Chapter 74. Step One

Ava

He shut the door with a soft click, turned the deadbolt, and faced me with that same hard mask he’d worn when he walked out of my house.

“Are you fucking insane?” he hissed, voice low, eyes darting toward the hallway like someone might appear any second. “My wife could be home any minute. You think this is a game? You think you can just…”

I didn’t let him finish.

The second he said wife, something inside me cracked wide open. My acting skills boomerang.

The tears came fast and ugly, hot, unstoppable, the kind that burns your throat on the way out. I pressed both hands to my stomach and folded forward like the pain was physical.

“I have nowhere else,” I choked out between sobs. “Adrian’s at my house. My mom… my dad… they’re having another kid together. My little brother. I can’t stay there. I can’t breathe there.”

I looked up at him, tears streaming, voice shaking.

“I would rather be here, in this house, even if your wife wal