True caller

Sage

I stood in the hospital parking lot long after the taxi disappeared around the corner. The cold bit at my knuckles, but I didn’t feel it. All I felt was the echo of her voice cracking when she barked at me, tears streaming down her face.

I’d finally pushed her too far.

My phone buzzed in my pocket—pack business, probably—but I ignored it. I just stared at the empty road where the cab had gone, replaying the moment she’d yanked her hand out of mine in the hospital bed. The way she’d looked at me when she realized I was the reason she almost died last night.

Disgust. Fear. Hate.

All earned.

I climbed into the Rover, slammed the door hard enough to rattle the frame, and sat there with the engine off. The silence was loud.

Alex was on my kill list, but even that felt distant right now. Because the truth—the one I’d never said out loud—was clawing its way up my throat.

I didn’t just want to own her.

I didn’t just want to win.

I wanted her safe, happy and whole. Who am I even kidding?