Page 56 of Ice-Cold Obsession

He pulls out his phone and starts texting. I watch him, feeling numb. This is really happening, and it’s surreal. After keeping my secret for so long and handling everything on my own, I'm finally asking for help.

But all I can think about is Scarlett. Where is she? What are they doing to her? Is she hurt? Is she scared?

Is she alive?

I won't forgive myself if anything happens to her. This is all my fault. If I hadn't set my eyes on her, maybe they wouldn't have noticed her. Maybe she'd be safe right now instead of wherever they took her.

I should've convinced her to leave or pushed her away earlier. But I was selfish because I wanted her in my life. I wanted to feel less alone.

And now she's paying the price for it.

"Gabriel," Zyair says, pulling me out of my thoughts. "We're going to find her. I promise. Maybe she’s still somewhere on campus."

I nod, but I don't believe it. Because the mafia doesn't let people go. And if they have her, I don't know if I'll ever see her again.

And that thought makes me sick.

SOON, HALF THE TEAMis crammed into Zyair's dorm room, and they all look confused and worried.

"What's going on?" Taj asks.

I take a deep breath and tell them everything. The store, the mafia, my brother, my parents, the debt... Then fixing games, the sabotage, the threats... Carla. Scarlett. All of it.

When I'm done, the room is silent.

“We’ll find her,” Taj says.

"How?" I ask. "We don't even know where she is."

"Then we figure it out," Leonardo says. "We’ll start looking and ask around. Someone had to see something."

"They're not going to make it easy," I say. "They never do."

"It doesn't matter," Zyair says. "We're not abandoning you."

I look around the room at my teammates. I've been lying to them and sabotaged them, and they’re still here, willing to help me.

"Thank you," I say quietly.

"Don't thank us yet," Taj says. "Do it when we find Scarlett."

"And wewillfind her," Zyair adds. "We're a team. That's what we do."

I feel a small flicker of hope. Maybe they can help me find her, since they don’t have to hide like I do and they can just ask around.

But the fear is still there, gnawing at me. Because I know what the mafia is capable of, and I know what they do to people who get in their way.

And Scarlett got in their way because of me.

How will I ever be able to live with myself if something happens to her?

Chapter 34

SCARLETT

I WAKE UP WITH MY HEADpounding and my wrists burning. When I try to move, I realize I’m tied to a chair. The rope cuts into my skin, tight enough that I can barely shift my arms.

The room is dark and looks like some kind of basement. Concrete walls surround me, and a single light bulb hangs from the ceiling. There are no windows, and the air smells damp and musty.