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“Where would you look if you wanted to find out something about the father of your baby?” Larissa continued, focused on the shelf. “I mean, your Erik seems to be good at hiding things.”

Quentin looked at Larissa, staring at her for a few seconds. Then he looked back at me.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

My heart was pounding relentlessly, and every beat felt like it could give out at any moment.

“You should all regulate your heartbeats and relax,” Larissa said, crouching down and pulling open the next drawer.

“Larissa,” Emely said tonelessly, stepping further back until she bumped into a side table.

Quentin paid no attention to her. All he seemed to see was me. His eyes pierced mine like sharp needles.

What had I done?

“Close the door, Emely, and calm down. You're letting in a draft,” Larissa sighed and straightened up to turn toward us. “Mr. Suspicious isn't going to suddenly appear in front of...” I didn't have to look at her to know that she had spotted him. “...us.”

Discovery

Christopher Tyng

Larissa cleared her throat and stepped to my side, hesitating before raising her hand in Quentin's direction and waving. “Hi...”

He didn't look at her.

It was as if we were alone in the room. Two comets that collided violently from one silent second to the next. And the explosion was brutal, painful, tearing apart everything that had even remotely pretended to be stable.

Someone entered the house behind him, but I couldn't take my eyes off him as something inside me broke. It was his gaze. It shattered me mercilessly. Yet his face showed no emotion.

“Miles...” Emely gasped.

“You?”

I took my eyes off Quentin and found Miles standing there in his black coat, his eyes fixed on Emely, his eyebrows raised. The red glow in his irises faded, and he finally noticed Bay, me, and his sister.

“Larissa?”

Quentin looked away from me and scrutinized the other girls.

“I knew we couldn't trust him!” Emely suddenly snapped, and she came over to the three of us without turning her back to the men.

“Relax, little wolf,” Miles said, raising both hands before entering the house and patting Quentin on the shoulder. “Quentin is my partner in crime. We are…”

“Erik is your partner in crime?” Larissa blurted out with a laugh.

Quentin immediately looked back at me. And it was the most uncomfortable stare I had ever felt on my skin in my life. As if I could see myself through his empty eyes. The liar I was.

“Larissa, you shouldn’t…” Bayla began, but Larissa interrupted her.

“It doesn't matter anyway. He already knows.” She leaned against one of the wooden columns. “Which doesn't explain what you're doing here, Miles.”

Miles closed the door behind Quentin and pressed a light switch.

Dim light from rustic luminaires flooded the room.

Quentin's silhouette resolved into color and detail, now becoming more tangible. But it didn't change the fact that he looked like I had just stabbed him in the heart with a dagger.

My hands began to shake. I clawed my fingers into each other, entangling them.