Chapter 211: The Past [17]

The doors flew open, and Annabeth walked in, confusion in her eyes when she saw us. I blinked away, feeling my insides twist until I could no longer bear it.

Without another word or sparing Zade a glance, I grabbed my purse from the chair and stormed out.

"Ana!"

I didn’t look back until I made it to the elevator, pushed the button, got in, and repeated the action as the doors closed.

My breath caught when I noticed a figure beside me. I’d walked into the elevator so absentmindedly that I hadn’t even realized I wasn’t alone.

"You are Zade’s brother, aren’t you? The one from the club."

Slowly, he darted his eyes to me.

"Elliot," I said.

"Anastasia," he intoned. "An odd place for us to meet again"

He looked so much like Zade, and it was currently giving me whiplash. I had to jump-start my brain and speak so I don’t appear like a gaping fool.

"Right. I guess the meeting at the club isn’t odd, but here is. Ahem! S-Sorry about that. If I had known you were in here, I wouldn’t have just pushed the button—"

"No worries, I’m sure you were in a hurry."

He wasn’t wrong about that. I basically left like a lion was chasing me. I felt bad about just walking away like that. I just needed to breathe, and even here I can’t fully do that.

Not until I get out of this building.

"Yes, I was." I forced a smile. "You can head back to the top floor if you want. I don’t mind."

"Did you come to see Zade?"

His question made my smile falter before it completely faded away instantly.

"No," I replied, feeling the heaviness in my head. "I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"How so?"

"I wasn’t welcome here. I was the one intruding."

I heard a vibration, and he looked over his phone and swiped through it.

"Apologies for that. It must have been a misunderstanding."

"It wasn’t."

He darted his curious gaze to me.

"Sometimes we have to learn our place, right? Unfortunately, we learn the hard way."

"I guess..."

He spoke as if he understood me, but I wasn’t quite looking for that right now.

I just thought talking would ease the suffocating feeling inside me, and this damn box of space wasn’t helping.

The rest of the elevator ride was in a comfortable silence. Thankfully, the door slid ajar just in time, and I hurried out.

When I got to the revolving doors, I stopped in my tracks. The car was still waiting, and I knew we wouldn’t get a move on until Annabeth came.

The idea of another long ride with her sounded like a very bad one. We have always been comfortable in each other’s space.

In fact, I always looked forward to being with her, but recently I could feel that had changed. I felt us drifting apart, and it scared me as much as I enjoyed it.

The times we weren’t together, I got to spend them differently. I got to meet Zade, but that will be over now, and I’d be back to my insufferable existence.

I backed away but bumped into a wall, and I was balanced when warm hands gripped my arms.

I turned, jumping away when I saw Elliot.

"You..."

I thought his destination was the top floor.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, worried.

Did he follow me to ask me that question? Right. Of course he did; I spoke like a sad, lonely girl in there. Dammit, Ana!

"Do you mind calling me an Uber?" The words left my lips before I could stop them.

Elliot moved his eyes to what I assumed was the car waiting and then to me. Please don’t ask me why.

He smiled. "Of course."

"T-Thanks."

Elliot helped me get an Uber, and once I was inside, I took one last look at the building before the car pulled away.

I sighed, leaning back in the seat, letting the weight of everything settle in. My eyelids stung, and I quickly used the back of my hand to dry my face when the tears slipped beneath my lashes.

God... I felt so pathetic right now.

Annabeth was obviously alone with Zade now in his office.

She was probably still interviewing him. A camouflage for her true agenda. I knew with her charms Zade would be all over her before the end of the day.

They always do. They always do.

It felt like something pierced my chest as I conjured images about them. So many images that didn’t help my sanity or give me peace of mind.

Would he have her against the table too? Would he punish her as he did me in a span of seconds? Completely ruin her in seconds, like he was filing the papers on his desk.

I bit my bottom lip. Would he kiss her like he was dying of taste?

My chest squeezed so painfully that for a moment I thought I would stop breathing. Not until the car pulled over at what didn’t look like the manor or even the Harbour Quarter.

It was dark, but I could still make out details from the buildings.

"What are we doing here? This isn’t the Morri estate."

"This was the destination I was asked to bring you to."

I stiffened at his words. Did Elliot tell him to bring me here?

"Why?"

"He didn’t say. Look, lady, I just did as he asked, so..."

Is he seriously gonna leave me out here? In the middle of nowhere?

I jolted when my phone rang, and I quickly fished it out of my purse and saw an unknown number calling me.

I drew a sharp breath, knowing without a doubt who that was. There was only one unknown number that had been plaguing my phone.

I lingered, not sure if I should pick up or not. The internal battle got worse when my phone would stop ringing only to begin again.

This is driving me fucking insane.