Chapter 8

8

DERRICK

W hen I get the notification from my security camera that Alina has walked out of the front door, I don't pay it any mind. She's taken a liking to walking the property while she has her morning coffee, and it satisfies me on a deep level that she's so comfortable in my home.

I've tried to put a few hours in each day at Sage and Salt after so many days of barely leaving the bed with Alina. I hate leaving her, but there is a certain satisfaction I get from working here with my hands that can't be replicated.

But a little more than an hour later, I get a new notification.

ALERT: Vehicle detected

I open the security app and see there's a vehicle parked in my driveway. Alina is climbing inside. Who the hell is picking her up?

I'm halfway to the door before the car is out of sight, but once I'm behind the wheel, I have no idea where they could have gone. Where the fuck is she, and who the fuck is with her?

Desperate to know more, I go back and watch the earlier video of when she first left the house this morning. Instead of a relaxing walk, I see her go to the mailbox, look over a letter inside, and snap a picture with her phone.

Now I realize my mistake. Alina was done waiting for me to open up to her, and she went to get the answers herself.

Fuck! I should have told her my name, shown her who I am and what I've built. But I wanted her to accept me for me, not the things I own. Now she knows, and it's changed the dynamic between us.

Pulling out my phone, all I can do is call her. Unsurprisingly, she ignores the call. So I send a text instead, my blood pressure so high I can hear my pulse in my ears.

Derrick: Alina. Who the fuck are you with?

As soon as I send it, I know it's too aggressive, but what else can I do? She's with a stranger, putting miles between us with every second. I know where her father's house is, but I don't even know if that's where she's going.

What if she's going somewhere else? What if she's going back to Indiana?

The thought is so chilling that it makes me sick. If I have to live without Alina, then I don't want to. Not for a moment.

Alina: It's none of your business, Derrick ANDERS.

Derrick: Like hell it isn't.

Alina: Oh, so you get to know what I’m doing at all times now?

Derrick: Damn straight.

Alina: Too bad. Did you think I wouldn't realize you're the one who got me that job offer from RenTech's graphic design division? You know the job doesn't count if I didn't earn it with my talent, and I know good and well I never sent them a copy of my portfolio. So you're the one who's been controlling my future, and I don't like it.

Derrick: Angel, you're mine. You belong with me.

Alina: I don't even know who you are.

Derrick: Come home, and I'll explain everything.

Alina: That's what you've been saying for the past month, and you haven't made a single move in that direction. So no, I won't be coming home. And, Derrick? Don't contact me again.

That's the final text from Alina, and every single part of my life turns gray after that. I feel hollowed out, empty, like there's nothing left for me to live for. I knew the moment I saw her that we were connected, that I was destined to love her.

And now the worst possible thing has happened. She's gone, and it's all because of the walls I've built, the secrets I've kept.

I'm not a quitter, though. I take that all-encompassing grayness and force it away, transforming it into iron, immovable willpower. Alina needs some space, and I'll give it to her—at least some of it. But not forever. She might not be coming back, but that’s okay. I’ll show her what it means to be loved by Derrick Anders. What it means to belong to me.