“Wait, what?” Vivi’s head snapped toward me. “You’ve been getting threats? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t want to worry anyone. And Knox thought-”
“Keep going,” Sarah said firmly. “Both of you can yell at her later.”
The burned blanket on my doorstep. The note promising to hurt my children.
Vivi made a strangled noise beside me. “Oh my god, Lina.”
The lockdown that had kept me trapped in the pack house. Mary Thorne’s escape from house arrest.
“MARY?” Vivi practically shrieked. “Mary Thorne escaped? When? How? Why didn’t anyone-”
“Vivienne,” Sarah said calmly. “Let her finish.”
Knox keeping it all from me. Our fight. The dead rabbit that Thea had found.
“A dead rabbit?” Vivi whispered, her face pale. “In your backyard? While the kids were there?”
And now this, someone trying to burn down my shop and Mika getting stabbed trying to stop them.
By the time I finished, both Sarah and Vivi were staring at me with identical expressions of horror. Sarah’s mouth was set in a hard line and her eyes had gone flinty. Vivi looked ready to either cry again or punch someone.
“That boy,” Sarah said finally, and I knew she meant Knox, “is going to get an earful from me when I see him.”
“Get in line.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this,” Vivi said, her voice hurt. “I’m supposed to be your friend, Lina. We could have helped. We could have done something.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just... I was trying to protect everyone.”
“By keeping us in the dark?” Vivi shook her head. “Sound like anyone else we know?”
The pointed comparison to Knox stung, mostly because she was right.
“Oh, honey.” Sarah reached out and took my hands in hers. “I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with all of this. You should have called me. I would have come back immediately.”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t call. You deserved that vacation.”
“And you deserve support. Real support. Not just guards and lockdowns and a husband who thinks he knows what’s best for you.” She squeezed my hands. “You’re not alone in this, Lina. You never have been. You just need to stop being too proud to ask for help.”
The tears started again. I couldn’t stop them. Sarah pulled me into another hug and held me while I cried, rubbing my back and making soothing noises just like she had when I was fifteen and my whole world had fallen apart.
“What am I going to do?” I whispered against her shoulder.
“You’re going to let the people who love you help,” Sarah said firmly. “You’re going to stop trying to handle everything yourself. And you’re going to trust that things will work out, even when it feels impossible.”
“And Knox?”
“That’s between you and him. But I will say this.” She pulled back and looked me straight in the eyes. “That man loves you more than life itself. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. The way he’d burn down the world to keep you safe. He made a mistake keeping things from you, a big one, but he did it because he wasterrified of losing you. That doesn’t make it right. But it might make it forgivable.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. So I just nodded and wiped my eyes and turned back to the window where Mika was still sleeping.
“She’s going to be okay,” Sarah said, coming to stand beside me. “That girl is too mean to die.”
I laughed despite myself, the sound coming out wet and broken. “She really is.”
“Now.” Sarah’s voice shifted into command mode. “Have you eaten anything tonight?”
