Page 29 of Forbidden Fate

But I was sloppy. I shot from the hip without thinking.

And now I’m here.

Locked up.

Useless.

Do they even know I’m missing?

They’re probably still dealing with Daniela’s situation. Immigration. Legal threats. All of it piling up at once.

Hawk will be buried in it.

And Belinda⁠—

My breath catches.

Belinda.

God, I hope she’s okay.

Her face flashes in my mind. That look of lost innocence in her eyes. I recognized it the first time I saw her. You don’t get that kind of look unless something’s been taken from you. Our family knows what happened to her. What her father did to her.

No one knows about what happened to me in Europe. I never told them. I was embarrassed by my own stupidity, by what I did to survive.

It feels like another life sometimes. Another version of me. One I keep locked down tight and buried.

I intend to keep it that way.

I’m not that girl anymore.

I survived that.

I can survive this.

The sound of footsteps pulls me out of my thoughts. They stop just outside the cell.

I turn my head.

He’s back. The handsome one. My heart jolts.

He stands there, one hand resting lightly against the bars, his expression blank. The last time we spoke he at least seemed human. Slightly warm. Now?

Nothing.

“I know Zabala was here,” he says.

“Yeah,” I rasp. “I noticed.”

His jaw goes tight. “I’m sorry.”

I blink.

That’s not what I expected.

“He wasn’t supposed to be assigned to you,” he continues. “He shouldn’t have been in here.”

I let out a short breath. “Seems he didn’t get that memo.”