Two days later, Lucy woke to an empty room. Kain was gone. Every trace of him, his bag, his boots, vanished like he’d never been there at all. Except his scent that lingered faintly in the atmosphere.
Only a brown envelope sat on the bed, the sight of it making her heart thrum in panic. She lunged for it, her fingers trembling as she tore it open, dread pooling in her stomach.
He’d abandoned her.
She swallowed the lump rising in her throat, already blaming herself. The kiss. She should never have let it happen. She’d been too familiar, too hopeful, and now she was paying for it, stuck on it while it meant nothing to him. She felt cheap, violated.
The last couple of days had been cold between them—nothing more than formal exchanges, him sleeping on the floor, always awake before her, go
