Kraven wanted me to feel it. He needed me to break first.
My fingers squeezed against the counter, probably turning white until I spewed, “Are you just going to stand there?” My voice was quieter than I meant it to be.
His expression didn’t change, remaining neutral and in control, which was the opposite of me.
“I’ve been standing here,” he replied all in one breath.
I pushed off the counter, turning away as if his presence changed my nervous energy in the kitchen.
“Then say something,” I ordered.
“Like what?”
Again, he was too calm.
Too measured.
Too him.
It stabbed into a fresh wound, the same one he had only inflicted an hour ago, but it still felt so very raw, so very real.
“Anything,” I implied, trying to get him to say it without me having to demand it. Spinning back toward him, I stated the obvious. “You’re just… standing there.”
“And you’re pretending I’m not.”
My breath caught.
For a second, neither of us moved.
I exhaled a long, sharp breath, shaking my head. “I’m not doing this.”
“Doing what, exactly?”
“Exactly this.” I gestured back and forth between us. “Whatever this is.”
He pushed off the doorway, stepping into the kitchen.
Slow.
Exact.
Not close enough to touch me, but close enough that I could feel him anyway. This was slightly worse, especially when the silence was heavier this time.
Julius was always right there between us—especially when we were alone—and his being behind bars didn’t change that. It was unspoken, and something we couldn’t avoid—no matter how much we wanted to, no matter how much we tried.
Our eyes locked when he reminded me, “But this is what we do best.”
My stomach twisted, sharper that time. I shifted a little with my hand drifting down my stomach, resting low and instinctively. His neutral stare followed my gesture, and an unexpected heat soured through my skin, triggering me to pull my hand away as if it burned me.
“Don’t,” I say.
He shrugged. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Silence again. This time, it was short, strained, and instantly overpowering.
“Ask?” he demanded, making my pulse jump from his abrupt tone.
