It’s probably a good way to deter people from calling more than once.
The music stops and I sit up straight, my heart racing with a mixture of hope and fear.
“Ronan?” A man’s voice comes down the line.
How the fuck does he know my name?
“Uh, yeah?”
“Chloe is safe.”
The call ends before I have a chance to ask any questions or find out how they knew it was me calling considering I used a burner. I could call back, but if they were willing to give me any other information, they wouldn’t have hung up on me.
She’s safe.
I remind myself that that’s all that matters and drop the phone beside me with a sigh.
I should let this go. I should lethergo. But how am I supposed to allow the love of my life to slip away?
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
CHLOE
NOW
The loneliness is worse now.
After days of familiar companionship, it hurts to be alone again.
The deafening silence drags on for what I assume is hours, but it could be days for all I know.
Bone-deep exhaustion keeps me on the shitty mattress with the blankets that smell like Ronan pulled up to my chin.
I’m torturing myself. Beating myself up for ever asking him to leave.
But it’s better this way.
Soon I’ll be gone, and he’ll have to deal with the part he played in my death. It’s better that there’s distance between us when that happens.
I suck in another shameless breath of his scent. It’s too warm down here to be bundled up like this, but I need the comfort and the false sense of security they offer.
At the end of the day, they’re not going to do anything to protect me from the inevitable, but for now they act as a barrier between me and the threats that reside above me.
I wish they would just get it over and done with.
I don’t know anything helpful about Kingston, and even if I did, I would have told them by now. He wouldn’t want me to protect him in exchange for my life.
The sound of footsteps in the hall outside has my thoughts stalling, and when they pause outside my cell, my stomach rolls uncomfortably.
Something about their hesitation to come in doesn’t sit right with me, and I make the split-second decision to pretend I’m asleep, rolling over and tugging the blankets around my chin.
It might be dumb to give whoever is about to come in here my back, but I’m not exactly flushed with options right now.
The door opens slowly but no quieter than every other time, but I continue to pretend I’m asleep despite the noise.
Whoever it is steps into the room but doesn’t close the door behind them.
Maybe they’re not planning to stay for long.
