Page 266 of Goodbye Butterfly

A confession.

A surrender.

My fists tighten against my stomach, trying to hold myself together, but I can’t stop shaking. Another sob rips free, then another, and another, until my throat burns and my lungs scream and it feels like my body is tearing itself apart.

Then—Boots.

A sound so familiar it slices straight through me.

Heavy.

Steady.

Impossible.

My breath freezes.

“Leave me to die, Lola,” I whisper without lifting my head. “Please. Just leave me. I can’t—I can’t do this.”

The footsteps don’t stop.

They grow closer.

Louder.

Real.

Something cold brushes my palm.

Metal.

A chain.

My eyes open through tears.

The necklace.

The one I thought had vanished into the desert with his body or his ghost.

It lies in my palm like a miracle or a threat.

“No…” My voice breaks. “This isn’t real.”

But the boots keep coming.

The air shifts as a shadow falls over me.

Slowly—terrified, breathless—I lift my head.

And he’s there.

Dax Kingston.

Alive.

Breathing.

Standing in the doorway like death spat him back out.

His eyes—the blue I thought I’d never see again—lock on mine, and his lips curl into that same devastating, dangerous smile that ruined my life.

“Hello, Butterfly.”