The door hadn’t stopped rattling after Daniel’s exit before I collapsed into Adrian’s arms. My body trembled so violently that my teeth chattered. Every nerve in me still buzzed with the echo of Daniel’s eyes, the way they had burned into me when I said the words out loud.
I love him.
The confession had been a lifeline and a noose all at once.
Adrian’s fingers threaded weakly through my hair, his touch feather-light but steady. “Emma,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “You said it. You told him.”
I nodded, my face pressed against his shoulder. Tears soaked into his torn shirt. “I couldn’t lie anymore. I couldn’t keep pretending.”
His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, each one pained, but beneath it I felt the faint thrum of strength. “He’ll come back for us. You know that, don’t you?
