Page 46 of Stalk

Mattia smiles, and my heart stops beating. I swear it does. “The color had drained from your face. You look much more like you now.”

I laugh weakly before taking the last sip of my wine. “That wasn’t a lot of information. But somehow, it felt like a bomb went off.”

“I understand. I was shocked, too.”

“So, apparently, our companies have collaborated in the past,” I say, trying to wrap my head around it all. “Is it a coincidence that we’ve found ourselves working with each other now, even though we’re flying under the radar?”

Mattia shrugs, which surprises me. I always expect that he will be calculated and sure each time he responds. “I wish I knew the answer, but I don’t. We have to keep researching. That’s the best we can do right now.”

I nod in agreement, though I’d very much like a break from all of the ghosts I’m unboxing at home.

“Keep going through what you found at your house as much as you can, and let me know if you find anything on your father. I think that’s where I need to look next on my end of things,” Mattia says matter-of-factly.

We don’t talk much more about our parents or our work after that. I offer to help Mattia clear the table and do dishes, and he begrudgingly agrees. Cannella dances around our feet as we move around and clean up. As Mattia begins rinsing off the dishes, I don’t miss how he occasionally throws Cannella scraps from our plates. The urge to throw a shit-eating grin at him is overwhelming, but I keep it to myself.

Once the dishes are loaded, the table is cleared, and the leftovers are boxed up—most going into the fridge aside from a to-go box for me—I figure I’ve invaded on Mattia’s and Marco’s lives enough for one evening.

“I should probably be getting home. Thank you for dinner and for all of your help, it’s?—”

Mattia holds up his hand and rolls his eyes. “Stop. You’re welcome. I’ll go get Marco.”

But just as Mattia turns to leave the kitchen, my phone dings loudly. My phone is always on silent mode. There’s only one contact that is set to emergency bypass like that (aside from Cleo, whose notifications sound like piano keys).

Catherine fucking Burdick.

I drop my phone down to the vinyl flooring before I can even read what she’s sent to me.

“Ren? What is it?”

I don’t move. I don’t breathe. My surroundings grow fuzzy.

“Ren?”

When I don’t answer, I hear Mattia bend down and grab my phone from the floor with a sigh. He puts the phone on the island next to me, then his hands grab a hold of my shoulders. He’s looking at me, but the kitchen looks distorted, like it’s melting in front of me.

Luckily, it doesn’t take him long to put two and two together. “Catherine?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

Mattia’s hands still grip my shoulders, grounding me as much as he can. Still, I feel myself pulling away. My demons begin creeping up from wherever they hide, invading my body and soul more and more as each second ticks by.

“You need to see what she wants, Ren.”

But I can’t move.

“Do you… want me to read it for you?”

Please do. Pleasedon’t.

“Okay… I’m going to read it.” Mattia grabs my phone from the countertop and then turns it to face me so he can unlock it via face ID. His features are fuzzy out of the corner of my eye. Istare at the refrigerator behind him. “She says she’s meeting you at your place tomorrow morning. At nine.”

My world rumbles and shakes. Colors merge into other colors and my cheeks become damp with unwanted tears. The next thing I know, I reach out and find Mattia’s hand, the one that’s still holding my phone. I take it from him and shove it in my back pocket, then stumble toward the foyer.

“Ren!” Mattia shouts.

I almost collapse, but I keep going. I almost make it to the blurry door when I feel his arms grab me from behind. He twirls me around to face him, and the feeling in my fingertips, my cheeks, my tongue goes numb.

I don’t want him to see me like this. I don’t want him to see me likethis!

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