"Ava.”
Her name from his lips was both a command and a warning. He wasn’t going to let it go. He never did when he thought she was hiding something dangerous.
She turned from the window at last, and for a moment, the room felt too small for the two of them. Liam stood with his hands braced on the counter’s edge, eyes sharp, but there was something else there too — worry. The kind of worry that made her want to look anywhere but at him.
“It’s not just her,” Ava said finally. “It’s what comes with her. The kind of trouble that makes even you look over your shoulder.”
“I’ve faced worse.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “You’ve faced enemies who wanted to win. Delilah doesn’t just want to win — she wants me gone. Erased. There’s a difference.”
His jaw tightened. “What did she do to you?”
