Page 144 of Mine Again
She lifts her gaze to mine again, slower this time. And I see it. It’s what I’ve ached for since the moment we were torn apart.
Her love.
Still there. Still burning. Guarded, yes. But undeniable.
“So what happened?” she asks, not ready to voice what’s going on inside her.
“One of my associates called and told me he’d received a box of chocolates with a note tucked inside.”
I pause. The words are harder now. “The note said:So romantic. Sweet things for a sweet girl. She sure is something else.”
Isa flinches like the words physically hit her. Her hand curls in at her chest, protectively, like she’s realizing how exposed she really was.
Fuck the Jackal for all he’s cost us.
“It gutted me, watching you on the feed that night, waiting for something I knew I’d sent, only to realize it never arrived.
“That was the moment I knew I had to stop. No more gifts. No more contact. Not even that one time a year. He was watching you. Tracking every move.”
She looks stunned. “And you thought if you pulled away, he’d lose interest.”
“I hoped,” I say quietly. “I hoped that if I gave him nothing, he’dlet it go.”
“But he didn’t?”
I shake my head. “No. He changed tactics.”
Her eyes narrow, like the pieces are starting to shift into place. She shudders.
“Was I in danger this whole time?” Her voice is fragile, brittle, like she’s afraid of the answer.
“He wasn’t going to hurt you physically. That’s not how he rolls. He wanted to destroy me… a different way.”
“I feel like I’m constantly repeating myself, Luca, but I don’t understand.”
“He didn’t want to kill you, Isa. He wanted to take you away from me.”
She goes still, eyes locked on mine. Her mouth opens and closes again.
“Take me away… how?” she asks at last, the words barely audible.
I look at her, really look at her, and let the silence stretch. Saying it out loud hurts, because The Jackal came so close to succeeding.
I draw a breath and tell her.
“He sent his cousin. Sebastian.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Luca
“The Jackal sent Sebastian,” Isa repeats, stunned. Her tone is flat, her eyes flicking upward like she’s running a mental search query.
Then her gaze meets mine again. “But our meeting… it seemed so natural.”
“Did it really, though?” I counter. Her gaze shifts, recalling her last birthday. So am I.
“I was watching the restaurant CCTV feed. I saw him. At the time, I didn’t know who he was, but something about him was off. Enough to make me pause.”
