Hailey's POV
The moment stretched until it hurt a lot.
I was still pinned between him and the glass, my breath shallow, my pulse loud enough that I was sure he could feel it. His words lingered in the air, dangerous and intimate, and for one terrifying second, I thought he might close the distance and perhaps kiss me.
He didn't.
Kingsley pulled back abruptly, as if some invisible line had been crossed. He dragged a hand down his face, breathing hard, the tension in his body shifting—not easing, but redirecting.
"This," he said hoarsely, gesturing vaguely between us, "isn't how this ends."
I swallowed. "Then how does it?"
"With the truth," he replied.
He turned away from me without waiting for permission, crossing the living room toward the corridor that led deeper
