He spun and left, leaving Isla and me alone with the kind of quiet that burned like fire. She stared at me with wide eyes and a terrified expression. The blood had drained from her face while she was frozen in place.
Her hand flew over her heart as if she were trying to hold it together.
But she was still the first to speak. “Julius, I’m so sorry…”
Unable to resist, I bit, “I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me what the hell he’s talking about.”
“I can’t.”
“Why are you protecting him?”
“Because he’s my friend too, and I care about him.”
“Like you care about me?”
“No. It’s different.”
“But you do have feelings for him?”
“Not in the way I do for you.”
“Where did that line get crossed?”
“Nothing’s been crossed.”
Shoulders tight, I reminded, “Tell that to the footage I saw.”
“He’s drunk, Julius,” she simply replied. “And I learned a long time ago to never argue with a drunk because you never win. At least I never did.”
She turned to leave, but I caught her wrist.
“We’re not done here.”
“I know, but can we continue this at home?”
“Home, huh?”
She firmly nodded, grabbing my hand. “Yeah, Julius…home.”
Reluctantly, I let her lead. Marco waited by the entrance, letting me know that Kraven had left with some sketchy characters. I didn’t have the energy to give a shit, feeling utterly defeated.
By the time we arrived through the front door, it was almost three in the morning. As soon as we walked inside, I made my way into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. I felt like a semi-truck had run over me.
I drank the whole thing before grabbing some ice from the freezer and wrapping it in a rag for my hand. She met me in there with a first-aid kit in her grasp.
“I’m fine,” I stated.
She shot me a stern stare, nodding to the chair beside her.
I did as she wanted, mostly because I wanted to know where thiswas going. After I sat, she bent down in front of me to sit on the balls of her feet as she took a look at my hand. It didn’t take her long to wrap it up with a bandage.
When she was finished, she looked up at me through her lashes. Her striking green eyes were filled with sadness.
“The day we met,” she expressed out of nowhere, making my stomach drop from what she was about to share.
“I wasn’t just running away from my fosters. I was also running away from a crime scene I caused.”
My blood ran cold, never expecting to hear that.
