Kian felt my tension and murmured into my other ear, “What’s wrong?”
Covering the phone, I replied, “He’s downstairs.”
A curse left him, and he straightened away from me. While he was still holding my hip, his eyes didn’t leave mine. “I need to call my lawyers one more time. Can you stall him?”
I nodded.
My eyebrows pinched together, but I hung up and gave him the phone. He went into the back with it as I went to let Snark inside from the elevator. He rushed past me, looking all around. He was wearing a brown trench coat, and his hair was sticking in the air, like he’d been grabbing at it. Worry lines surrounded his eyes and were at the corners of his mouth. He seemed to have aged ten years. The smell of cigarettes and cologne clung to him.
“Where is he?” He started for the living room and then the first opened bedroom door.
“On the phone.”
He smirked, rounding back to me. “With his lawyers?”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah. Why?”
He rolled his eyes, grabbing at his hair. He surveyed me and then gestured for the door. “Come on. I want you to come with me.”
“With you?” I stepped back against the counter.
Kian was still in the back room. The door was closed shut, but the thought of leaving him sliced me up inside.
“No.”
“This is enough!” His voice rose. “This romantic bullshit you have going on with him is going to put you in prison. I don’t care what he’s said to you, but his team is behind the leak. They’re his team, not yours. You are not their client. They want you front and center for the public, and they are willing to crucify you. He’s going back up before a jury, and it’s out there. He’s let the world know that he killed Edmund—”
“That was never in debate,” I cut him off.
The party. The look on Erica’s face. Hiding again. Running. The tequila.
All of it was rising together in one angry tornado in me. My voice started to shake but not from fear. “He has only said that he defended me. Edmund was torturing me. I fought and threw a book at the curtain. Kian was there. He was right outside and got a glimpse of what was going on. The right place, the right time. A second later, and he wouldn’t have seen a thing. Just one second later. But he was there, and he saved my life.”
“Good,” Snark clamped out. “And you can testify to that when you’re called to the stand because he is going back on trial.”
“No.” Kian’s voice was low, smooth. He moved from behind Snark, rounding to stand beside me.
Kian’s face was like granite, closed off but so strong. His shoulders were tense. His hands were in fists as they folded over his chest, and he narrowed his eyes at the FBI agent.
“I’m not actually. The district attorney just got off the phone with my lawyers. The case has been dropped. It borders too much on double jeopardy, and”—he skimmed over my face from the side of his eye—“they’re not going after Jordan either.”
Snark flung his hands in the air. “But the media knows who she is now!” A nerve bulged out on the side of his neck. “They know her name. They know her new face. She’s ruined, Maston. There’s no going back for her.” He jerked forward, but his body rocked backward just as quick. He was shaking his head, glaring. “Why did you release the note? Why did you release her name?”
“I didn’t.” Kian’s voice rose, but it was still low. It was still deadly.
A shiver racked down my back. He was becoming colder with each accusation Snark flung at him.
“Did you not want her to live without you? That’s what would’ve happened, right? You would’ve had to let her go. Can’t be with her when she’s got a different name and face. Can’t be with her when she should be with some other guy.” Snark kept shaking his head. Disgust filled his tone. “That’s why, isn’t it? It’s not to throw her to the wolves, try to pin Edmund’s death on her. It wasn’t to save your own ass. It was about her, and you’re not doing the right thing.”
My heart was sinking lower and lower. I closed my eyes and started to turn away.
Snark continued, “You couldn’t let her go. That’s what this is about. Why were you the one to save her from her foster father? And again, you saved her a second time. Why? Both can’t be coincidental.” He stopped, letting his words hang in the air.
“You’re right.”
Snark fell quiet, blinking at Kian.
I moved forward, my heart lurching up to my throat. “He’s right?”
Kian swung those dark eyes my way, making my chest feel punched.
He said so quietly, “It wasn’t a coincidence. I mean, the first time. I wasn’t just walking by your house that day.”
“You weren’t?”
My heart was thumping hard.
“Justin Cavers.”
My head cocked to the side. “My ex-boyfriend?”
His eyes were pinned to mine, so intense and so hypnotic. “I was coming to warn you about him.”
My mouth was suddenly so dry. I licked my lips. “Why? He and I broke up a few weeks earlier.”
“Because he was going to ask you out again.” He glanced in Snark’s direction, as if gauging his reaction. When there was none, he looked back to me. “Justin was an asshole to you.”
I almost snorted. He didn’t have to tell me that. I fully knew.
He added, “He was bragging to a lot of guys at a party the weekend before. He was going to ask you out again, but he had plans for you.”
A second shiver slithered down my spine. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I had a feeling that I already knew. Justin hadn’t been the most sensitive or gentlest of boyfriends.
“The guys were teasing Justin that you’d gotten away.” Kian’s voice dipped low once more.
My head lowered. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to even hear what he had to say.
“He said he was going to rectify that at a party the next weekend. He told my best friend that he was going to ask you out that night. That’s why I came to your house that day. A few hours later, and he would’ve been there. I just got there first.”
Snark asked, “What was he going to do to her?”
I felt Kian’s gaze lift from my head as he answered Snark, “What do you think?”
Covering the phone, I replied, “He’s downstairs.”
A curse left him, and he straightened away from me. While he was still holding my hip, his eyes didn’t leave mine. “I need to call my lawyers one more time. Can you stall him?”
I nodded.
My eyebrows pinched together, but I hung up and gave him the phone. He went into the back with it as I went to let Snark inside from the elevator. He rushed past me, looking all around. He was wearing a brown trench coat, and his hair was sticking in the air, like he’d been grabbing at it. Worry lines surrounded his eyes and were at the corners of his mouth. He seemed to have aged ten years. The smell of cigarettes and cologne clung to him.
“Where is he?” He started for the living room and then the first opened bedroom door.
“On the phone.”
He smirked, rounding back to me. “With his lawyers?”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah. Why?”
He rolled his eyes, grabbing at his hair. He surveyed me and then gestured for the door. “Come on. I want you to come with me.”
“With you?” I stepped back against the counter.
Kian was still in the back room. The door was closed shut, but the thought of leaving him sliced me up inside.
“No.”
“This is enough!” His voice rose. “This romantic bullshit you have going on with him is going to put you in prison. I don’t care what he’s said to you, but his team is behind the leak. They’re his team, not yours. You are not their client. They want you front and center for the public, and they are willing to crucify you. He’s going back up before a jury, and it’s out there. He’s let the world know that he killed Edmund—”
“That was never in debate,” I cut him off.
The party. The look on Erica’s face. Hiding again. Running. The tequila.
All of it was rising together in one angry tornado in me. My voice started to shake but not from fear. “He has only said that he defended me. Edmund was torturing me. I fought and threw a book at the curtain. Kian was there. He was right outside and got a glimpse of what was going on. The right place, the right time. A second later, and he wouldn’t have seen a thing. Just one second later. But he was there, and he saved my life.”
“Good,” Snark clamped out. “And you can testify to that when you’re called to the stand because he is going back on trial.”
“No.” Kian’s voice was low, smooth. He moved from behind Snark, rounding to stand beside me.
Kian’s face was like granite, closed off but so strong. His shoulders were tense. His hands were in fists as they folded over his chest, and he narrowed his eyes at the FBI agent.
“I’m not actually. The district attorney just got off the phone with my lawyers. The case has been dropped. It borders too much on double jeopardy, and”—he skimmed over my face from the side of his eye—“they’re not going after Jordan either.”
Snark flung his hands in the air. “But the media knows who she is now!” A nerve bulged out on the side of his neck. “They know her name. They know her new face. She’s ruined, Maston. There’s no going back for her.” He jerked forward, but his body rocked backward just as quick. He was shaking his head, glaring. “Why did you release the note? Why did you release her name?”
“I didn’t.” Kian’s voice rose, but it was still low. It was still deadly.
A shiver racked down my back. He was becoming colder with each accusation Snark flung at him.
“Did you not want her to live without you? That’s what would’ve happened, right? You would’ve had to let her go. Can’t be with her when she’s got a different name and face. Can’t be with her when she should be with some other guy.” Snark kept shaking his head. Disgust filled his tone. “That’s why, isn’t it? It’s not to throw her to the wolves, try to pin Edmund’s death on her. It wasn’t to save your own ass. It was about her, and you’re not doing the right thing.”
My heart was sinking lower and lower. I closed my eyes and started to turn away.
Snark continued, “You couldn’t let her go. That’s what this is about. Why were you the one to save her from her foster father? And again, you saved her a second time. Why? Both can’t be coincidental.” He stopped, letting his words hang in the air.
“You’re right.”
Snark fell quiet, blinking at Kian.
I moved forward, my heart lurching up to my throat. “He’s right?”
Kian swung those dark eyes my way, making my chest feel punched.
He said so quietly, “It wasn’t a coincidence. I mean, the first time. I wasn’t just walking by your house that day.”
“You weren’t?”
My heart was thumping hard.
“Justin Cavers.”
My head cocked to the side. “My ex-boyfriend?”
His eyes were pinned to mine, so intense and so hypnotic. “I was coming to warn you about him.”
My mouth was suddenly so dry. I licked my lips. “Why? He and I broke up a few weeks earlier.”
“Because he was going to ask you out again.” He glanced in Snark’s direction, as if gauging his reaction. When there was none, he looked back to me. “Justin was an asshole to you.”
I almost snorted. He didn’t have to tell me that. I fully knew.
He added, “He was bragging to a lot of guys at a party the weekend before. He was going to ask you out again, but he had plans for you.”
A second shiver slithered down my spine. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I had a feeling that I already knew. Justin hadn’t been the most sensitive or gentlest of boyfriends.
“The guys were teasing Justin that you’d gotten away.” Kian’s voice dipped low once more.
My head lowered. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to even hear what he had to say.
“He said he was going to rectify that at a party the next weekend. He told my best friend that he was going to ask you out that night. That’s why I came to your house that day. A few hours later, and he would’ve been there. I just got there first.”
Snark asked, “What was he going to do to her?”
I felt Kian’s gaze lift from my head as he answered Snark, “What do you think?”
