Page 196 of Only Be Mine

“Where did you get that?” he asked.

“In your desk drawer.”

The silence that followed was dense enough to press against my ears.

He didn’t deny it.

Didn’t reach for it.

Didn’t pretend it was unfamiliar.

He just looked at it.

Then at me.

And for the first time since I’d known him, I saw him thinking without trying to soften it for me.

Calculating.

I kept my voice even when I said, “It has his initials inside.”

Trevor’s gaze sharpened slightly.

“I know."

Not I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Not It’s not what you think.

I know.

The quiet admission landed harder than a confession.

My heart pounded, but my face stayed still. “Why do you have it?” I asked.

He inhaled slowly through his nose, then exhaled just as slowly.

“Why couldn’t you leave it alone, Cate?” he asked quietly.

The question hit like a slap.

I blinked. “What?”

“You were safe,” he continued. His voice wasn’t raised. It wasn’t angry. It was… disappointed. “You had everything. Stability. Security. A life that didn’t revolve around a ghost.”

My throat tightened.

“You went digging,” he said. “You called the detective. You pulled Seth back into it.”

“Did you do something to him?” I asked.

The words felt foreign in my mouth.

Trevor’s gaze didn’t waver. “I did what needed to be done,” he said.

There was no tremor.

No shame.