I needed…
I needed…
Ronnie. I needed Ronnie.
With a growl, I sprinted back to the safe house.
It sat dark and empty, no sign of life in or around it. I hurried inside, straight for the hidden room.
Locking mys
elf in it, I dug my phone from my jeans pocket and woke it up.
Twenty missed calls from Ronnie. Twenty voice messages. Too many texts to count.
A hot lump filled my throat. A heavy weight, like a chunk of concrete, pressed at my chest.
I read the last text, eyes burning.
“You’re a fucking bastard, Lucas Pratt.”
An icy blade twisted in my heart. I closed my eyes, everything I was tearing apart.
“Ronnie…” I murmured. “Ronnie, I…”
I what?
“Fuck.” I pitched my cell across the small room.
It struck the wall beside the bed and fell to the mattress with a dull thud.
I stood motionless, fists balled, breath ragged. My head roared.
Fuck. Fuck, how was I to live without her? How was I—
My phone vibrated to life, its screen lighting up with an incoming message.
I threw myself at the bed, my heart racing, and snatched up my cell. The screen was shattered, a spider web of cracks almost making it impossible for me to read the message from Ronnie.
Almost impossible.
“If I didn’t love you so fucking much, I’d hate you.”
A ragged sigh tore from my throat and I slumped onto the bed.
Pulse pounding in my ears, my whole body tingling with energy I couldn’t fathom or describe, I stared at those ten words and then let out a raw groan as another message popped up onto my screen.
“I’ll see you soon, Lucas. No matter what you think you’re doing, I’ll see you soon. ’Cause I love you, and you love me, and we’re meant to be together. Got it?”
I stared at the message. I didn’t blink. I didn’t move. I just stared at the message. Read it over and over.
And over and over again.
When my lungs and eyes began to burn, I sucked in a deep breath and blinked rapidly, and then read the message again.
My thumb moved to the cracked screen.
Fuck, I shouldn’t be doing this, but I was.