Page 6 of Burned

Not away from danger.

Away from humiliation.

Tears burn hot behind my eyes.

Stupid, stupid girl.

How silly of me to think I was the only girl living under Lucian Bachman’s skin.

Before her, we’ve been building something together. A patchwork family with no storybook beginning, but something beautiful all the same. Something I was naive enough to think would lead to forever.

I grip the edge of my coat, fingers digging into wool.

I’m not enough to keep him. If she shows up—Isobel—she’ll push me out. Away.

Not his.

I was only one night. A transaction. Probably bought to help him forget her.

A body offered because my family needed saving.

Then I betrayed him.

I walked into his life carrying a key fob meant to help his enemies destroy him. I lied with my mouth and kissed him with the same lips. I made him want me while I was supposed to hand him over.

And still, somehow, he kept me.

He protected Cass. He saved Ryan. He killed Caleb.

He brought us here.

Time has flown since that night I first met him. I’m not the same person. I’ve grown, aged, and changed. It’s like I’ve been buried under every bad decision, every bad thing that’s happened, and had to dig my way out.

Brushing off the dirt as someone new, stronger. Sassier. I push back now.

Just to be sure, he’s still holding me tight.

To make him look at me like I am his everything.

To reassure me I’m still his.

But what if I am only what came after?

What if I am heat and need and obsession, but not the woman who mattered first?

The woman they all thought was dead.

The woman whose name makes the great Lucian Bachman go still.

What if… Was I only a placeholder?

A sharp crack erupts beneath my boot.

I look down.

A twig.

Too loud.