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I pictured him surrounded by tourists in a brightly lit street. Of lanterns and quaint shops. Of music and enticing aromas. Such a blissful picture ruined by his homicidal father stalking him.
Sighing heavily, I stepped into the house. “I’ll go wake Mum and Dad right now, and they can tell you exactly what I just did. We’re in this together, Aslan. You’re family. We’ll do anything for you...okay?”
He exhaled. “Seni çok seviyorum, Nerida. You mean everything to me.”
My heart hiccupped as I cut down the corridor. “I love you too, Aslan. More than life itself. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Neri...” His tone turned harsh and almost violent. “I need you to know how grateful I am to you. For everything. I-I was born for you, and the past eight years of loving you have been the best eight years of my life.”
Fear tiptoed through my chest. “Tell me in person. Tell me when we’re together again.”
“I love you, Nerida Avci. In this life and the next. In every life hereafter. If anything happens—”
“Nothing is going to happen.” I paused outside my parents’ bedroom, dressed in night shorts and a silver cami, my knuckles white as I clung to my phone. “You’ll see. Everything will work out—”
“I’m yours, canim. I was yours before you even found me. I’ll be yours long after I lose you. I need you to know that. I need you to know how much I adore you. How much you mean to me. How much you’ve always meant to me.”
Tears pooled hotly down my cheeks. “Seni çok seviyorum, Aslan. For always. Forever. Now, stay where you are and—”
“Ah, fuck.” His voice was just a puff of frigid air in my ear.
I went rigid, wishing I could see through the phone line. Wishing he’d called me on FaceTime. Wishing he was here and not thousands of kilometres away.
My instincts prickled.
That knowing little nudge turned into the sharpest blade, stabbing at my heart.
“Aslan...what is it? What happened?”
The whooshing of air and the snatches of people enjoying life faded in and out as if he cut through crowds in a rush. “Aslan?”
“I think...I think he’s here.”
I clung to my parents’ doorknob. My pulse turned wild. “Can you see him?”
“No, but two men in black suits are following me.”
I was sick.
Weak-kneed.
Deathly afraid.
“Can you get into a hotel? Go find the agent who dropped you off.”
“I’d have to cut across the square,” he growled. “It’s too far.”
“Then go into a restaurant, a store...something!”
His breathing picked up as he jogged. “Neri...remember your promise? Your promise that you’d never come here? Cem knows you exist, but as long as you stay in Australia, he hopefully won’t come after you. He has no reason to. It’s me he wants. If he gets me, then...just promise me you’ll stay away. That you won’t come looking for me. Promise me.”
I shivered.
I trembled.
I could barely hold my phone. “Why are you saying this now? What’s happening?”
I need to know.
