XAVIER’S POV

What just happened?

I stood outside Melissa’s apartment, staring at the closed door like a fool who had just been thrown out of his own home. My palms felt clammy, my throat burned, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. A thousand thoughts crashed in my head, colliding against each other until it became impossible to string one into sense.

I had been searching for her for months—months of restless nights, endless guilt, and dead ends. Every city felt like a maze ...