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Disoriented and disheveled, I pat myself to find the device, locating it in my back pocket. I groan as I reach for it.
I put the phone up to my face, rubbing my eyes, and squint against the unwelcome intrusion of light. Forty-eight missed calls from…Angelica?
“Holy shit!” I jump off the couch. My body feels heavy, limbs uncooperative.
Panic sets in. Did something happen after I left Aria? Is Evan okay?
Angelica calls me again, and I pick up before the first ring is even over.
“Ang, is everything okay? Are you hurt? Where’s Evander?” I ask, going a mile a second.
Angelica’s voice trembles. “We’re fine, D.” The knot in my stomach loosens. “It’s Aria.” Just as quickly, the weight I thought was lifted crashes back down, heavier than before, and my muscles tense up again.
But I swallow, my mouth and throat dry, trying to keep my cool. “What is it?” I was just with her a few hours ago, what could have happened?
“We can’t find her. Dimitri called, asking if I knew where she was. Turns out, she snuck past her guards last night and still hasn’t returned home,” she explains, her tone filled with sorrow. “She texted me last night, telling me she was going out for a drink. I thought nothing of it, that she was meeting up with one of her friends or something. But it’s four a.m. and her phone is off and they can’t find her anywhere,” she cries, her panic escalating, and I hear Evan in the back trying to comfort her.
“I’ll find out where she is,” I reply. “Don’t tell anyone that I’m looking for her. They might not like what they find.” Angelica agrees through a sob. We hang up.
I clench my fists, hard, searing pain traveling through my head. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK. Why, Aria?”
I hurl my phone across the room, and it crashes against the wall with a sharp impact.
I pace back and forth, each step matching the racing of my thoughts. I run my hands through my hair, a futile attempt to release the tension.
I can’t keep doing this. What I feel for Aria is a bittersweet ache, both beautiful and excruciatingly painful. It’s all-consuming, leaving me feeling so powerless and empty. Every memory of her is a reminder of what I want but can’t grasp. Yet I’m always the one at her beck and call. Her knight in shining armor. Her protector. The Sotíras.
It’s like watching my heart slowly crumble into dust, knowing that each piece I offer her takes a part of my soul with it.
After her rejection, I tried to bury these feelings, push them down, but they kept resurfacing, stronger than before. It’s like an unquenchable thirst, an insatiable desire that consumes my thoughts.
The room feels too small, too confining, as if it’s closing in on me, so I head to my bedroom. I sink onto the edge of the bed, clutching my head in my hands.
The more I try to distance myself from Aria, the more I realize how deeply I’ve fallen for her.
Lifting myself, I head to my office and sit at my desk. As soon as my computer hums to life, I quickly type in my password and navigate to the tracking software.
My fingers fly over the keyboard as I enter Aria’s phone number. The screen refreshes, but instead of seeing her location, I’m greeted with a message: “Device Offline.”
I slam my fist on the desk, making a few papers flutter to the ground. “Where is she?” I mutter under my breath. I run a hand through my hair, trying to think. “She must’ve destroyed her cell...But why?”
I grab a new phone from the drawer, input my SIM card, then scroll through my contacts, tapping on Dimitri’s name. The phone rings, and I drum my fingers impatiently on the desk, waiting for him to pick up.
“Dion,” he says as if expecting my call.
“Did you look for her around the property?” I bark.
“Of course I did, vlakas. She’s nowhere to be found on the estate, and I can’t track her anymore.”
“You’ve been tracking her?” I ask, surprised.
“Yes. Ever since she started hanging out with those degenerates.” I’m assuming he means the friends she was with at the club.
I rub the back of my neck. “I was just with her a few hours ago. I dropped her home.” I feel like such an idiot. I should’ve checked if she got inside safely, but I was so focused on leaving the property before anyone noticed me. “What?” Dimitri purses his lips. “Are you trying to get killed, Loukas?”
I’m about to answer when it hits me. I exhale, the sound rough and shaky. I know where Aria is—and I’m fucking terrified of what I might find.
“I’ll call you back,” I say, hanging up before Dimitri can utter a response.
