Secrets in the Cross estate did not just fester; they became radioactive.
For the next twenty-four hours, the tiny black burner phone hidden beneath the velvet lining of my violin case felt like a ticking time bomb. Every time Kaelen looked at me, every time his heavy, callused hand brushed against my waist or his silver eyes tracked my movements across the master suite, my pulse spiked with a sickening, terrifying guilt.
I wasn't hiding it because I wanted Dmitri's offer. I didn't want the five million dollars. I didn't want the jet to Paris. I wanted the monster who had kissed my tears away and bled for me.
But I also knew exactly what Kaelen was capable of. If I handed him that phone, his fragile, razor-thin grip on his sanity would snap. He would lock down the estate. He would li
