Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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VENUS
London had become a dream these past few days, wrapped in silk mornings, chaotic laughter, and the clink of teacups against delicate saucers. And it was a shame, really, that we’d be leaving in less than three days. Time moved too fast, too damn fast. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t excited to see Aaron again, but something inside me whispered that the clock was ticking louder than usual.
Speaking of him… he hadn’t texted me since this morning.
I’d sent several messages. Nothing dramatic. Just small check-ins, a meme or two Gianna forced me to forward, a picture of Sabine looking like a Bond villain in oversized sunglasses. Normally, he’d have replied with a sarcastic comment, or a dry remark that secretly made me smile.
But today? Silence.
Sabine and Gianna tried to convince me he was just busy, some crisis with one of the subsidiaries, or maybe brooding over the Empire State Building like a modern-day Dracula but I had a nagging feeling. The kind that claws quietly at your spine until you’re either proven wrong or broken open.
Still, I let it go. For now.
I didn’t want to spoil the trip for Gianna and Sabine.
London let me forget.
Or maybe I let myself.
Even now, curled in the backseat of the black SUV Sabine arranged for us, a to-go cup warming my fingers and a ridiculous story from Gianna echoing in my ears, I felt… light.
Untethered.
Alive.
“She told him to ‘respect the chiffon’ or suffer the consequences,” Gianna snorted, shaking her head. “Who says that p>
“Sabine,” I replied, sipping my drink. “Sabine says that p>
“In public p>
“In French p>
Gianna groaned. “I’m going to start carrying an apology card every time we enter a building p>
“Make it two,” Sabine muttered from beside me, eyes glued to her phone. “And laminate them p>
I smiled into my cup. This was good. Better than good. It was safe.
The kind of good that makes you forget that not too long ago, you were drowning in a penthouse built like a cage,
I pulled out my phone and opened our thread.
ME: How’s NY? Still standing without me?
AARON: Barely. The city’s weeping. The fridge is empty. The bed is colder.
12:18 Mon, Jan 5 GM
Chapter 95
I remembered when I got that text.
I blinked at the last line.
Then again.
The bed is colder.
I read it three more times.
Gianna and Sabine hadn’t let it go.
Gianna leaned over. “Is that him p>
I tilted the screen away. “Yes p>
“You smiled p>
“I didn’t p>
“You did p>
Sabine’s voice was dry. “She’s blushing p>
“I’m not blushing p>
“Oh, princess,” Gianna crooned. “You’re in trouble p>
I wasn’t.
Except I was.
And I knew it the moment I stared at that text a little too long, heart thudding a little too fast.
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I tucked the phone back into my purse. If he didn’t text by tomorrow, I’d call him. Something about his silence felt off.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur of appointments.
Lucien was particularly unbearable, which meant Gianna was particularly violent. She nearly stabbed him with a color swatch at one point. I honestly wasn’t sure if it was flirtation or a felony in slow motion.
Either way, I was living for it.
But by the time we got back to the flat, the adrenaline had dulled. My feet ached. My cheeks hurt from smiling. I needed a bath, a glass of wine, and five uninterrupted hours of not being fabulous.
I was just slipping into a hoodie when my phone lit up.
A single message.
AARON: We need to talk.
Three words.
No punctuation.
The kind of text that made your stomach knot before your brain caught up.
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Chapter 95
ME: Everything okay?
No response.
I stared at the screen, waiting.
One minute. Two. Five.
Still nothing.
Something was wrong.
Not urgent-wrong. Not danger-wrong.
But Aaron-wrong.
That quiet, deadly kind of wrong where his calm wasn’t calm at all.
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I couldn’t sleep that night.
The air felt different. Tighter. Like London knew something I didn’t.
I turned the necklace he gave me between my fingers. That ridiculous, beautiful, arrogant piece of jewelry he’d clasped around my throat with such finality.
Mine.
That was what his eyes had said.
And I’d let him.
I’d worn it. Still wore it.
Even when I wasn’t sure what we were anymore.
Even when I didn’t know if we were real.
But maybe we were.
Maybe we could be.
I was just starting to drift when my phone buzzed again.
Not Aaron.
Unknown Number.
UNKNOWN: You trust the wrong man.
My chest tightened.
I sat up instantly, my heart already sprinting ahead of me. A beat later, another message came in-an image file.
I hesitated.
Then tapped it.
12:18 Mon, Jan 5 GM•
Chapter 95
My breath caught.
It was a photo.
Of me.
And Dorian.
In a very compromising position.
It was that day at the office. When Gerald had shown up unexpectedly, demanding to apologize.
When the cabinet got jammed and he was helping me out.
But the angle of the photo p>
It looked like we were about to kiss.
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We were frozen in the kind of proximity that could be mistaken for intimacy by anyone who didn’t know better.
My stomach dropped.
A second photo followed.
This one from a restaurant. A candid of me mid-smile. Dorian beside me, gaze warm. We were supposed to meet a client, this was around the time Aaron told me to back off his personal life.
It looked bad.
Really bad.
My hands trembled as I texted back.
ME: Who are you?
No reply.
I tried again.
ME: What do you want?
Nothing.
I stared at the wall, bile rising in my throat.
Was this why Aaron had gone quiet?
Had he gotten these too?
The thought made me sick.
He wouldn’t believe that, would he?
He knew me. Right? He wouldn’t fall for some calculated attempt to wedge space between us.
Unless he already wanted space.
Unless this was the thing that pushed him far enough to stop answering.
12:18 Mon, Jan 5 GM •
Chapter 95
The necklace burned against my skin.
I swallowed hard.
I needed to go home.
Now.
Because something was coming.
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And whatever it was-whatever Dorian, or Aaron, or whoever sent those pictures wanted-I could feel it in my bones.
It was going to hurt.
Ruby Walker
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby’s writing style is bold and irresistible—perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.