“John James said you could help.” I pulled my legs onto the mattress, tucking them beneath me. My gaze darted to the bloodstain, the wall behind him, the window—anywhere but at him.
Malik took a step forward.
“What does John James know?”
His presence loomed closer.
I edged back, scooting toward the head of the bed.
But Malik only watched me, his expression unreadable.
And suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I had come here for his help?—
Or if I had walked willingly into something far more dangerous.
“MaybeBalthazar and I told John James exactly what to say to you.” Malik’s voice dripped with quiet menace. “Maybe we cast a glamor over him, whispered lies into his ears, and led you exactly where we wanted you.”
He took another step.
My breath hitched.
I was acutely aware of him—the way the dim light carved angles into his sculpted jaw, the way his thick throat worked as he spoke, the shape of his mouth?—
Stop it, Olivia. Look away from him.
“What if Balthazar and I are working together?” His voice was silk-wrapped steel. “What if this is all a trap? Maybe we lured you here to kill you.”
His thighs pressed into the edge of the mattress.
I hadn’t even seen him move.
I closed my eyes, my pulse thrumming wildly.God, Olivia, what have you done?Had I walked blindly into my downfall?He’s right.I could have been lured into a death trap.
But then?—
My mind caught on a single, undeniable fact.
Why would he risk ushering Roman to safety?
The mattress dipped.
When I opened my eyes, Malik was beside me.
Close enough to touch.
“You’re fucking with me,” I breathed.
He smirked, wicked. “Such language, Olivia.”
Then, with maddening ease, he traced the outline of my lips with his fingertip.
I seized his hand, gripping it tightly. “Stop. Stop messing with me.” My voice trembled, laced with frustration, fear, and something else I didn’t want to name.
I shook my head, pushing past the confusion clawing at my brain. “You’re not working with Balthazar. That’s impossible. Balthazar destroyed my life. He’s a psychopath. He assaulted me, took my child from me, broke me, crushed me.” My breath came fast, uneven. “The only thing that’s kept me going was the possibility of finding you.”
Malik stilled.
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. “And now that I have found you, it feels like you’re toying with me—messing with my mind, my emotions. Balthazar will kill me if I find the journal and bring it to him. If I don’t, he’ll still kill me.”
