“I don’t want to.”
The lie flowed past my lips too easily. His gaze didn’t change, though something underneath it did.
“You’re a bad liar.” He called me out, watching me a second longer.
That only heightened the idea that nothing about us was finished or ever would be. In fact, it felt as if something was only beginning. It was something neither of us agreed to, but again, the universe had a way of reminding me who was in charge.
I turned away first. I had to. “I’m going upstairs.”
He didn’t stop me. However, I felt him watching me again.
Every step.
Every motion.
My hand tightened on the railing as I climbed up the stairs, my legs heavier than they should be as the house creaked beneath me.
Julius should be here with us.
The thought hit stronger now, more determined and unforgiving, holding me hostage in a home that didn’t feel like that without him. I wasn’t sure what I could do to fix this and how to get him out of jail. My only option was to use the same lawyer we used for Kraven, but I didn’t have any money. At least not like that.
My stomach churned as I reached the top of the stairs, forcing myself toward Julius’s bedroom.
The door was half open.
I pushed it wider, stepping inside, then closing it too quickly behind me. I silently prayed I could shut out my thoughts of Kraven.
I couldn’t.
Nothing could.
Not when I was starting to understand that fate had already chosen for me.
CHAPTER
THREE
ISLA
I leaned against the door,closing my eyes while I exhaled deeply. My hand suddenly drifted down again. This time, I didn’t stop it. My fingers pressed lightly against my stomach, and something shook inside me.
Fear.
But not just any fear.
It was something else.
Something bigger.
Something I didn’t know how to name or describe until a soft knock rumbled through the door behind me.
It was gentle.
Precise.
Causing my eyes to snap open and my hand to instinctively fall at my side, almost like I got caught doing something wrong.
“Go away,” I muttered under my breath, loud enough for him to hear me.
