I didn’t remember leaving the building.
One minute I was standing in Elena’s office, trying to process everything she’d said, and the next I was outside, the cold air hitting my face like it might knock some sense back into me.
Leverage.
The word wouldn’t leave my head.
My mum wasn’t just caught in the middle of something.
She was being used.
And Max—
Max knew.
My chest tightened as I pulled my coat tighter around me, walking without really thinking, my feet moving faster than my mind could keep up.
This wasn’t what I agreed to.
This wasn’t what I signed up for.
This wasn’t supposed to touch her.
I stopped abruptly at the edge of the pavement, my breathing uneven.
I needed to go back.
Not home.
Not to the house.
To him.
Because I needed answers.
Real ones this time.
And
