Page 133 of Maddening Fixation

Before the window could roll all the way up, I leaned closer.

“Could I... at least have your phone number?” I asked quietly. “Someone I can call in case of an emergency.”

The window stopped halfway.

Keegan looked at me for a long moment, and for the first time since we’d met, there was something almost apologetic in his expression.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Flynn,” he said gently. “I can’t.”

I clasped my hands together, suddenly feeling much younger—and far more vulnerable—than I wanted to.

“I understand that you’re anxious,” he continued. “But I assure you, Mr. Flynn will be back sooner than you think.”

There was no room for negotiation in his tone. It wasn’t cruelty.

It was loyalty.

The window resumed its ascent with a soft mechanical hum, sealing off any chance of another question.

A second later, the engine roared to life.

I stood motionless as the car disappeared down the long driveway, leaving me alone with a house full of silence.

I stood motionless in the middle of the driveway, watching the empty road long after the vehicle had vanished from sight.

The loneliness hit me with startling force.

It wasn’t the ordinary kind that came from being by yourself.

This felt heavier and colder.

As though I had been dropped into another life without anyone to help me find my way back.

Never in all my years had I felt so utterly alone.

The gentle ocean breeze lifted the edge of my veil, but it couldn’t erase the chill settled deep inside me.

Turning away from the empty driveway, I walked back toward the bungalow.

The bloodstained wedding gown trailed behind me, its long train whispering across the stone path like the ghost of the woman I’d been only a few hours earlier.

Every step felt heavier than the last.

The front door clicked shut behind me, sealing me inside the unnaturally quiet house.

I wandered slowly through the bungalow, taking in every detail as though committing it to memory.

It was modest compared to the sprawling Bratva estates where I’d grown up, yet no expense had been spared.

The house was beautiful and comfortable.

Yet despite its warmth, it felt strangely empty.

A carefully furnished cage.

I wandered from room to room, opening doors one by one.

Eventually, I retreated to the bedroom Keegan had assigned me, the one just off the kitchen.