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“What do you mean?”

“When I got out of prison, he was the only one who would hire me.” His fingers flex against the leather steering wheel. “Not everyone was so accepting of the twenty-year gap in my resume.”

The information slips out of him so easily, I have to sit up straight to make sure I heard him correctly.

“T-twenty years?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“What happened?” I’m reeling. Not only is this the most I’ve ever heard this man speak, but he’s also saying it all with a straight face and I don’t know what to make of it.

“Someone hurt the person I loved, and I let my emotions get the best of me.”

Suddenly, the hem of my skirt is more pressing thanmaintaining eye contact. “Do you regret it?” I ask on a whisper.

“No, ma’am. I just wish I would have been smarter about it.”

There’s something chilling in his tone that demands my attention, but as soon as I look up, the light turns green, and I’m left looking at the side of his head.

Twenty years.

Two decades.

Just like that.

My palms are slick with sweat, so I run them over my dress again and again. Until my phone vibrates on the seat beside me, triggering a sharp inhale.

The last time I paid this phone bill was a week before I got taken. I thought the only reason it still worked was because I was connected to Adonis’ Wi-Fi.

But the banner notification from Indigo tells me a different story.

I guess the least he could do was pay my sixty-dollar phone bill.

Every day, it gets tougher facing Indigo’s curiosity. For the past three and a half weeks, I’ve pulled excuse after excuse out of my ass to explain my prolonged absence.

I know she isn’t buying that I’m in love and need the alone time with my new man. Aside from being a misandrist, she’s the most skeptical person I know, so me disappearing to be with a man was never going to fly with her.

But it was all I had in my arsenal after days of brainstorming.

After swiping my damp fingertips against my dress one last time, I slide my thumb over the screen to view my friend’s message.

Indi: Some guy just knocked on the door and dropped this off. Do you want me to open it and send you a picture?

Me: What do you mean some guy? The mailman?

Indi: No. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and got on a bike after he left it. There’s no stamp. Just your name

Me: Open it

Chapter 18

Not in the Mood

DELILAH

“Your blood pressure is higher than I’d like, Ms. Delilah.” Silas says by way of greeting as he walks into the room. “Have you been under stress lately?”

“Is that a serious question?” I deadpan. Maybe it’s the cryptic nature of Indigo’s text. Maybe it’s because I’m on week four of being kidnapped. Whatever it is has doused both my tongue and mood in acid since I walked into the office.