The silence was sharp as glass as I stared down at the phone in my hand.
You’ve been warned.
Just three words, but the weight of them pressed into my chest like a stone. I could feel Alexander watching me, waiting for me to react, waiting for me to figure out what to do nextmaybe because he needed an answer just as much as I did.
I kept flipping the phone over, not even really seeing it, my mind racing through all the possibilities, all the names, all the ways this could play out. For a moment, I felt the edges of panic pressing in, threatening to pull me under. I’d thought maybe, just maybe, we could catch our breath for a night. That the storm had passed. But here it was again, crashing right back in.
Alexander stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the heat rolling off him, that quiet force he carries everywhere, the one that always grounds me. He took the phone from my hand, didn’t bother to look at the message againhe already knew it by heart. I could see his jaw working,
