Alissia POV
The name keeps ringing in my ears like an alarm. “Ryan Jenkins?” I ask quietly, my voice unsteady. “As in J-E-N-K-I-N-S?”
Demitri’s head whips toward me, his eyes narrowed. “You know him?”
I feel their collective attention zeroing in on me, and suddenly I’m standing in the middle of a storm I didn’t know was brewing. I swallow hard, trying to push down the panic. “I know a Ryan Jenkins, but... not this one. I didn’t think it was him.”
Demitri’s intense stare doesn’t waver. “Who is he? How do you know him?”
I take a deep breath, my heart hammering in my chest. “We... dated. A long time ago.” The words come out hesitantly, and I can feel the weight of their scrutiny bearing down on me.
“And?” Lucas presses, leaning forward with interest. “That’s not the whole story, is it?”
