Clara’s chest tightened, her pulse hammering as if the boat itself had lurched beneath her. She pushed herself up from his chest, sheets slipping down to her waist. “You—” Her voice broke. She tried again, sharper, trembling. “You tested me?”
Nicholas didn’t flinch. His jaw locked, but his eyes held hers, steady and unyielding. “Yes.”
For a moment the cabin seemed to tilt. Clara’s breath came fast and shallow; the heat of last night felt suddenly treacherous. “Do you even hear yourself?” she snapped, the words spilling out like a sob that wouldn’t fall. “Do you know what that money meant to me? To my sister?” Her voice went raw, cracking open. “I didn’t take it because I wanted some… payoff. I took it because it was the only way to keep her alive.”
He closed his eyes as though the truth
