I kept walking because if I remained in that kitchen another second, I would either break or go back and make sure Easton did.
My fingers dug into my jacket pocket for my phone, shaking so badly I nearly lost my grip. Charm said my name behind me, soft and wrecked, and I hated that softness.
I hated that she got to sound hurt after handing him the corner of a truth I had not given her permission to share.
I made it two steps into the hallway before Easton’s voice followed me.
“That’s it?”
I didn’t stop.
His laugh cracked through the kitchen, ugly and hollow. “That’s really it? You cut me open in front of everyone and now you walk away?”
Cade said his name quietly, but Easton didn’t listen.
Movement erupted behind me—a chair leg scraped tile, Briggs muttered something under his breath, and Ryan’s voice came sharper than it had all night.
I still didn’t turn around.
Easton’s voice rose. “You don’t get to do that, Clarke.”
The name hit the center of my back like a thrown blade, but I kept moving.
“You don’t get to stand there and make me the asshole for caring, make me the asshole for getting too close to whatever the fuck you won’t tell me, then leave when you get backed into a corner.”
My hand tightened around my phone.
Charm whispered, “Easton, don’t.”
That stopped me more than his voice had.
She sounded afraid of what he was about to say, like she already knew he was aiming toward the place my trauma hid and was about to swing. Like everyone in the kitchen had spent the last five minutes treating my locked door as an inconvenience, and now they wanted to protect me from whatever came crashing through it.
Easton laughed again without a trace of humor. “Feels like this means something.”
My chest caved around the words.
I turned slowly enough to pretend it was a choice and not the impact.
Easton stood in the kitchen with Cade in front of him and Briggs close at his side. His face was flushed beneath the fury, his eyes too bright, cruel, and hurt. The coldness from a moment ago had cracked apart, and every ugly, broken piece of him stood exposed before everyone.
I curled my fingers tighter around my phone. “Fuck you.”
His smile vanished. “You did.”
Bliss gasped. “Easton.”
Cade shoved a hand against Easton’s chest and forced him backward. “Enough.”
The room broke open after that.
Briggs caught Easton from the side, the joke burned completely from his face, while Rider secured one shoulder when Easton shifted forward again. Ryan moved quickly from the island, putting his body between Easton and me so Easton would have to go through him to reach me.
Charm had both hands around my arm before I realized she had crossed the room. Bliss stood half in front of me, crying now, but the look on her face wasn’t only fear.
It was disappointment.
I could survive Easton’s hatred and the entire house watching.
