He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 333

He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly

Chapter 333

Mmother rested nearby, tucked into a makeshift bed the men had put together out of whatever soft materials they’d found. We should have taken her to a

hospital hours ago. We couldn’t. The police were still looking for us for me, for DeLuca, for everyone who’d been identified during the chaosfat the stadium and everything after, footage of which had almost certainly gone viral by now. A hospital meant walking directly into that.

I just wanted her to hold on. To not break, after everything. She’d spent the entire night forcing strength she didn’t actually have to spare and the bill for

that was only just starting to come due.

We settled in to eat.

It happened in stages, oddly companionable despite everything – Torres and his men eating standing up near the walls, still alert exen mid–bite. Arche eating in silence, methodical, like even this required discipline. Nathan picking at his food like it might still be a trap. Mabel eating hers anyway, complaints and all, muttering under her breath the entire time. Tessa ate slowly, watching the room like she was still cataloguing every possible threat in it. Aria ate almost nothing, just enough to look like she had.

For a few minutes, at least, nobody was actively bleeding, running, or shooting at anyone. It didn’t feel like peace, exactly. But it felt like the shape peace might eventually take, if we all survived long enough to find it properly.

Once the food settled and the room quieted into its own version of rest, I pulled DeLuca toward a corner and got to work redressing his wound.

1

They’d removed the bullet hours earlier – a couple of the men, quick and efficient about it in a way that told me clearly this wasn’t their first time doing exactly this. I hadn’t watched most of it. I’d felt it anyway, somehow, every flicker of pain that crossed his face landing in my own chest like it belonged

there too.

Now it was just cleaning and fresh bandages, which felt almost embarrassingly manageable by comparison.

“Hold still, said, easing the old wrap away.

am holding still.”

“You flinched.”

“That was a twitch. There’s a difference.”

I glanced up at him, unimpressed, and found him already watching me with an expression that had absolutely nothing to do with pain.

“What?” I asked.

smile tugged at his mouth. Just admiring the view.”

wound, DeLuca.”

te every reasonable instinct telling me not to fall for it. Focus. I don’t want to mess this up.”

d me work for a moment, quiet, before adding. Better than the men who took the bullet out, honestly. One of them looked

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15:04 Fri, Sep 4 M

Chapter 333

personally offended the whole time, like I was inconveniencing his evening.”

Maybe you were.”

Everything I do inconveniences someone. It’s basically my whole personality.”

I pressed the fresh gauze into place, careful, and he only flinched slightly this time, jaw tightening for half a second before releasing.

Sorry, I murmured.

“Don’t apologize. I’ve had worse done to me by people who liked me significantly less.”

That’s a low bar.”

“You’d be surprised how few people clear it.”

I finished securing the bandage and sat back slightly, checking my work. Clean. Tight enough to hold, loose enough not to cut off girculation. Not bad, considering my only prior medical experience involved band–aids and mild self–diagnosis via search engine.

“There,” I said. “You’ll live.”

“I was already confident about that.”

You looked significantly less confident an hour ago.”

“That was for dramatic effect.” He caught my hand before I could pull it fully away, thumb brushing lightly over my knuckles. “Thank you. For this. For all of

it, actually.

Something in his voice shifted, quieter, more serious than the teasing a moment ago.

“You don’t have to thank me for wrapping a bandage.”

I’m not just talking about the bandage.”

clever response ready for that, so I settled for a small smile instead, and he let it sit there between us, warm, uncomplicated, for exactly as

uld afford right now.

entually.

udied me a moment longer, like he wanted to argue, then let it go, easing back against the wall with a low, tired breath. Within minutes his eyes had ifted shut, exhaustion finally winning out over whatever stubbornness had been keeping him upright.

I sat there a little longer, then rose quietly and slipped outside for some air.

The might had gone still in a way that felt almost unfamiliar after everything. I leaned against the rough exterior wall, letting the quiet settle into me, broathing it in like it might actually help.

山

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15:04 Fri, Sep 4 M.

Chapter 333

“Daisy.”

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