*Olivia*
A sense of dread built in my stomach as I watched Giovani’s face turn cold. Anger burned in his eyes as he scrambled for the clothes he’d discarded on the floor.
“Giovani?” I asked, hesitantly as he pulled on his pants and buckled them in a hurry–like soone was chasing him in a horror movie. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer . In fact, I wasn’t sure he even heard as he pulled on his shirt, not even bothering to button it up as he headed for the door, throwing it open and storming down the hall.
“Hey! Wait!”
I hurried to my feet, nearly slipping on my own dress as it lay on the floor. It was ripped, but it still covered most of my body if I paused to put it on. I grasped my dress as I steadied my feet and ran after Giovani.
“Giovani!” I cried as I hurried through the door. He was nearly at the end of the hallway, his back to as he walked away, and anger built in my chest as I yelled out, “Don’t walk away!”
As I moved forward to chase him, I didn’t realize how unstable my legs were from what we had just done.
I stumbled, but my bare feet were slippery on the wooden floor, and I lost my balance, slipping. I gasped, dropping the dress I’d been grasping as I reached out to catch myself on the hallway wall, but I didn’t need to.
Strong arms wrapped around my waist and I fell straight into a hard chest. I was still completely nude, and I shivered from the draft in the large house.
I couldn’t help but smile as I curled into the warmth of Giovani’s body, his shirt still hanging open and leaving his chest on full view for . I breathed out shakily, catching my breath from the near miss of slamming my head into the wall, and gazed up at him, both grateful and a little annoyed.
His eyebrows were furrowed, creating a crease of worry on his forehead. He looked downright alard as he looked over for injuries.
“Are you okay?” Giovani stared down at , his eyes burning with concern.
I could see he was still panicked, still not in a mood to speak, but he had helped anyway. He had co back to catch .
I anchored myself, grasping onto his open shirt as I glared up at him. I was not going to just let him walk away from without an explanation.
“You can’t just shut out and walk away like that,” I said, firmly. “Tell what’s going on. Now.”
Giovani sighed, turning away from as he gazed down the hallway. “I don’t have ti for this, Olivia. I need to leave now.”
“I’m not letting you go until you tell what is happening. I will cling onto your leg, and you’ll be forced to take with you, so just get it over with now,” I told him, hoping he could see the truth behind my threat. I would have actually done it, too.
Sothing was wrong; that much I could see. Whatever the other person on that phone had told him, it was not good news, and I needed to know.
The threat seed to lodge so sense back into him as he glanced at in a bewildered appreciation.
“Nobody else would say sothing like that to .” He shook his head, a subtle grin forming on the corner of his lips, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone. He frowned at , and I could read the hesitation in his eyes.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
I could see the mont he finally gave in, breathing a heavy sigh as he brushed his hand over my cheek. He was warm, and it brushed away the worry I could feel building.
“It’s Dahlia,” he murmured, unsurely, “I think she may have been kidnapped.”
My first instinct was to laugh because surely this was a joke–a horrible, cruel joke, but one nonetheless. Because there was no way that Dahlia, my best friend since we were little girls, had been kidnapped.
But the serious, worried look in his eyes was too persistent.
This was no joke.
Any warmth left in my body evaporated as my vision faded in the corners. My breath hitched in my throat, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe any longer.
Dahlia... was kidnapped?
It was impossible. I felt like I had been dropped into a frozen lake, and it was slowly climbing through my blood, freezing every inch of until I thought this was my new normal–just cold.
But warm lips landed on my own, breaking from the sudden sheer cold I felt.
“Don’t,” Giovani growled, his hot breath knocking from my terrified thoughts. “Don’t fall apart on , Olivia.”
He was right, I thought as I gasped out a breath, trying to calm myself from the sudden panic that had strangled .
Now wasn’t the ti for to fall apart. This was the ti to find Dahlia. I knew from the TV shows that the first forty-eight hours were crucial in a disappearance.
“Where did she disappear from?” I asked, my bones turning into steel. I would not let myself hinder getting Dahlia back.
“That stupid boy’s apartnt,” Giovani scowled, running a hand through his hair. “How could she be so reckless? I warned her not to go, but she did it anyway.”
I flinched, rembering what Dahlia had said now.
She wasn’t going to let Giovani stop her from being with Lorenzo. And I’d helped her.
“She and Lorenzo headed back to the apartnt after dinner, and Adrian dropped off here,” I told him, hurriedly. “Did they have sothing to do with this?”
“I don’t know yet,” Giovani said, then peeled my hands off of his clothes. “That’s why I have to leave. I have to go find her.”
I nodded solemnly, feeling foolish and childish now. I had stopped him when he was only trying to help my best friend.
“I’ll get dressed,” I said, firmly, glancing up at him.
“No,” Giovani spat out, a fire in his eyes as he crossed his arms. “I need you to stay here and be safe. I can’t be worrying about both of you.”
“That’s not fair,” I argued back, ready to do anything for him to bring along. “I have to go! Dahlia’s my best friend. This never would’ve happened if I hadn’t left her–”
I choked on my own words, my eyes filling up with tears that I refused to shed.
“I have to bring her back,” I whispered, struggling to rein in my emotions.
“Olivia,” Giovani sighed, pulling into his embrace.
My tears spilled over my cheeks, but I only bit down on my bottom lip, hard enough that no sobs could escape my throat. I wanted to scream and cry, but that wasn’t going to help Dahlia.
“If you had stayed with her, you’d both be prisoners now. Dahlia would never want that,” Giovani told as kindly as he could. “This is not your fault.”
But despite his reassurances, I knew it was a lie.
I should’ve been there with her. I should’ve never left her. While she was getting kidnapped, I had been drinking with Giovani. While she had been screaming for help, terrified and not knowing if she was going to co ho, I had been fucking her cousin.
Nothing could make this better.
“I need you to stay here, okay?” Giovani said, softly, brushing my hair from my face. I only felt numb and lost as he gazed deeply into my eyes. “I will call you as soon as I know sothing, alright?”
I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t going to take along with him. He’d rather lock up here. I sucked in a deep breath, holding in my emotions as I nodded softly in response.
“Bring her ho,” I said, lowly. I couldn’t et his eyes. I only stared at the pattern on the floorboards.
He moved away, his footsteps fading away, and for a mont, I thought I was alone as I stood there in silence, thoughts flying too fast for to handle.
Sothing smooth and silky was draped over my shoulders, and I blinked in surprise at the robe covering my naked body.
His hot lips pressed a delicate kiss to my forehead. “Go to your room and take a bath or sothing. Keep your mind off this, and leave it to , alright? I just need you to stay safe.”
I nodded, numbly, clasping the robe against my nude body.
“Good girl,” he murmured, wrapping an arm over my shoulder as he walked over to my room. He opened the door, softly nudging my lower back to go in.
I glanced at him once more, fat tears running down my face in silence.
“It’ll be okay.” He tried to reassure with a strained smile.
I watched him emptily as he shut the door. I listened to his heavy footsteps as he hurried down the hallway.
A few seconds later, the front door slamd shut, and I flinched.
I swallowed, my throat feeling heavy and swollen as I dropped the robe onto the floor, uncaring as I headed for the bathroom.
Take a bath, he said.
Okay.
Maybe it was the shock or maybe it was the pressure from keeping my emotions under wraps but at the mont, all I could feel was nothing–just a large gaping hole where my heart should be.
I made my way to the bathroom, the motions feeling chanical as I plugged the tub and ran the hot water.
I watched as the water filled up the porcelain tub, inch by inch. Finally, once it was filled, I walked over to the basket and plucked one of the bath bombs it held.
I dumped it into the water and watched it fizz, spreading throughout the bath until it was lavender colored.
I slipped into the hot bath, soaking my cold skin in the burning water. I ignored the way it stung slightly, even as my skin turned red from the heat. The steam and fizziness of the bath bomb soon relaxed as I laid my hand back on the edge of the tub and stared at the ceiling.
It slled of lavender and champagne. I rembered getting it as a present from Dahlia.
My best friend.
Who was now missing.
I curled my legs to my chest and finally let my emotions go. Tears fell down my cheeks as a sob escaped my throat, and suddenly, I was crying.
I broke down, not knowing where my best friend was or if I would ever see her again.
And it was all my fault.
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