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Miles hesitated, turned away from the crystal glasses, and continued walking through the office toward her.

“Maybe you’d rather hear it in private.”

Now it was Emely who paused and looked up from the bottom row of one of the bookshelves, directly at Miles.

“Miles...” Julie sighed and closed the stuck drawer with all her strength. “Just tell me.”

She seemed focused, so I turned back to the shelf and combed through the titles.

What exactly was I looking for? More publications? The snake symbol? What if it was all just a metaphor?

“I warned you,” I heard Miles say behind me. “It's about a good friend of mine. By an extremely interesting coincidence, I found out that you're also friends with her.”

Larissa laughed from the next shelf over. “Then it can't be Olivia.”

I grinned at her while Miles looked at his sister in confusion, and Emely began to pull the books off the shelf more frantically.

“Who are you talking about?” I heard Julie ask as I turned my attention to the next row of the shelf. Classics. All classics. Bound in the finest leather, decorated with gold embossing.

I let out a longing sigh.

“It's about J.”

Larissa and I turned around at the same time.

“I want to know if you're planning to hurt her in any way.”

I stared at Miles, then at Julie, who was clutching a worn notebook belonging to Alarik.

“What the hell...” Larissa blurted out.

“Who is J?” Emely asked, looking irritated between Miles and Julie as she pushed the books she had just been turning over and opening as if something might fall out back into the bottom row of the shelf, and turned her attention to the next row.

“Miles, what are you talking about?” Larissa laughed in bemusement. “Julie is J.”

My eyes widened and I looked at my best friend in disbelief.

“Larissa!” Her head snapped around. “You can’t just…”

“Miles knows everything I know anyway,” Larissa interrupted me with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Was she serious? Had she discussed this with Julie? And how did Miles know about J? And anyway... why did he only know half the truth?

Miles turned with an obviously irritated expression to Julie, who seemed paralyzed. Apparently, she was just as taken aback as I was.

“Wait... You are J?” He tilted his head. “The J who...”

“Miles!” Julie cut him off, clutching the notebook even tighter, so tightly that I feared she would tear it in half.

“Wait...” Larissa began, stepping away from the shelf and further into the room. “You know Erik?”

I watched as ice crystals spread across the black leather cover, but then looked at Miles because the confusion inside me was already threatening to reach alarming proportions.

Such coincidences were impossible. How on earth...

“And who is Erik?” Emely asked.

“The father of her child,” Larissa explained without taking her eyes off Julie.