Page 53 of Blissful Devotion

She’s beautiful, always has been, but it’s impossible to miss the change, as if the life is being slowly drained from her.

“Not long now,” Spencer says without looking up, and it’s enough for me to get a grip.

None of Jade’s guys is soft by any means, but Spencer is definitely the most reserved. I’m not sure if that means she looks bad to him as well or if he’s saying it for my benefit, no doubt being able to read the worry on my face, but I don’t let myself think too hard about it.

We’d done everything right, waited and researched, and now there isn’t anything that can keep us from her. I’ve stayed back to help Spencer call out what he sees on the cameras, and I help direct the guys where I can. We have a lot of our people going in, and we need to do this without issue.

We save Kat, and everyone goes home…

Well, everyone but Lorenzo. Zander has plans for him, and something tells me he’ll be losing more than a pinkie.

Isit on the floor, in the same spot I’d been since Lorenzo left me. There’s no point getting up; I can’t see anything in the room, and, knowing my luck, I’ll end up running into something and getting hurt.

I want to open the door, even if just a crack, so that the darkness isn’t so all-consuming, but the little voice in the back of my head reminds me how serious his promise to kill me was.

Instead, I do the only thing that makes any sense: I cry.

I’m not sure I could stop even if I wanted to, not when everything feels like so much.

It might be silly, but here in this room… or is it a closet? Whatever it is, I’ve never felt more alone, and with every passing minute the ache only gets deeper.

Even worse, it’s not Lorenzo I miss, because clearly he doesn’t deserve it, but even as tears roll down my face, I can’t for the life of me remember who I’m missing.

What is wrong with me?

How can you miss someone you can’t even remember? That sounds so ridiculous that I nearly laugh.

Instead, I hiccup, tasting the salty tears on my lips before I wipe my face with the sleeve of my dress. I sit a moment longer, trying to get my breathing under control before I’m forced to move, my body reminding me how uncomfortable the hard floor is.

I’d hoped my eyes would adjust, but as I push myself up, I see that won’t be happening. There’s no light, not anywhere.

What the hell is this room?

The way I see it, I have two choices: I sit back down and listen like Lorenzo told me to, believing he will come back for me, though I’m not sure that’s even what I want anymore.

Or, I can find the door and… see what else is out there.

And hopefully not die for doing it.

Crap, all of this sounds like shit. My eyes hurt, my ass feels bruised, and I could really use a nap right about now.

With my arms out in front of me, I manage one tiny step after another, and another, and another, for what feels like a lifetime before my foot hits something. Whatever it is must not be very tall, as my hands remain hanging in the open air. I bend down and find what feels like a box that comes to about waist level.

Not a door, but at least I went slow enough that I didn’t trip over it.

I keep moving, hoping that I’m going the right way as I try to rack my brain for a glimpse of the room from when Lorenzo shoved me in here, only to come up completely blank.

I hadn’t been paying attention, too confused by what was going on and worried about the weird way he was acting.

It feels like it takes forever, but finally my hands brush the wall, and I nearly cry in relief. Using my hands to guide me, I make my way down the wall only to feel the doorknob just a few feet away.

My fingers grip the cold metal, but I can’t bring myself to turn the handle. Instead, I grip it so tightly my fingers ache, and my breathing quickens.

I stand for so long that I start hearing things: loud bangs, distant shouts, and…

I listen harder, sure I’ve heard wrong, but I don’t hear it again.

I could have sworn I heard someone call my name.