Chapter 129
-Hailey-
The silence hung there between us like a corpse in a noose.
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I could feel the weight of the camera in the rafters. I could feel the phantom buzz of my phone, even though it was still in Logan’s hand.
I had to give him something. Something that would explain the jumpiness, the secrecy, the way my blood had turned to ice water at a simple text alert.
I cleared my throat. “He’s…” I started. My voice cracked.
I took a deep breath, trying to inject some embarrassment into my tone. “He’s a guy from home. We had a thing back in high school. Puppy love shit, you know? He’s been texting lately. I haven’t been responding. I just… delete them.”
I watched Logan’s face, searching for any sign that he was buying it. His expression changed, just a fraction. The suspicion was still there, but now it was mingling with something else. Jealousy?
“And I didn’t tell you,” I continued pushing the words out in a rush, “because I didn’t want you to go nuclear over nothing. You have enough on your plate. The last thing you need is to get jealous over some guy I haven’t seen in years.”
I hugged my arms around myself.
The lie felt flimsy… but also brilliant. It was a perfect redirect. It explained everything – my hesitation, my desire for privacy with my phone, my general state of anxiety.
It played directly into his insecurities, his possessiveness, his protectiveness. It was a story he would believe.
He was silent for ages, just staring at me. I hoped he couldn’t see my pulse throbbing in my neck.
Finally, he let out a slow breath through his nose. His shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch. He looked from down to the phone in his hand, then back up at me.
my face
I was acutely aware of the tiny black eye in the rafters, witnessing my betrayal. I was lying to save us, but it felt like I was driving a wedge between us that would never go away.
He took a step toward me, and for a heart–stopping second, I thought he was going to call me on it.
He didn’t say anything, though. He just stood there looking at me. And the silence ate at me.
I went tense, bracing for the impact. For the slammed fist, the roared accusation. Matt would have taken it out on me. I knew Logan would take it out on the walls and furniture.
But he didn’t. Instead, he just looked at me, and the anger in his eyes bled out, replaced by something that cut me way deeper.
He sighed. Without breaking eye contact, he took another step toward me and handed my phone back to me. He was moving slow. Almost gentle.
This… wasn’t his script. This was all wrong.
His green eyes were still searching mine.
“You thought I couldn’t handle it,” he said. His voice didn’t have any of its usual gravel or bravado.
It wasn’t an accusation. It wasn’t anger. It was a statement, quiet and wounded.
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Chapter 129
It was so much worse than yelling. It implied a failure on his part A weakness I’d seen and chosen to work around instead of trusting.
And they were absolutely true, just not in the way he thought.
I hadn’t told him about Anatoly because I knew exactly how he’d handle it with a rage that would get him killed.
The guilt was ripping me apart
inside. I wanted to protect him, but in doing that, I’d insulted him. I had confirmed the very
that he was a blunt instrument.
thing Anatoly said about him
After another beat of that heavy, suffocating silence, he spoke again. “Tell me next time, Ace.”
It was an order, but it sounded like a plea. It was the most vulnerable I had ever heard him. And I had heard him *vulnerable*.
The Warrior was asking his old lady to trust him with her secrets. And I had just proven that I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
I could feel the camera up in the rafters. It was like fingers on my skin. Anatoly was watching this.
He was seeing Logan’s evolution.
He was seeing me lie flawlessly.
He was seeing the crack in our foundation.
And I knew, with a certainty that turned my blood cold, that he would hammer a wedge into it until everything split apart.
I couldn’t stand the distance… the canyon my words had carved between us. I closed the gap and reached up to cradle Logan’s face in my hands.
I wanted to feel the scratch of his beard. The solid reality of his jaw under my palms. I wanted to pull him back from the edge.
“Logan,” I murmured. I wasn’t performing anymore.
But he turned his face away, breaking the contact. His gaze dropped to the scuffed toe of his boot, to a dust bunny in the corner, to anywhere but me.
The rejection was worse than a slap in the face. He’d never refused a touch before.
After a second that felt like an hour, he turned back. His eyes met mine, but they were glazed over. The open wound was gone, tucked away behind a familiar, impenetrable wall.
The Vice President was back on duty.
“I love you,” I said.
The words tasted gross. I did love him. Fiercely. That’s why I was doing this. But saying it now felt like I was using it as a tool. A bandage for a wound I’d just inflicted.
He was silent for so long I thought he might not respond at all. Then he let out another one of those soft, weary breaths.
“I know,” he said.
Damn. Did I really expect him to say it back?
He knew I loved him. He also knew, in that moment, that love wasn’t enough to make me trust him with the whole truth.
He knew there were still parts of me, and parts of this war, that was keeping locked away from him.
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Chapter 129
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He turned away from me then, walking toward the bedroom and leaving me standing there alone in the middle of the living
room.
The space between us felt enormous and empty, and I knew I was the one who made it that way.
I heard him collapse onto the bed. And then –
Buzz.
The vibration jolted through my back pocket and straight up my spine.
I froze.
For a split second, I considered ignoring it. Pretending I hadn’t felt it.
But I already knew.
Slowly, I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled the phone out
Unknown number… of course.
And as I opened the message and read Anatoly’s words, a small, broken sound escaped my throat.
* Good girl, Ace. *
I locked the screen. My hand was shaking, but I forced it still as I lowered the phone to my side.
I lifted my eyes to the rafters. To that tiny black speck nestled in the dust.
I didn’t pretend not to see it. I stared straight at it, and I let him see that I knew.
Then I slid the phone back into my pocket, wiped my sweaty hand on my jeans, and walked toward the bedroom.
If he wanted to watch, he could watch.
But he wasn’t going to see me break.
Not tonight.
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