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He raises his eyebrows.

“I’m asking because I’ve been experiencing some strange things lately,” I admit.

He looks at the fire. I see the flames reflected in his eyes.

“Really?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I reply. “I hear soft footsteps in the middle of the night. I feel random breezes,even when every window in the room is closed. And with it, I catch scent of the same perfume—this vintage vanilla fragrance. And for some reason, I can’t shake the feeling of being watched, even when I’m sleeping. I don’t know what to make of any of it.”

There’s the slightest shift in his body language. His arms tighten around me.

“Does it feel threatening?” he asks.

I take a second to think about it.

“No,” I whisper. “I never felt unsafe in this house. But it’s still very strange.”

“I see.” He strokes a line down my spine as he continues to stare at the fire.

“Klaus, is there something I need to know?” I ask.

“It’s an old house, Emma,” he says cryptically.

“That’s not what I asked,” I say, studying the hardness of his face. He seemed completely at peace a few minutes ago, but his face is tense now.

“I don’t believe in supernatural beings,” he says.

“Neither do I, for that matter,” I say. “But since the moment I arrived, I had the feeling that everyone here knows something I don’t.”

The walls always feel like they’re listening to every conversation. I always feel like I have eyes on me. I want to chalk it up to overthinking, but I don’t want to ignore my intuition.

“My family has a dark past, Emma,” he says. “But it’s nothing you need to be concerned about.”

“But if there’s something I need to know, you’ll tell me, right?” I ask.

“I already shared more with you than I have with anyone else,” he says.

I don’t know how to tell him that it’s not enough. I know he’s trying hard to open up to me, but he’s still distant. He’s still a mystery to me.

“There are some things you’re better off not knowing,” he whispers. “But I need you to trust me when I say that I care about you. And I’ll never let you get hurt.”

“I trust you,” I say.

As I say it, I realize that I completely mean the words.

I trust Klaus with every fiber of my being. I’m scared of the feelings he elicits in me, but I would trust this man with my life. He has a good heart, even if it’s currently burdened by too many things.

I burrow my face against his neck.

“I trust you,” I say again, inhaling his musky scent.

His arms tighten around me. It’s his way of showing affection. He holds me like I’m the greatest treasure of his life.

“Vera called this evening,” he says.

My heart starts galloping in my throat again.

“What did she say?” I ask.