Page 51 of Strange Seduction (Strange #2)

Let Go or Be Dragged.

Still Day Eighteen.

The house was too quiet when I woke up.

There was no note on the nightstand. No text. No apology was waiting for me, as I had half-hoped. Just the stiff ache in my limbs from a night of restless sleep and a hollowness that hadn’t left since I handed him back the ring.

Still wrapped in the robe I found in the closet last night, I walked down the stairs barefoot.

Theo was gone.

Then I saw it—folded neatly on the kitchen counter beside the ring I placed in his hand a few hours ago. A piece of thick cardstock, his sharp handwriting inked in black:

The driver will be here at noon. He’ll take you back to the hotel. —T.

That was it.

I stared at it for a long time. Long enough for my vision to blur, not with tears—those were gone, wrung out of me the night before—but with exhaustion. My fingers curled around the note, crushing it in my grip.

He left.

Not just the house. He left me.

I shoved the note aside, grabbed my bag, and started packing before I lost my nerve.

The driver didn’t ask questions. Just opened the door, nodded politely, and started the car. I barely remembered the ride back to the hotel. My thoughts swirled too fast, every moment in that damn house replaying with high-definition clarity.

By the time we pulled up to the front entrance, I felt like I’d aged five years.

Once inside the penthouse, I dropped my things and went straight for the window. The view was still as beautiful as ever, the sunlight pouring over the hills, washing the streets in gold, but none of it reached me.

Fuck. I need a drink.

After a much-needed shower, I sat cross-legged on the bed, now in the robe with my phone propped against a pillow and a half-empty glass of ginger tea on the nightstand.

My eyes were raw, my curls frizzing in every direction, and the only reason I even had the energy to function was because I’d been drinking since I got here.

The ring was on the desk across the room. Still.

I hadn’t touched it since I brought it here with me.

“Okay,” I mumbled, hitting the video call button. “Here we go.”

The screen filled one by one with familiar faces—blurry and chaotic at first as they all tried to talk at once.

Izzy went first. “Carmen, oh my God—”

“Girl, where the hell have you been?” Mantis chimed in.

“Carmen? What’s going on? Why do you look like that?”

Alyssa’s face popped up last, and she immediately zeroed in on me. “You been crying?”

I swallowed, forcing a tight smile. “Hi. Missed y’all too.”

Jayda’s eyes narrowed. “Where are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re never fine when you start with that,” Mantis said, perched somewhere in a coffee shop, earbuds in and giant sunglasses covering half her face.

“I’m not gonna lie,” I said, rubbing my temples, “this call is probably gonna feel like a novella, so buckle in.”

Jayda blinked. “Oh God.”

“Theo proposed last night. And I gave the ring back.”

Silence.

Alyssa was the first to react. “What?!”

“Wait—you gave it back?” Mantis asked.

“Yeah.”

“Carm,” Izzy said slowly. “Was that the smart thing to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Jayda finally joined in. “You don’t know?”

“No, I don’t,” I admitted, picking at a loose thread on the hem of my robe. “But I was so mad last night. Like… white-hot, I-can’t-hear-my-own-thoughts kind of mad.”

Jayda leaned closer to her screen, her brows furrowed. “Mad about what, though? What did he do?”

I sighed and tipped my head back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. “He talked to Marcus behind my back. About him wanting me to move out here and getting a position at another firm. Without asking me.”

“Oh hell no,” Mantis muttered.

“Did he mean well?” Izzy asked. “I’m not defending it, I’m just—maybe in his mind—”

“I know he meant well,” I cut in. “That’s the worst part.

He thought he was doing something for me.

Something romantic, even. But it felt like such a betrayal.

Like I didn’t have a say in my own future, and he wanted to make sure I didn’t go home.

And for him to do that to me. Of all people, I never expected Theo to try and stop me from doing what I wanted to.

I compromised as much as I could. I compromised and swallowed so much. And he still did that to me.”

Alyssa was quiet for a second. “Did you talk to him?”

“I tried. It turned into an argument, followed by the strangest ‘hate’ sex of our relationship.” I let out a breath. “And then I took off the ring and gave it to him.”

Jayda made a face, like she was physically pained. “I mean… I get it. But damn, Carm.”

“I know.”

Mantis sipped her drink, then spoke through the straw. “So what now?”

“I don’t know.” I paused, then said it out loud, soft and flat. “I think we broke up.”

Another round of silence.

Izzy was the one who filled it, voice gentler than before. “I’m sorry, Carm.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Me too.”

“Does that mean…” Alyssa choked out, “…we can’t be friends anymore?”

My voice caught in my throat. “Lyssa. I would never make you choose between me and your brother.”

At that moment, I realized why Theo tried to stay out of other people’s relationships. I felt so sorry for Alyssa. “The breakup is not confirmed yet, but I’d understand if you want to stand by your brother. But you and I will never have bad blood.”

Her words became shaky. “But we wouldn’t be sisters anymore.”

“Alyssa,” I dragged.

“Alyssa, stop all that whining!” Jayda cut through our moment.

“You know she’s extra,” Mantis chuckled. “Lyssa, no one wants you to cut Carmen off because of your brother, just like no one wanted me to cut Jay off because of Tyler. These things happen sometimes, and we’re all still friends.”

“Yes,” I agreed, though my throat thickened at the reality that my time with Theo might actually be over. “Speaking of, Jay. How are you doing with your breakup?”

Jayda stared at her screen, chewing the inside of her cheek. “I’ve been over here losing my mind, too. Tyler moved the bitch in after I left.”

My head snapped up. “What?”

“Yeah, he really is a piece of shit.”

Mantis let out a sound between a sigh and a growl. “I never liked him,” she lied.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. Jayda was never the kind of girl who fell easily into love. If she gave her heart, she meant it, so to see Tyler take it for granted pissed me off.

“We’re just a hot mess today,” Izzy muttered.

“Speak for yourself,” Mantis said, raising her coffee cup.

We laughed, just for a second. It didn’t fix anything, but it lightened the air.

Then Alyssa spoke up again. “Carm… about my brother.”

I held my breath.

“I’m gonna be honest. He doesn’t let people in easily. And when he does? It’s usually messy. He panics when too much is happening too fast, and it’s worse when he feels like it’s out of his control. It doesn’t make what he did okay, but… he’s not a monster.”

“I know, Alyssa, ” I said quietly. “I know all of that. I’ve been with him for years and I know how he operates. He really is a good guy. He didn’t try to hurt me. He just…didn’t trust me to choose him on my own.”

Izzy gave a small nod. “And you needed him to trust you to leave and come back.”

“Exactly. I always knew I was gonna marry him. That was never the issue. But he wants too much, too fast, and I just can’t put my life on hold like that right now. I just can’t.”

“I get it,” Mantis added. “You worked hard for where you are, Carmen. You’re only twenty-five. You shouldn’t be expected to give it up now.”

“Oh, Carm. Don’t cry,” Alyssa cooed. Only then did I realize that my tears had overtaken me. “I overstepped and ran my big ass mouth. It’s your relationship after all, so it’s your decision. I just didn’t want you to end things so quickly without thinking it through.”

“Trust me. To end things with Theo isn’t something I take lightly. I love your brother. I just don’t know how we can come back from this.”

Izzy looked at me, her expression softening. “Whatever you decide… we’ve got your back.”

“Yeah,” Mantis said. “Though I am rooting for y’all to figure this shit out. No pressure.”

I let out a laugh, the first real one all day. “Noted.”

They all smiled, but behind it was worry. The screen buzzed with notifications that one of them was losing signal. It didn’t matter. The conversation was winding down anyway.

When the call ended, I was alone again—even my head felt silent.

Nothing to say?

Doubt: You got enough shit going on.

Fair.

I looked across the room at the ring, still sitting where I’d left it.

I really wanted this to work out. Maybe I could talk to Theo and see if we could—

My phone pinged.

Teddy : We’ll talk when I get home.

Fuck.

I sat down at the edge of the bed and stared at the door.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Dreading.

I stared at the space beside me on the bed. He should be here.

But he wasn’t.

He said we’d talk when he got home, but when would that be?

And for the first time since I landed in Italy, I didn’t know what came next.

I spent the entire day stuck in the tight space between anxiety and guilt. I tried to keep myself busy—unpacked, repacked, drank, took a shower, sat on the edge of the bed staring at the door like he’d come bursting through it just to tell me this was all a bad dream.

I even wandered downstairs at one point, hoping to catch him in the lobby or maybe outside, smoking like he did when I stressed him out a bit too much.

But he didn’t show.

And every call went unanswered. Every text left on read.

By the time the sky darkened outside my window and the city lights flickered on below, the silence around me had turned deafening.

When the door finally opened, I stood so fast the blood rushed to my head.

Theo walked in like he hadn’t disappeared all day—coat slung over one shoulder, and shirt slightly wrinkled.

“Hey,” I said softly, stepping forward. “I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”

He dropped his coat over the arm of the chair and didn’t look at me when he answered.

“I’ve been busy, Carmen.”