Chapter 15
ANASTASIA
The first thing I feel is warmth. Not from the sun but his shirt. Soft cotton against my skin, oversized, heavy with his scent. Woodsy. Heat. Cloves. Him. It wraps around me like a memory, all lazy and warm. The faded musk of his cologne buried deep in the fabric.
The second thing I feel is stillness. The kind that settles after something wild has passed through.
My eyes blink open slowly. I run a hand through my hair, then over my face, trying to gather myself.
Trying to remember what lines were crossed.
And which ones I let him erase. It felt good to just let go.
To turn my brain off for once and let someone else take control.
I’ve been in survival mode for so long that I don’t know how to stop sometimes.
He made me feel so free. Like a vast weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe again for the first time.
I sit up, his shirt slipping off one shoulder, and reality sinks in. With his scent all around me, wrapping me up like a secret I swore I wouldn’t keep, I remember.
Eryx.
Last night.
All of it.
I’m supposed to be meeting with Ro and Shina. We’re going to a little coffee shop they told me about. Shina’s been helping me look into my moms accident. Even now, I can still remember that night. The weight of it never really left.
15 years old
I had been fifteen. It was my Quinceanera and was supposed to be a special day.
Funny how I didn’t even find out from my own father, her husband.
Our housekeeper was the one who broke the news to me.
Told me my mom died in a car accident. It had been raining all week and that day was no different.
Thoren’s dad had picked her up as a favor to my father since he was still at the office and would be running late.
They told me it was an accident. He had lost control of the wheel and they hydroplaned.
That they both died on impact. They never made it to my party.
It wasn’t till the next day that I found out why we had to cancel my party.
A few weeks had gone by and I couldn’t get out of the haze her death put me in. No one prepares you for the pain that losing a parent causes you. The light that dies inside of you. Like a piece you will never get back.
I don’t remember the full timeline of that night, just fragments. Water. Blood. My body curled in the tub. My chest aching. My mind empty. I had been crying all day, and hadn’t come out my room in days. I was barely eating.
It was Thoren who found me.
I still hear his voice sometimes. Sharp with panic, calling my name over and over, begging me not to close my eyes.
The hospital lights were the next thing I remember. That antiseptic buzz. IV lines in my arm. The sound of the monitor beeping beside me.
The doctors said I lost too much blood. That I needed a transfusion.
I was AB negative — rare. Complicated and hard to match.
My father wasn’t a match, he was O positive
But Thoren, however, was a match.
They said I was lucky.
I didn’t feel lucky.
And I’ll never forget the way my father looked at me when they told him.
Not worried. Not relieved. Just... cold.
Like something inside him had shifted. Like something finally clicked.
I thought he was angry that I’d tried to die.
But maybe it wasn’t that.
He never looked at me the same after that.
Sergio was never good at showing affection towards me, but we used to talk and do things together.
He could be cruel when he wanted to be. But he could also be caring.
I thought I was grieving my mom, but really, I lost them both that night.
And with her gone...I was left alone with the monster.
His punishments just got crueler after that.
Starting with my first visit to Blackridge.
After my first attempt, I had woken up there, where he left me for three months.
I told a little bit of this to Shina and she said she’d try and help. Having a computer wiz as a friend was proving to be useful. If I found out he was involved in any way, I would make him pay. I’m not the meek girl I was before.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. His ears must be burning because my phone pings with a message from my Sergio. An email, because I’m not worthy of a call–or a text.
Anastasia,
It’s always disappointing to hear things secondhand.
Apparently, you were seen with Ivanov. I assume it was nothing serious, just a lapse in judgment. It’s a name that shouldn’t come up in your orbit, especially not in public.
You’ve been given more freedom than most in your position. I’ve taken care of your education, your living situation, and your future. All I’ve asked in return is that you stay focused, and avoid bringing unnecessary attention to yourself or to us.
I’m sure you haven’t forgotten what’s at stake. I’d hate to start reevaluating whether this arrangement still makes sense. Pulling support is never my first choice, but I won’t hesitate if it comes to that.
And if a return to Blackridge becomes necessary, you’ll find things less forgiving than when you left.
Make better choices. You know how quickly things change.
-S
Prick. The question now is, who’s got eyes on me?
Someone here is clearly reporting back to him.
Not that it should matter, Eryx and I are just lab partners nothing more.
Who cares if he gave me the best orgasm of my life.
Or that he does this thing with his tongue that—Nope, nope, nope, Stassi get those thoughts out of your head.
I send a text to Ro letting her know to send me the address of the cafe and that I’ll meet her there at three. I need a few hours to get my thoughts together and finish up some work for my classes.
Barbie
We still on for today?
Shina’s been running around like a maniac getting everything ready
Code Gremlin
It’s called preparation, Ro
You should try it sometime
Me
Yeah 3 works
Just need to deal with a couple things first
I’ll meet you there
Barbie
Cool here’s the address
*Ro shared a location with you*
Café’s called Ophelia’s
Code Gremlin
They have the best lemon cake in the city
If you’re late, I’m eating your slice
Me
You’re supposed to be helping me not threatening me
Code Gremlin
Motivation comes in many forms
Barbie
She’s been like this all morning
Send help
Me
Perfect, see you then
And Shina..Thanks again
Code Gremlin
You’re welcome
Barbie
This is turning into a hostage negotiation
I put my phone away and start getting ready.
I take off his shirt and set it next to his other one I still have.
Starting my own collection of his things.
Two shirts, a pen I borrowed from class, a coaster from our night at the bar, and a sauce packet from our tacos and deep conversation.
I like to collect things. And although I’m not ready to admit how he makes me feel.
I think I like to collect him too. I’m thankful for the full length mirror in my closet as I stare my chest and the multiple hickeys he left on me last night that trail down my body.
They start on my chest, down my stomach and stop at my thighs.
I close my eyes and trail my hand down to my core.
The mere memory has me rubbing small circles pressing my legs together.
He was careful not to leave them in a noticeable place, but he did this on purpose.
Making sure I know I’m his. Thats what he made me admit last night.
But I won’t let him win so easily. I’m still going to give him hell and have fun doing it.
I want to see him fall apart just as I have.
Just then I get another ping alerting me of a message coming through. It’s that unknown sender again.
Unknown:
I see you didn’t heed my warning
Maybe I need to be more clear
He isn't who you think he is
Warning? What are they talking about? Fucking mood killer, I’ve had enough of this shit. I decide to respond.
Me
Who the fuck is this?
Unknown
No one you need to worry about
Yet
Leave Eryx alone
Me
Bite me
With that I throw my phone in my bag and finish throwing on some clothes.
My bag on my shoulders and headphones on, I head towards the library.
I need to get some research done for Mr. Roberts class before heading out to meet Ro and Shina.
I need to know who’s behind these texts and what they want.
Maybe Shina can trace the number somehow.
Once there I take a table in the back away from everyone else.
The library is quieter than usual, the soft hum of air conditioning mixes with the distant rustle of pages and low whispers.
I find a corner seat by the window, where the afternoon sun spills over the stack of textbooks I pulled from the shelves.
I take out my laptop and start a new search.
I pull up the case files: United States v.
Sebastian Rivera. The name alone twists my stomach.
My ex, who had I not ran away from that day, I would have been married to and in this mess alongside with him.
Cartel lieutenant, racketeering, money laundering.
The usual buzzwords. But the details? Vague and frustratingly incomplete.
Flipping through a dense textbook on federal racketeering law, the legal jargon feels like a wall built to keep people out. RICO statutes, conspiracy, patterns of illegal activity. It all blurs together. My head hurts.
I return to the online court docket and pause on a freight company that keeps coming up. On a whim, I check the state’s corporate registry for their address. That same address matches a company: Lancaster Holdings.
A cold wave rolls through me.
I glance back at the case files, scanning names and connections. The freight company’s directors mostly unknown, but then, buried deep in a filing document I barely noticed, is a name I didn’t expect: S&M Technologies.
Sergio’s company.