“It’s… Scarlett, right?”
My stomach drops into free fall.
He doesn’t know who I am?
“Loves wontons, head always stuck in a book, face full of freckles?” he adds, his tone teasing.
“For fuck’s sake.” I exhale in relief as his laugh vibrates softly in the air. My hand itches to smack his chest, but I have to remind myself that he’s injured. “Jokes? Really? After you’ve been in a coma for eight years?”
His smile falters for a split second, and I let out a chuckle, biting back the urge to cry again.
Shoulders relaxing, he laughs, the sound weak but so utterlyhimthat it makes my heart swell. “Mean. Really, really mean.”
“You started it.”
His thumb brushes over the back of my hand, sending a quiet shiver through me. Then, with infinite care, he raises my hand to his lips, kissing the top. The gesture is so tender, so achingly familiar, I want to throw myself at him and bury my face in his chest.
My Rafael is back, and I’lldiebefore I let him go again.
“Freckles,” he says softly, intertwining our fingers and resting our hands on his lap. “I—”
“Is it true?” Ethan’s voice booms from behind me, startling us both. I turn to see my brother standing in the doorway, his expression caught somewhere between disbelief and awe. “Holy shit. You’re awake.”
“Hey, man,” Rafael says, his voice suddenly stronger, like he’s summoning all his energy to reassure Ethan. “Have you been holding down the fort for me?”
I roll my eyes. “Oh,heholds down the fort?”
Ethan steps closer. “Shit, dude. You look like hell.”
“Your sister doesn’t think so.”
I scoff, unable to hide my joy. He’s joking. He’shimself.
“Yeah, well, she has questionable taste,” Ethan quips, pointing at the nightstand. “Did you show him yet?”
Rafael turns his head, wincing slightly, and I quickly squeeze his hand in comfort. Ethan grabs the folded copy of theWhistlefrom the table and sets it on Rafael’s lap.
“?‘The Prodigal Son Turned Hero,’?” Ethan reads aloud, his tone exaggerated. Rafael’s brow furrows in confusion as Ethan snickers.
I grab the paper and shove it aside. “I can read that to you later. You should rest now.”
“Was that my picture?”
Ethan grabs the paper again. “Yep. It’s an article about you—how no one believed in you, and you saved everyone’s asses. They might rename the main square after you.”
Rafael turns to me, squinting. “That’s not what happened.Youcaught the killer.”
“Andyoucaught a stalker I got credit for. Guess we’re even.”
“Scarlett…”
“I didn’t lie. And besides, people needed to know what you’ve done, Rafael. Who you really are.” I shrug, glancing away. “I didn’t even do it for you. It’s their loss they didn’t see it before.”
His eyes linger on mine, full of something I can’t quite name.Gratitude, maybe. Love, definitely. “What… what happened with that? Celeste and Quentin?”
“They’ve been arraigned, and both of them have pleaded guilty. Life without parole for him. She got life with the possibility of parole, which is…” I trail off, my chest tightening.Unfair? Insane?
“Well, he was the one who committed the murders,” Rafael says.
