Arrow to the Heart: A Dark Cupid Romance

Chapter 21

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Whatever Dec saw on the video, he didn't want to tell me. Which was probably his attempt to make me feel better, but now I'm freaking out.

"I'm not lying, Bree. There's no one on the tapes. I just... I didn't want you to worry."

"What does that mean?? What would worry me??"

"I saw your door open and close."

"By itself?" I ask, furrowing my brow.

"There wasn't anyone in the video. All you could see was the door."

I blink slowly at him.

"What? That makes no sense."

"Here..." He pulls out his phone and opens a video of the screen in the security office. He hits play and I see exactly what he had described: the door opens and closes as if someone was there but... there's no one.

It's been a long day. Trying my best to be social with my coworkers. Finding my apartment door open. Having to distract the guard while Dec did his little impromptu break-in. But this? I have no idea how to deal with a ghost opening my doors while I'm out of the house.

I could try to be a cool girl and brush it off like I don't care. Maybe take the logical route and chalk it up to a defective door and a gust of wind. But I do neither of those things, because I have used up my absolute last ounce of ability to suppress and pretend and persist. No. Not tonight.

Tonight, I burst into tears.

Zero to crazy in one second flat.

I'm at peak sensory and emotional overload and sobbing into my palms. If Dec thought I was relatively normal before, then I've officially destroyed that illusion by absolutely breaking down at the drop of a hat.

My ears are ringing, the light from my dim lamp is burning through my skull, and I swear every tick of the clock sounds like an explosion. It's all too much. Too freaking much.

When I look up at Dec, his eyes are a mile wide and he's scrubbing a hand through his hair.

"Bree?" he asks. His voice is soft and concerned, which only seems to make me cry harder. "No, no. Please don't cry, kitten. You're killing me."

I suck in a few shaky breaths, trying my best not to hyperventilate.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" he asks.

And I wish I could, but my chest feels tight and any word I can think to utter gets caught in my throat. So instead, I shake my head.

No. I can't tell you what's going on. Not that it would matter if I could. He's going to walk away from this thinking I'm a high-maintenance emotional mess who's so not worth the effort.

"Is this about the door thing? Because I promise I'll fix that for you. We'll get your locks replaced. It won't happen again."

I shrug, sniffling and wiping my eyes. It's not any one thing, it's just a lot of little things. And if I said it all out loud it would sound stupid anyway.

"Did that security guy say something to you? Did he upset you?" He rises to his feet and paces in small circles. "Do you want me to beat the shit out of him?"

I giggle and shake my head. He kneels down in front of me and grabs my face in his palms. His thumbs sweep away the tears on my cheeks as he looks into my eyes.