“I’m not—”
“Don’t lie to me.”
The growl is sharper than I intended, scraping my throat raw. Her breath catches at the sound, chest rising with a tremor she can’t hide.
Her back hits the wall again—not because she’s afraid of me, but because she’s retreating from the truth strangling her.
Her eyes flick up to mine.
We’re inches apart.Close enough to share breath.Close enough for the tension between us to hum like a struck wire.
Close enough for me to feel the tremor pulsing through her bones.
“Pia,” I say, quiet but lethal. “Someone is hunting you.”
Her lips part—just barely. A tremble. Almost invisible. But not to me.
“Who is he?” I press. “Who the fuck is following you?”
“I’m not—” she tries again.
But her voice fractures on the second word.
My jaw tightens. “Stop. Lying.”
Her eyes flare—anger, desperation, terror colliding at once—but the fire collapses just as fast. She sucks in a shaky breath. Her fingers curl at her sides like she’s holding herself together with the last thread of her will.
I lean in—slowly, deliberately—until our foreheads almost touch.
“You think I can’t feel it?” I murmur. “You think I haven’t been watching you fall apart since the moment you walked into this church?”
Her inhale is sharp.Painful.Human.
And, fuck me… I hate it.I hate that she’s been carrying this alone.Hate that someone out there thinks they can get close enough to touch what I—
I stop the thought before it finishes.
But it’s too late.The truth already pulses in my throat.
Whatever she’s running from…it’s close.
Too close.
And its shadow is already inside these walls, pressing into my sanctuary like a violation.
The air between us tightens—thick with heat, fear, and the truth she refuses to speak.
Two liars.Two sinners.Two trapped animals circling the same danger.
And neither of us knows which one will break first.
A creak splits the silence.
Not from us.Not from the storm outside.
From the far end of the hall.
A footstep.
