And now I have to hide again because with everything happening with his reputation on the line, we can't do this here. Not now. Not with Tara's cameras fifty feet away, waiting for exactly this kind of moment.
“I'm not doing this.” My voice comes out steadier than I feel. “Not here. Not with cameras everywhere.”
“Of course not.”
The bitterness in his voice makes me flinch.
“Can't risk anyone finding out.”
“That's not?—”
“You know, Eleanor spent all those years trying to figure out how to put those initials back together.” Hisvoice goes cold. Distant. “But you? You'd never approve that renovation, would you? Gotta preserve history. Keep everything exactly as it is. Frozen. Safe.”
He turns away, his shoulders rigid. “Go back to your pictures, Sierra. Your documentation. Your safe little distance from anything that actually matters.”
The quiet words streak in with a scream before they detonate.
Because he knows. Heknowswhat that story means to me. What it means to us.
My lungs seize. Something behind my ribs splinters—a crack so deep I swear I can hear it.
This is what it feels like.
This is what it feels like to hand someone the map to your most tender places only to have them use it to gut you.
It’s what I did to him.
I can't defend myself. Can’t utter a word. If I open my mouth right now, I'm either going to scream or cry.
The one thing I won’t do. I won’t collapse here on the spot no matter how much I want to.
I let the numbness fill me, settle in all the broken pieces and hold them together while I choke it all down.
And I leave.
The door swings shut behind me, and I walk—not run,walk—back toward the main room. Spine straight. Face neutral. Camera clutched in my icy fingers.
Holly's waiting at the end of the hallway.
One look at her face tells me she heard enough.
“Sierra—”
“Don't.” I keep walking.
She falls into step beside me. “What the hell was that?”
“I don't want to talk about it.”
“He can't just?—”
“Holly.” I stop. Turn. Force my voice to stay even. “He saw me talking to Justin. He thinks—” I shake my head. “It doesn't matter what he thinks. We don't have time for this right now. The lodge is more important. I’ll deal with the rest later.”
Or never.
She searches my face. Whatever she finds there makes her jaw tighten.
“Okay.” She squeezes my arm once, letting it go. “I’ll walk you out.”
