Page 159 of When a Soul Cries

“Who the hell—”

I answered anyway.

“Hello?”

There was a brief pause before a deep voice came through the phone.

“A’Zaria?”

I straightened slowly.

“Who is this?”

“It’s Rome.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

Rome?

As in **Sol’s Rome?**

I turned away from my suitcase, my irritation immediately replaced by something colder.

“How the fuck did you get my number?”

“That’s not important right now.”

My stomach dropped.

I stopped breathing for half a second.

“What happened?”

Rome hesitated.

That tiny pause scared me more than anything he could’ve said.

“Sol and her daughter are with me,” he finally said, his voice low and controlled. “They’re safe.”

My heart slammed against my chest.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“A’Zaria—”

“Where is Sol?” My voice shot up as I started pacing. “Why the fuck do you have Sol and Halo? What happened? Is Halo okay? Is Sol hurt?”

“They’re both okay.”

“Then why are they with you?”

My hand started trembling around the phone.

Rome released a heavy breath on the other end. “Some shit happened.”

“What shit?”

“I’m trying to explain—”