Chapter 62 The Safest Place On Earth
Celene’s POV
As Jeffery continued to whisper into his phone, I continued to spiral in terror.
For a moment I couldn’t breathe.
The room smelled like rot and metal and something sour that clawed up the back of my throat.
The dead cat was still lying stiff on my bed like a discarded toy.
The knife was still stuck in its tiny body.
I stared at the pinned on the wall over and over again...
Hello Kitten.
I was still in danger... I was always going to be in danger...
At that point, my knees gave out.
A strangled sound escaped my throat before the scream came fully, ripping out of me so violently it made my chest hurt.
“No… no, no, no…”
My hands began shaking uncontrollably. My vision blurred as tears flooded my eyes.
Kitten.
That word kept echoing inside my head.
Kitten.
Cole was the only one who called me that.
My stomach twisted violently.
That meant whoever did this… knew about him, or worse, they knew about me.
“Miss Celene,” Jeffery said sharply behind me.
But his voice sounded far away, like it was coming through water.
I staggered forward towards the bed, but stopped myself from getting too close to the feline corpse.
My breathing became fast and shallow, the air refusing to fill my lungs properly.
“What if… what if they are still here?” I whispered hoarsely. “What if they’re still here now?”
My eyes darted wildly around the room.
Every shadow looked like someone was fucking watching me.
No matter how many times I had been followed amd stalked by Cole, I never felt this intense, crippling fear and terror.
Every thing felt weird, ever part if my house felt wrong.
The walls were closing in.
“I can’t— I can’t breathe—”
“Celene.”
Jeffery’s voice cut through my spiraling panic, but my body had already lost control.
My hands clawed at my chest as my breathing turned frantic.
“It was supposed to be over,” I choked out. “You said it was over— the kidnapping... the threats...the danger—”
Jeffery didn’t even bother to answer.
But the silence was enough. It told me everything I needed to know.
Because maybe it wasn’t over.
Maybe Cole Ryder simply had too many enemies.
Maybe I had stepped into a war I didn’t even fucking understand.
Tears streamed down my face as I backed toward the door.
“I want to go back,” I gasped. “I want to go back to the mansion.”
Jeffery was already moving toward me when suddenly he froze.
His eyes went sharp and deadly.
Then his gaze lifted past my face and landed right above my forehead.
I watched in horror as the color drained from his expression.
“Down.”
Before I could even ask why, Jeffery lunged forward and slammed into me, dragging me down to the ground.
I hit the floor hard with a startled cry.
WTF?!
“What...”
“Don’t move.”
His voice had turned completely cold and calculated.
He looked terrifyingly calm... it almost reminded me of a certain someone.
My heart pounded violently as he half-dragged, half-carried me toward the hallway.
“What’s happening?” I cried.
But Jeffery didn’t answer.
His hand clamped around my arm as he pulled me toward the front door...
I didn’t have to look for too long, because a few seconds later, i saw it.
A small red dot dancing across the wall exactly where my head had been seconds ago.
My blood turned to ice.
A sniper.
A fucking sniper?!
“Oh God,” I whimpered, my body going weak with terror.
Jeffery shoved the door open and practically threw me into the passenger seat of the car.
“Stay down!” he barked.
I curled into the seat as he slammed the door shut and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Withib seconds the car engine roared to life.
The car shot out of the driveway so fast the tires screamed against my driveway pavement.
I pressed my hands over my ears, sobbing uncontrollably as the world blurred past outside the windows.
“They’re trying to kill me,” I cried.
Jeffery gripped the wheel tightly, his jaw clenched.
“No,” he muttered darkly.
“They’re trying to provoke him.”
The drive back to the mansion felt endless.
My body couldn’t stop shaking.
Images kept flashing through my mind.
The dead cat.
The knife.
The note.
Hello Kitten.
By the time the mansion gates finally opened, I was barely holding myself together. I wanted to suddenly wake up and find out it was a very funny, scary nightmare. I needed to not feel scared anymore...
The car hadn’t even fully stopped when I pushed the door open. I stumbled out and ran toward the house.
He was already right there, outside the huge mansion, waiting for me.
“Cole!” I cried.
My voice echoed through the massive compound.
Like a flint, like a fucking arrow, he ran towards me.
He was running to me... but I couldn’t wait till he got to me, almost like being so close and yet so far could be the end of me.
The moment I reached him, my arms wrapped around his waist and I buried my face into his chest, clinging to him like he was the only solid thing left in the world.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”
His arms came around me instantly, in a strong, protective grip.
One hand pressed firmly against the back of my head as he held me close.
“Hey,” he murmured softly.
His voice had lost all of its usual hardness.
“It’s alright, kitten. I’ve got you.”
Again with that damned nickname...
I shook violently in his arms, clutching the front of his shirt.
“There was a note,” I choked out. “And a dead cat… someone killed a kitten and then…”
For a split second his body went completely still.
Then his arms tightened around me.
His lips brushed against my hair as he held me even closer.
“It’s okay,” he whispered gently. “You’re safe now.”
His hand moved slowly up and down my back in calming strokes.
“Breathe for me, kitten. Just breathe.”
My sobs slowly softened into broken whimpers as I clung to him.
Behind me, I heard Jeffery speaking quietly.
But I couldn’t focus on anything except Cole’s steady heartbeat beneath my cheek.
For the first time since walking into my house…
I finally felt like I could breathe again.