He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 55

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Chapter 55

A brief pause followed.

“Because we are no longer following the deal.”

The words settled heavily in the space between us. I frowned, the confusion tightening.

“What do you mean?”

“You disappeared,” he replied, his tone still controlled, but there was something sharper underneath it now. “Twice. For days.”

“I didn’t-”

“My team lost track of you. I didn’t know where you went,” he continued, cutting across my words without raising his voice. “I didn’t know what you were doing. And I didn’t know who you spoke to.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said, the frustration slipping in before I could stop it. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

His gaze shifted briefly toward the doorway.

Lillian was still there, lingering just outside, her phone raised as she whispered something under her breath, probably to someone

who didn’t believe her.

“Leave,” he said.

Just one word but Lillian froze. Then nodded quickly. “Yes. Right. Of course.”

She stepped back, still staring, then disappeared from the doorway, the sound of her movement lingering faintly outside.

The door didn’t fully shut the noise out, but it was enough. Enough to make the room feel quieter.

More focused. More tense.

DeLuca turned back to me.

“Everyone in that school knows who I am,” he said. “Or at least, they think they do.”

I didn’t respond.

“They know the name,” he continued. “And a small bit of the wealthy reputation that comes with it. But they don’t know anything beyond that.”

His gaze held mine. “They don’t know about the rest of it.”

I swallowed slowly.

“You do.”

The words landed heavier than anything else he had said so far.

“You are the only one who does,” he added, his voice calm but deliberate. “And that makes you a problem.”

I shook my head slightly. “I’m not going to say anything.”

“That’s not something I can rely on.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“And I’m not going to wait for you to,” he replied.

There it was again-that same certainty, the same refusal to hear my faithful words and just stop all this nonsense.

“I made a mistake,” he went on. “I took the wrong person. I exposed things I shouldn’t have. And then I made a second mistake by letting you go and assuming that would be the end of it.”