Chapter 31. Blackmailing

Rae:

I wake to cold sheets.

The sun’s barely up. Pale light spills through the linen curtains, soft and golden—but it doesn’t warm me.

I reach out instinctively, searching for him. My hand brushes over nothing but the imprint of where he was.

Still faintly warm.

I sit up slowly, the blanket slipping down my bare skin. My body aches in all the right places from last night—salt, stars, and skin—but none of that warmth reaches my chest.

Something's wrong.

I pace the room, my bare feet tracing the same path across the cool, polished floor. Over and over, back and forth. My heart’s racing, a wild, erratic thrum against my ribs. The phone feels cold and heavy in my grip, but no matter how tightly I hold it, it doesn’t help.

I try his number again. Press it. Listen. And—

“Your call cannot be completed as dialed—”

“Damn it.”

I end the call, only to redial. The same message. Straight to voicemail. I hang up, biting the inside