She ignored me. “If you are, I will never forgive you.”
That landed harder than anything else she could have said.
“I’m not lying,” I reacted with certainty, holding her gaze.
For a minute, neither of us moved. We didn’t speak, we didn’t breathe. We were one.
She stepped back, not fleeing or breaking down.
Instead, she warned, “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Good.”
Her eyes searched mine one last time, maybe looking for a reason to trust me or perhaps a reason not to.
Reading my mind, she called out, “I still don’t trust you.”
“I know.”
“But you’re the only hope I have right now.”
“I know.”
She didn’t argue, but she didn’t have to…
I knew she meant it.
CHAPTER
SIX
KRAVEN
I should’ve expected it,though nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into the following day. The door shut behind me with a muted click, the sound carrying further than it should have. I didn’t move right away. I didn’t call out. I didn’t announce myself.
Instead, I just stood there.
Listening.
The air felt heavier. It was charged in a way that didn’t come from noise, but from restraint. My gaze shifted across the living room and landed on the couch.
Then I saw them…
Her bags.
They were packed, though they weren’t half-zipped or thrown together either. They were neat and organized with purpose. This was planned out. It wasn’t reckless.
A slow exhale left me through my nose as I stepped farther inside the house, my body tensing just a little before I forced it to relax.
I dropped my keys on the counter with a clink, the sound slicing through the silence in the open space. My eyes flicked once toward the hallway. No movement, but she was there. She had to be. I could still feel her through my internal wave of emotions.
Besides, if she really had left, her bags wouldn’t be sitting there like a statement.
They were a warning.
This was a test.
I rolled my shoulders back, loosening the tension that had settled there the moment I saw her bags. If Isla wanted a confrontation, then she’d get one.
