He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 196

Chapter 196

(Daisy’s POV)

For several moments after the previous conversation ended, neither of us spoke.

The photograph of Aria remained on my phone screen, though I had stopped looking at it. There was only so much denial a person could sustain before reality began forcing its way through the cracks, and although I wasn’t ready to accept what the evidence was suggesting, I was no longer capable of pretending the evidence didn’t exist.

Beside me, DeLuca started the car. The engine came to life, and a few seconds later we were moving again. His attention remained fixed on the road while mine remained fixed on him. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was thinking, planning, calculating-the things

DeLuca always did whenever a problem appeared.

Unfortunately for him, I had a problem of my own.

“Who is it?”

His eyes remained on the road.

“Who is what?”

“The person.” I tightened my grip on the phone. “The person giving the shooters instructions.”

A brief silence followed before he answered.

“Fritzo is still working on identifying them.”

That answer only created more questions.

“If somebody else was communicating with the shooters, then that person might be the reason Aria got involved in all of this.”

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. I knew how desperate they sounded, and I also knew I didn’t care because every part

of me still wanted there to be another explanation, another possibility, another truth.

DeLuca exhaled quietly before saying something that immediately irritated me.

“This isn’t your war, Daisy.”

I turned toward him so quickly that my abdomen protested and pain shot through my side. I ignored it.

“What?”

“You need to recover.”

His voice remained calm. “You need treatment.”

“DeLuca-”

“I’ll handle the rest.”

That was the exact wrong thing to say.

Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt near his arm. The movement hurt-a lot, but I did it anyway.

“Don’t you dare.”

His attention finally shifted from the road to me.

“Don’t you dare tell me this isn’t my war.”

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