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It’sreallyover.
I let out a shaky breath, my head dropping into my hands as a tear slips down my cheek—whether from relief or exhaustion, I’m not sure. Maybe both.
“You’re serious?” I whisper.
“Fuck yes,” Annika mutters, bitterness and satisfaction on her lips. “I almost feel like I should send flowers to Ulkan’s family for cutting that fucker up so badly.”
For so long, Valon was this dark, looming threat, a shadow that she and I could never quite shake. And now, he’s just…gone. I don’t know what to say.
Annika’s voice drops, barely audible over the phone. “It’s finally over, Freya.”
I exhale again, slumping into the chair as I start to grin.
“Mal was a huge help getting Kenzo free.”
Hearing the name is a slap to the face I wasn’t ready for. My stomach lurches, the phone suddenly cold in my hand, every muscle in my body tense. I hadn’t expected that. Hadn’t wanted that.
Not after everything. Not after heleftand fucked off to Japan and vanished from my life without a word. As if none of it mattered. As ifIdidn’t matter.
I take a shaky breath, trying to swallow down the sick feeling bubbling up inside me. I hate that just hearing his name makes my heart race, that it still affects me. What we had wasn’t arelationship. It was just a messed-up arrangement.
I should begladhe got bored of me and went to find some other victim for his sick games. That I’m free of him.
Why the hell does it sting so much?
The bitterness sinks deeper into my chest, filling the spaces he carved out. He took everything. My control. My freakingvirginity. And then he just—walked away. No explanation. No closure. Nothing.
Annika must sense my mood shift, because her voice softens. “You okay?”
I force myself to breathe, plastering a fake smile on my face that I hope will come through to my voice. “Yeah! I’m fine, just fuckingrelieved, you know? And I guess, sort of in shock?”
“Same,” she breathes. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet.” She clears her throat. “Hey, Frey?”
“Yeah?”
“Wanna come to Kyoto?”
I grin widely. “Aww, missin’ me?”
She snorts. “Don’t be a dork.Obviously. It’s been fucking forever since I got some Frey time, and I know Kenzo would love to see you, too.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Since when do you care whatKenzowants?”
She laughs, but it’s softer than usual. Suddenly, I get it. Something’s changed between them. The whole point of Annika and Kenzo’s marriage was just to prevent all-out war between the Yakuza and the Bratva.
But now?
“Ahem, would you say it’s gettinga bit seriouswith your husband?”
She laughs lightly. “I’ll explain when you visit,” Annika says, almost shyly. “But yeah, things are…different.”
I should be happy for her. Iamhappy for her. But the hollow feeling gnaws at me, pulling me under. Annika’s found something real, something unexpected. And here I am, left alone with nothing but radio silence.
After we say goodbye and I hang up, the elated relief I felt earlier is gone, replaced with that gnawing ache. Annika has Kenzo. She has something stable, something that’s real.
And me?
I’m just left sitting in the middle of the mess that Mal created.
