Page 199 of Their Arrangement

My knuckles were still bloodied from what I’d done earlier. Now they were shaking. Not with fear. With rage. Because the man didn’t die for what he’d done. He died to protect someone else. And I didn’t know who. Not yet. But I would.

Mason stepped forward and held out a towel. I didn’t take it. I stood. Wiped my hand across my jacket. And walked away. Not moving. Not breathing right. Because this wasn’t justice. It was a message. The man almost gave her up. And someone made sure he never got the chance to finish.

I didn’t speak the whole ride back. Didn’t turn on music. Didn’t wipe the blood off my knuckles. Just drove. Right hand on the wheel. Left curled in my lap like it was still holding the ghost of his throat.

The steering wheel felt hot beneath my palm. Not from sun. From grip. From the tension that had crept into my bones and refused to let go. Every red light felt like mockery. Every turn like a test.

I almost missed the exit once. Didn’t correct until the last second. The tires screeched across the line and I didn’t care. Her voice echoed in the car like it had been stitched into the leather.Where are you taking me?The fuck out of here. That answer hadn’t been for her. It had been for me. Because if I’d stood in that apartment one second longer, I would’ve buried a body there.

I glanced down at my shirt. Sweat had dried into the collar. My fingers tapped the side of my thigh. Pulse still too fast. The chain she wore—the one I gave her—was still pressed between my teeth. Metaphorically. For now.

The air inside the car felt too still. Like even the leather didn’t want to rustle. My coat was still damp at the collar from sweat. My jaw still locked.

I flexed my fingers on the steering wheel, watched a line of dried blood crack at the base of my thumb. I hadn’t expected the gunshot. Hadn’t expected the man in black. But I wasn’t surprised. I’ve seen silence used as a weapon before. I’ve seen threats that never speak. It’s not the ones who yell that make the first cut. It’s the ones who nod. Then vanish.

The man was dead.

But he didn’t matter anymore.

Because now?

I knew something bigger was moving behind him.

And whoever it was?—

They were protecting the wrong person.

I pulled onto the side street near my building. Engine still running. The wheel hot under my palm. The silence pressing in from all sides.

I should’ve gone upstairs. Should’ve kicked the door open just to see her eyes. But I didn’t. Because I wasn’t ready to see her lie to me again.

“I fell.”

That’s what she said. Like it was a joke. Like I wouldn’t notice the bruise blooming across her cheekbone.

I hated that she lied. Not because it made her untrustworthy. Because it meant she didn’t believe I could handle the truth. That I couldn’t hold it. That I couldn’t hold her. She’d protected me.And I was supposed to be the one protecting her.

I slid my phone from my coat pocket with a hand still shaking.

Typed the message.

To: Royal

She okay?

Read receipt.

Typing.

Then—

She’s quiet.

Ate something.

Still won’t look me in the eye.

But she’s okay.