A muscle ticked in his cheek.
‘You’re a liability to him, Ms. de los Reyes. And we both know your selfish choice to stay by Zacharie’s side will get him killed.’
No.
No, no, no.
Everything crystallized in a single, devastating instant.
Mira hadn’t left because she thought he was weak.
She had left because she thought she was a liability to him.
Zacharie didn’t stay a second longer to hear the rest.
He burst out of the room, tore through the crowd of paparazzi—cameras flashing, questions shouting, none of it registering—and caught sight of her just as she was about to step inside the elevator.
“Mira, wait!”
She turned to him.
Pale-faced. Tear-streaked cheeks. Eyes red and swollen from crying.
And when she realized it was really him—
Her lip started to tremble, and then she was rushing inside the elevator, jabbing at the buttons like her life depended on escape. But because he was who he was, he was swifter than she anticipated, and he slipped inside just as the doors slid closed.
The world outside disappeared.
It was just the two of them now, suspended in a metal box between floors, the fluorescent light harsh and unforgiving.
Mira let out a gasp as he slammed his hand on the emergency stop button.
The elevator shuddered to a halt.
“W-What are you doing?”
Zacharie turned to face her, and the pain in her eyes nearly ripped his chest apart. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Like she had been crying for just as long. Like the weight of the world had been pressing down on her shoulders and she had no idea how to set it down.
“Mira—”
He reached for her, but she jumped back like his touch would burn her, pressing herself against the elevator wall.
His arm fell back to his side.
“I’m sorry,” he said tautly.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything.” Her voice was uneven, but her gaze was trained on the wall behind him, refusing to meet his eyes. “I’m the one in the wrong here. I should never have—”
“Did security tell you I’m with my girlfriend?”
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t have to.
The way her lip started trembling again said everything, and Zacharie could no longer bear it.
“D-Don’t—”
