e Garre

s

n sharp edges to make room for him. I had stepped back from the company, letting him take the CEO

' d placed by the lake, his shoulders shaking with sobs. He had confessed to me then, through his te

ice raw with a grief I thought was real, "If I ever betray you, Caroline, if I ever

f children was a closed door, a room in our shared house that we never entere

as talking a

. Jacob, thinking I had come to my

his voice softening, a

let him

ked into the waistband of my slack

his heart. That woul

, sharp blade across his left brow. Ri

face. Blood, dark and rich, welled up instantly, tric

thly calm. "The price of betrayal,

h, angry, and red. It ruined the heroic narrative. It was a mark

rambled away from the wall and lunged at me, pushing me wit

ned my cold gaze on her.

ed in the foyer. She staggered back

ou want my life? You think you have what it takes to hold it? You're weak. A parasi

aiting. I will find you, and I will strip you of everything. You wi

ot going anywhere," she sobbed, her voice trembling but stubborn. "I lo

e made, sent a jolt through me. A memor

tal groaning. And Jacob, in the driver's seat next to me, unbuckling his seatbelt i

, was the last thing I heard before the world went

you've go

g there, pressing a handkerchief to his bleeding

monster," he said

e me," I

damage. "I was grateful. Your father took me in. He gave me a chance

in the air, a final, c

ine," he warned, his voice low and d

e floor. He knelt down, gathering Karina into his arms, murmuring soft, comfo

oud enough for me to hear. "I've g

hest. "I'm so scared of her, Ja

o now. And I w

fect na