Chapter 183

DAHLIA

My heart was still hammering on whether to respond to the text… if I do, what to say… when the phone rang.

Not a message this time.

A call.

Another unknown number.

I stared at the screen like it might bite me, my thumb hovering, my breath shallow. I already knew who it was before I answered. My body always seemed to know him before my mind caught up.

I accepted the call.

“Running away already?” Alex’s voice slid into my ear, smooth and amused, like he was commenting on a game he was enjoying. “You didn’t even say goodbye.”

My stomach twisted violently. “How did you…”

He laughed softly, cutting me off. “Sneaky, Dahlia. I’ll give you that. I almost admired it.” A pause. Then, lightly, “Almost.”

My fingers curled tight around the phone. “You kidnapped me.”

“As if that happened,” he said calmly, like he was correcting a child who’d exaggerated a story. “If I wanted you kept, you wouldn’t have made it past the door.