Page 74 of Burned

All eyes in the room fall on me.

It makes me feel tired.

Lucian’s voice rumbles as he stands. “We’re done for now.”

Blaze, always the one to lighten the situation, stands. “Hell,” he says, “I’m not tied up in this emotional warfare, and even I need a break.”

“Yes,” Rafe counters. “Isobel, stay with me. I want those addresses.” He turns to Lucian. “Then let’s talk again tomorrow.”

A guard comes to escort Isobel to the back staircase. Lucian tenses as I stand beside him.

Isobel rises slowly. “I need rest. Till tomorrow.”

Rafe looks uncertain, wanting Carlos’s trail as soon as possible. I’m with him. I can tell the others are too.

Lucian signals Bayne. “Guest room. Guarded. No unsupervised contact.”

Isobel’s mouth twitches at his dismissal.

When she reaches the doorway, she pauses.

She looks back at me.

Not Lucian.

Me.

“Carlos doesn’t only hurt people by lying,” she says. “Sometimes he tells the truth in the cruelest possible way.”

“Seems like you two have that in common,” I say.

Then she leaves.

The room stays silent after she is gone.

“I’m fine,” I say automatically. Blaze snorts. Traitor.

I need air. There’s none in this room. She’s taken it all with her.

I move towards the door.

He eyes me. “Where are you going?”

I laugh softly. “Do I have to run it by you every time I go to the bathroom?”

His expression darkens. “Erin,” he says.

I leave before he can see my face break.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ERIN

I shower alonewith the hot water easing the tension from my aching shoulders. I dry my hair, dress in my old T-shirt and shorts. None of the fancy new things he bought.

With the same money he paid me.

I crawl into bed, curling up on my side as close to the edge as possible. I pull the covers over my shoulders and try to fall asleep before he comes. I feel his kiss on my cheek. I hear him say the words.