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As I entered the house, the silence struck me like a slap across the face.
Then the emptiness hit.
The only thing remaining in the living room was dust.
Without realizing it, I ran back to Tony’s room.
Empty.
Pain. White hot lightning. Piercing my heart as I sank back against the wall and slid to the floor.
Instinctually, I knew he was gone. Not a trace of his scent remained in the tiny apartment where he lived alone.
I grabbed my phone, pressing the icon next to his name to call him.
“The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or no longer in service. Please try your call again later.”
The phone fell from my hand to clatter to the ground.
“Tony, why?!” I wailed and sobbed as I curled into a ball.
I didn't understand.
Why had he left?. Why didn’t he tell me where he was going? Why had he vanished without a trace?
I reflected over the last few weeks with Tony—Antonio as he was known to everyone else. I was the only one who was able to call him Tony.
It was special.
Something between us alone.
He called me Lexi. I called him Tony.
But now he was gone. Vanished without a trace.
For hours, I stayed on that floor with my arms wrapped around my legs and cried. Cried until I had no more tears. Until I was a shaking, wretched mess.
That was how Stella found me.
So broken, it had taken her mate, Andre to lift me off the ground and carry me back to her house.
Still, I didn’t say a word through my tears.
Stella tucked me into bed after washing my face. She tried to get me to eat or drink some water. But I refused.
She stayed until I started screaming at her to leave.
“I’ll do as you like, sweet girl. But know that I’m here when you’re ready to talk.” Despite the fact I’d just yelled at her, she still sat on the bed next to me and stroked my hair back from my face. “It may feel like the end of the world now, but I promise it gets better.”
Better.
Ha. If I hadn’t been sobbing so hard I felt sick, I would have probably laughed.
She leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I’m here if you need me.”
As she walked out of the room and the door shut softly behind her, I felt like my whole world was imploding for the second time.
7
