“Do you live here alone?” I ask instead.
I feel the heat of his eyes on my cheek as he turns his attention back to me.
“Are you asking me if I have a girlfriend?”
I shrug, feigning indifference.
Killian huffs out a breath. “Why are you here, Daisy?”
It seems we’re playing a game of questions instead of answers and my mouth moves before my brain has a chance to sensor it, blurting the very question that’s been plaguing me since I pulled into his driveway. “Why did you build this house?”
“Why do you think?” He snaps back.
My head whips in his direction, confusion and hope swirling inside of me.
I don’t know his reasons behind building the house we planned to build our future in, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope it was because he still wanted that. It’s selfish of me to feel that way considering I’m still hiding things from him. There could never be a future between us until he knows the truth, and even then, there’s no telling whether he’d still want me once he learns it.
And it’s that very reminder that brings reality crashing down on me. I squeeze my eyes shut, take two deep breaths before openingthem again. “I should go.”
CHAPTER 17
KILLIAN
Iwitness the exact moment Daisy shuts down.
When her eyes reopen, they’re hollow. Like a switch has been flipped, her entire demeanour changes. Her shoulders tense up, the air around us thickens and the emotion that was present in her voice only seconds ago, gone.
She staresthroughme as I search her face for any sign of the woman from five seconds ago, but she’s long gone.
Concern laced with fear gnaws at my chest at just how easily she erected the walls around herself within a matter of seconds. The woman looking at me now isn’t one I’m familiar with.
I’ve heard people talk about the light going out in someone’s eyes before, but I’ve never bore witness to it happening. Until just now.
“I should go.” Daisy twists her keys in the ignition, the car sputtering to life beneath us and I panic. I don’t want her to leave yet. I can’t get out of this car and let her drive away with that look being the last thing I see on her face.
Daisy flinches as I reach out, wrapping my hand around hers. “Come somewhere with me.”
“What?”
“Take a walk with me,” I reiterate.
Her eyes flit around the shadows surrounding the cabin. “Where?”
“You’ll see.”
I see the hesitation in her eyes as she stares at me. “Kill-”
“Do you trust me?” I ask, my thumb rubbing gentle circles over the hand still clasped beneath mine.
Her eyes move from mine down to the contact and then back. “Yeah,” she whispers and my heart soars at the sound of the single word.
“Good. Do you have a jacket?”
She nods, reaching into the back seat and producing a brown wool coat, pulling it on and tying the belt around her waist.
I wait until she’s turned the car off before climbing out and rounding the hood to open her door for her. With a shake of her head, she accepts my outstretched hand and climbs out, clicking the locks once I’ve closed the door behind her.
With reluctant footsteps, she follows me around the side of the house and beneath the thick cover of trees. Twigs snap and leaves crunch beneath our feet as I lead us farther into darkness.
