“I want something more from you, Cora. I need something more.”
I blink a few times at his declaration, my pulse fluttering wildly.
“You don’t just want sex. We both know you deserve more than that. And while I would be ecstatic to fuck you from here to eternity, I know I wouldn’t be happy only having that small piece of you. I’m a greedy, obsessive man when it comes to you. I want it all. So, the plan tonight was to ask you to be more with me.”
“You want me to be your girlfriend? After you lied to me?” I heard everything he just said, but it also hurts and confuses me. Arlo declaring that he wants more is not what I was expecting. Does it make me feel a certain way about him? Sure. He is literally throwing everything at me that I asked for, but at the same time...
“I never lied to you.”
“It felt that way,” I shoot back. “And I can’t discuss this right now. I have an emergency.” Just as I say that, a text comes through from Delaney. My heart rate picks up when I see her name flash on the screen.
Delaney: I just need some time away.
Time away? I get that. She’s hurting. But it doesn’t sit right with me. We go through everything together. There is never a day that she doesn’t reply to me or call me back. It’s just not who we are.
“What’s wrong?” Arlo asks as I step out of the car.
Reaching back inside, I grab my bag and then pull it over my shoulder, not wanting to make eye contact with him.
“You hold a lot of secrets, am I correct?” I ask, finally looking at him.
“Yes.” He doesn’t bother lying about it.
“And these secrets. How bad are they that you can’t share them with me?”
“They’re deadly,” he immediately replies.
“Cressida warned me to be careful what I say to you and your friends.”
“She’s had a thing against Soren for a long time.”
“But is she correct?”
He nods gravely.
I stop at the building’s entrance, and he stays on the sidewalk. “I’m not really sure how I feel about being with someone who keeps secrets from me.” I unlock the door and then turn back to look at him one last time. His hands curl into fists as if he’s resisting the urge to reach for me. Arlo is the first guy to make me feel alive in so long, and my feelings for him have been growing. “And I don’t want you to tell me anything that could bring harm to either of us. So, I think we have come to an impasse.”
I smile sadly at him. “Despite everything, I’ve enjoyed your company. I thank you for opening up to me when you did. Good night, Arlo.” I step inside and shut the door, locking it behind me before I lean against it, close my eyes, and sigh.
The following day, I go to work, glad when Arlo doesn’t try to contact me. But I can’t lie and say I’m not also a little disappointed he didn’t try harder. He’s shared some things with me that I thought pulled us even closer, but it appears I was wrong about that as well.
I’ve been searching the Internet for information about the hunt with no luck. And the only person who can tell me anything is the man I’m trying to avoid. Even if I wasn’t, I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t be willing to tell me anything about it anyway.
I spend the rest of the week busy with work until I get a call from the care facility that my mother has an infection, and she’s not eating. I go out to visit her, and I can immediately see how much she’s deteriorated since I was last here. It pains me to see her this way; I love her so much that any pain she suffers from hurts me to my core.
I pull out a bar of white chocolate, and she doesn’t even bother to reach for it. A pang of hurt goes through me at the thought of her not even wanting something she absolutely loves to eat.
Will I lose her?
How can I handle that?
The doctor explains that she has an infection in her lungs, and they’re trying to treat it with antibiotics, but it doesn’t help when she doesn’t eat anything. I thought bringing the chocolate would help, but I guess I was wrong.
I spot a fresh bouquet of flowers on her windowsill, and I still have no idea who is sending them to her. Before I head out the door, I make sure to leave two blocks of chocolate on her bedside table because if I can at least get her to eat that, it’s better than nothing.
Later that day, Sebastian comes around after I tell him what’s been happening and how Delaney is ignoring my text messages.
“I haven’t heard from her either,” he says as soon as he walks in the door.
