Sunday 8:41 PM: I filed a police report. Please, please call me.
Anna thought I was missing. Dead, maybe. My best friend had searched hospitals, filed police reports.
I started typing with shaking fingers:
Anna, I'm okay. Something came up—
"What are you doing?"
I jerked my head up. Cesare stood in the doorway, already dressed, gray eyes locked onto the phone.
"Who are you texting?"
"My friend Anna. She filed a missing person report—"
"I know." He crossed the room, hand extended. "Give me the phone, Paola."
"No. I need to tell her I'm okay—"
"You can't contact anyone from your old life. The phone. Now."
"She thinks I'm dead!"
"And if you contact her, you put her in danger." His voice was firm. "Viktor has eyes everywhere. If he thinks your friend matters to you, he'll use her."
"Viktor doesn't even know—"
"Viktor knows everything about you. Everyone you care about." His jaw tightened. "Your father sold you to secure an alliance. Viktor wants to destroy it. If he discovers someone you love, someone unprotected—"
The threat hung between us.
I looked at the screen. At Anna's desperate messages.
"I need her to know I'm alive."
"She will. When it's safe." His voice softened slightly. "I'll have someone send messages from your phone. Brief texts. ‘Family emergency, had to leave town, phone's dying, will explain soon.’ Enough to stop the missing person investigation without raising more questions."
"She'll still worry—"
"Less than she's worrying now. And she'll be alive. That's what matters."
"You're going to impersonate me?"
"I'm going to keep you both alive. There's a difference."
Could I live with myself if something happened to Anna because of me?
I placed the phone in his hand.
He powered it down. "I'll handle it."
"Will she think I abandoned her?"
"She'll think you're wrapped up in newlywed bliss. It happens." He slipped it into his pocket. "Get some breakfast. We need to discuss ground rules."
He left, closing the door quietly.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the empty space.
