The music still pulsed faintly in the walls long after the last note faded, but it was nothing compared to the rhythm hammering inside my chest.
Kieth’s words clung to me like fire: Tell me the truth, and I’ll give you the world.
The world.
I almost laughed at the irony. I didn’t want his world. I wanted mine back—the one with Ivy safe beside me, the one where Andrew’s voice wasn’t the noose around my throat. But the problem was, some weak, fractured part of me had wanted to believe him.
That terrified me most of all.
⸻
Kieth hadn’t moved away after his whisper. He still stood close, his hand lingering at my waist as though daring me to speak.
I swallowed hard, trying to force air through my lungs. His eyes searched mine with a quiet intensity, like he already knew I was about to br
