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Chapter Nineteen

Quinn

The air hit my face as we pushed through the glass doors. Cadence stopped, rifling around in her purse, searching for something. “Where the hell is it?”

“What?” I asked, looking around the street, watching the sidewalk. A habit I had started since that damn note showed up.

“My phone, I want to text Mia to tell her how freaking awesome the appointment was.” Her head almost went all the way into her purse, face buried up to her brows with the zipper.

“I'm sure it's in there, maybe it's time to clean your suitcase?” Reaching for her shoulder, my eyes walked around us. “Did you check that ti—” My voice was lost, eyes holding steady, breaking down an image off in the distance.

“Check what?” Cadence's voice was muffled, blocked by the fabric.

No. It can't be.

Blinking rapidly, I squinted hard to make out the face. Against a lone tree, tucked off the curb was a silhouette. An outline I was all too familiar with, one I had pushed away.

Nico?

Fuck.

Biting my lip, my eyes thinned, lids lowering in anger. Leaning against the bark, I could swear it was him. An unnerving fucking smile formed over his jaw, fingers picking at his nails with a small pocket knife.

Meeting my gaze, his lips drew in, sneering higher on one side. A cigarette was clenched tightly between his teeth, the smoke billowing out in long smooth bursts. Pulling it out of his mouth, he flicked it into the street.

Inside I wanted to charge him, kick him clear in that shit eating grin he was wielding. My fists balled by my sides, muscles ready to explode.

“Quinn?”Cadence wrapped her fingers around my forearm, pulling me back in.

“Hm?” Glancing away for a brief second, I looked over at her.

“Check what?” she asked, head still glued to the inside of her purse.

“That tiny pocket.” Cocking my neck up, I zoned back in on the spot he was standing, eyes trying to seek him out.

But he was gone.

It was as if he was never even there, a figment of my imagination... Or maybe it was just my head finally crumbling to my paranoid delusion that something bad was brewing.

Am I going fucking crazy?

“Got it, nice call.” Holding out her phone, she stood oblivious to what had just taken place. Running her fingers over the screen, Cadence started typing. “Ready?”

Wrapping my arm tightly over her shoulder, I tugged her firmly into my side. “Yeah, let's go home.” Walking in the opposite direction, my head kept turning over my shoulder, looking for his ghastly image with his stupid fucking smile.

“What are you looking at?” Cadence turned to follow my eyes, looking at everything and nothing.

Pushing my lower lip out, I let him vanish, not wanting to worry her. Fuck, I wasn't even sure if he was there to begin with. “Nothing, I just thought I saw someone I used to know, but it wasn't him.”

She seemed satisfied with my answer, not pressing me further, and not seeming to notice the extreme discomfort riding my spine.

But I could feel it, tensing around the bone, turning my nerves from stagnant to alive in one quick snap.

The last thing I wanted was to worry her, or give her any reason to stress out. It wouldn't do her or the baby any good, and Riley was the only place her head needed to be.

He was there. I know he was there.

The letter started to sink in, and it all made sense to me. Our past wasn't over, it wasn't held behind thick iron, fizzling down to nothing.