me.
“Antonio, I was so worried.”
He lets me drop to my feet, my body sliding against his. I can smell him and feel the warmth of his skin. I can touch him and hear his voice.
He cups his hand beneath my chin, and with his thumb, he brushes my tears away. “Little bird, everything is fine now. Everything is perfect. I have you in my arms. My heart has never been happier than this moment.”
