Soft || 18+ Reverse Harem ||

57 - Second

. . .

Dahlia

Days went by and Evan's body was nowhere to be found. Hedeon made some police officers break the news to Evan's family. Not many details were shared. A funeral was hosted.

His wife cried like he had been the love of her life. His mother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. His father stood, like a statue, looking at the empty coffin almost in disappointment, like Evan had done something he wasn't allowed to.

I didn't feel anything for Evan anymore, but even he didn't deserve such a shitty father. No one did.

I felt guilty. I felt so much guilty that it was like I had been the one to shove his heart into his mouth. I felt so guilty I threw up every time I thought about Evan. I felt so guilty I cried myself to sleep every night, cuddling with Bobby or Vaness.

Marie set her head against my shoulder. We were sitting by a lake near the shelter. It was risky. We had driven here as soon as the funeral ended. Andros was standing a few feet away, looking around any any sign of danger. "I'm sorry, Dahlia."

"For what?"

"I..." she rubbed her hand over her face. "Evan. You loved him."

"I don't think I did."

She lifted her head, eyes wide. "What?"

"I don't think I ever loved him, Marie."

She smiled. "Gosh, I should not be this happy about this."

I sniffled and set my head against her shoulder. The funeral had been early. There was fog all around us, not really that thick otherwise Andros wouldn't have let me come here.

"I can't believe he is dead," Marie muttered after a while. She didn't know how he died, or because of whom.

"Same," I said. "I kinda thought he'd always be there."

"I know right? I thought shitty people were supposed to stick around. 'God picks the prettiest flowers' or some shit. He picked a weed this time."

I couldn't help it. I laughed and felt so horrible about it that it was followed by a series of sobs in my hands.

"Shit, I'm so sorry. That was so mean-"

Marie hugged me as my shoulders violently shook with sobs. I couldn't get a hold of myself. I felt sick. I felt so sick.

I cried till I couldn't anymore. I cried till the fog died and I was sitting in Andros' car as he drove, staring blankly out of the window.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I think I just needed to be near her for a while. Thank you for taking me."

"Don't thank me, baby." He picked up my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Do you want ice cream?"

I gave him a weak smile. "With you? Always."

He smiled back.

. . .

We got ice cream and went back to the ship. We got enough for Alexandre, too, as he had a sweet tooth.

"Thank you, baby." Alexandre kissed my cheek as I handed him an ice cream tub. "How do you feel?"

"Better," I said as I sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen island. I removed the link to the ice cream tub and dug a spoon in. "I cried too much. My head hurts."

"Maybe you shouldn't be eating ice cream, then."

I took a bite. "Sure." I took another bite.

He chuckled, removing the lid from his tub as Andros sat down beside me.

We ate in silence. I could talk, and laugh, but I just couldn't bring myself to exist as I did before. It felt disrespectful. Before he died, Evan hadn't meant anything to me. But now he was someone who had died because of me and that was a pretty huge burden.

And what bothered me the most was the fact that the text with the photo said the first gift.

First.

That meant more were to follow. You don't number things for them to mean nothing.

"Where are Bobby and Vaness?" I asked, trying to distract myself.

"Hedeon's office," Andros replied, digging his spoon into my ice cream. He hasn't gotten one for him, saying that he wanted to share with me. He liked to pretend he didn't have a sweet tooth, but he most definitely did.

Or he just liked stealing from me. Knowing Andros, it could easily be both.

I nodded. These four had pretty much adopted Bobby and Vaness. Bobby had used them for pets in the starting, but now he was warming up. Vaness had always been in love with them and she did not bother to hide it. I kind of related to Vaness.

I liked that they liked my cats. I would have been very sad if they hadn't. My cats had been there for me before them. I wouldn't have survived the absolute hellish months that followed my uncle's death without them.

"We wanted to talk to you, Dahlia," Alexandre said after a while, his voice serious as it always was. Alexandre had lost his monotonous tone, but he couldn't help his seriousness. I didn't mind. They didn't make me too nervous anymore.

"About?" I asked, kind of knowing what he'd say.

"Everything," he replied, dark blue eyes holding mine captive in the most gentle way. "Starting with what happened."

"I was sent a picture of my ex-boyfriend with his heart shoved into his mouth," I said. "That is all that happened. We don't need to talk about it."

"We need to if you snap like that every time we bring it up," Andros said, pointing his spoon at me. "Or if you cry all over your friend about it."

"I did not cry all over her-"

"Sure."

I almost rolled my eyes. "This is how I deal with things," I told them. "It takes time, okay? It just takes time."

Alexandre stared and then nodded. "Time, we can do that."

"Can we?" Andros asked. Alexandre gave him a look. Andros grimaced. "Sure we can."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his expression. "I'm not saying leave me alone, but just...don't ask till I mention it, please."

"Done." Andros pressed a kiss to my lips.

. . .

My phone buzzed. I was starting to dread that sound. I wanted to throw it away, but not knowing if the kidnapper had sent something else would be worse.

I looked.

I shouldn't have.

I really shouldn't have.

The Second gift.

. . .