LOGINRonan's POV. The silence and emptiness in the room is...suffocating. The room is not even completely empty. Matt and Mia are still here, hanging around, solemn and just...quiet. I encouraged them to leave earlier. I encouraged everyone to leave and everyone did apart from Matt and Mia. I have a feeling that they think I might do something rash if I am left alone. Which truthfully, I might. I have watched the clock tick, watched every second, every minute, every hour, I watched it pass by, yet my phone remains silent. Not a call. No demand for ransom. Nothing. The silence is driving me insane but I have quickly come to realize that this is not about money. It's not about money at all and for the life of me, I can't figure out what this could be about. My chest tightens painfully, as it has since I got the news. She is out there. Out there somewhere. All alone. Alone. She is probably scared out of her mind, she would put on a brave face because that's just who she is, My Red,
Aria’s POV. I have lost sense of time. Truthfully, I lost sense of it since I got kidnapped but it just…much worse now. At least before, I could still make out the tiny streak of light that passed through the tiny spaces in the doorway. Now? It’s nothing. Just darkness. Unending darkness. The darkness isn’t just around me, it surrounds me, it has a weight. It’s pressed against my eyes, thick, suffocating, tight, and dirty. I was already feeling hopeless when Adrian ordered that waiter boy to tie me up but a very vain part of me fought him endlessly about the dirty clothes he was going to put on my face. Don’t even blame me. It took me years to achieve this level of clear skin. Years of dedication and spending money I didn't have on skincare products, because that was the one thing I wasn’t going to compromise on. I eventually let him when he threatened to knock me out again if I didn’t cooperate with him. I don’t know how much time has passed since then. Seconds? Minutes? Hour
Barely thirty seconds later, the door opens loudly. Adrian. "Ahh, finally." He says with a small laugh, clearly amused. "You are awake." I glare at him as I roll my hands into a fist. "What the hell is this about?" He grins and shakes his head. "There you are." He says tapping my forehead lightly. "I was starting to think you overdosed or something, you dramatic girl." He says with a scoff. "You only took a sip and you were out for so long." "Cut the crap, Adrian. What do you want from me?" I demand, although my voice is a little too weak and it comes out sounding like a whine. He throws me a bottle of water and walks into the room. "I have a feeling you need that." I look at the bottle in longing, my dry mouth literally begging for some water but I just can't...I can't open it. "How do I know this is not drugged too?" I find myself asking, looking at the bottle of water longingly, and just..skeptical about taking it. Adrian laughs. "It's a little too late to be conscious now
Aria's POV. Something is not right. First, it is the smell. This place smells wrong. Damp and... is that antiseptic in the air? This smells nothing like my home. I know the kind of smell I wake up to at home. First, it's the smell of clean sheets, the sweet smell of detergent and fabric softener, then there's the comforting, satisfying smell of my boyfriend, Ronan. Ronan. I stretch out and try to reach for him but...it's cold and empty. I try to open my eyes but it feels heavy and tight, like they are glued together. When I finally manage to pry my eyes open, it becomes very clear that I am nowhere close to home. With blurry vision, I take in the overly bright yellow walls and cracked ceilings with black spots that look like bad news—it has to be mold. I am not at home. I know that. My sluggish brain has somehow managed to clock that. I try to move. But nothing. I couldn't. I can't move. I panic and look down at my feet to make sure they are still there, attached to my b
Ronan’s POV. “You said what?" No, cause it has to be that my ears are playing some kind of sick joke on me. I certainly did not hear what I think I just heard. There is no fucking way. No way in hell. "Ronan..." Mia starts from her position on Matt's lap, where he is holding her tightly and trying to soothe her, her eyes are swollen from crying for who knows how long. And for the life of me, I can't seem to understand why she was crying. "Where is Aria?" I ask her. "Ronan..." It was Matthew calling my name this time. Why they would be calling my name like that without answering my question directly is beyond me. "Adrian has her." Mia cuts in. Yeah, she said that the first time. She mentioned that the moment she walked through my doors, alone, without my girlfriend, she mentioned that but it had to be some sort of prank. I chuckle humorlessly. "This is some sort of joke, right?" She shakes her head and sniffles. "This is no joke, Ronan." She says firmly, her voice more stead
I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t listen to him. I shouldn’t listen to a word that comes out of Adrian’s mouth, hell, I know I shouldn’t even believe shit he says. But… But what if he is telling the truth this one time? What if he actually has something on the accident? It’s been years, years since the accident, it’s been years since I hired a private investigator, an expensive one that I couldn’t afford at the time but I was desperate. I needed answers. A lot of things happened that night and I was young and it was dark, I know that, but I also know what I saw, I remember it vividly. That driver wasn’t dead. He didn’t die at least not from the accident. I need answers. And I know that Adrian knows how desperate I am for answers. He knows. I know that he knows. And I also know that he might be lying to me, just using this as a decoy. But it sounded like he actually had something. It wouldn’t hurt to go see him. He is not far away from here anyway, it would only take five minutes tops.
Aria’s POV Ronan was right. There is nothing small about this ‘small party’ that Sofia organized. There are people everywhere, people I have never met before. “There is definitely nothing small about this party,” I mumble to myself. Ronan shrugs with a laugh. “Told you.” My eyes bounce around
Ronan’s POV FEW HOURS BEFORE THE DANCE! “What did you find?” I ask Kade. “Nothing. There is literally nothing. Whoever he is striking this deal with is very thorough and very careful.” He replies. “They don’t meet physically and they don’t talk through the phone either.” “So how do they communi
Adrian’s POV My phone beeps, signaling a new text, and I know there is only one person who will be texting me. I pick up my phone and let out a tortured groan as I read the text. BOSS: This is not what I am paying you to do. What the actual fuck? What the hell does this faceless monkey want from
Aria’s POV “Stop it,” I say, halfheartedly. He doesn’t stop. I giggle as Ronan continues blowing raspberries in my ears. It’s the weekend and we are spending the night together—just us. We had the best dinner ever. The chef Ronan hired is a god in the kitchen, he makes the best meal ever. Ronan







