Page 108 of This Wild Heart

His voice was thick with tears too.

Leaning against the wall, I couldn’t help but listen.

It was a displaced fracture on the tibia, and she’d likely be in surgery the following morning.

The father-daughter dynamic was clear—he felt safe enough with his oldest daughter to let his worry show, and Anya kept herself steady and calm, repeating what she’d told Violet.

She was on her way.

She’d be there soon.

Everything would be okay.

I swiped a hand over my face and let my head rest against the wall, fighting a mighty surge of guilt that I was literally fucking his daughter when he called. The daughter I promised to take care of. Promised that she was safe with me. Promised that I wouldn’t hurt her.

And it seemed all I had done was pull her straight into my own fucked-up coping mechanisms, the ones I told myself I’d left behind.

Anya’s phone call didn’t last long, and I pinched my eyes shut when I heard her tell Aiden she loved him. Her sigh was loud, and she opened the door, popping her head to see if I was still there.

“I’m so sorry I can’t be at training camp tomorrow,” she said breathlessly.

I followed her back into the room, staying by the door so that I was out of her way. “It’s okay. You should be with your family.”

Her movements were frantic, stripping off her pajama shorts and trading them for some joggers. She moved into the bathroom, coming back out almost immediately with a few cosmetic bags. We hadn’t even been home long enough for her to unpack.

“Do you want me to charter you a flight?” I asked. “It’ll get you home quicker.”

She shook her head. “No, I should have my own car. But … thank you. Paige is going to sit with the girls, so I have some time. My uncles are going to the hospital to sit with my dad.”

I nodded. “Good. That’s … good.”

When the last piece of clothing was in her suitcase, Anya stopped, her eyes pinched shut. “We … we should have a plan. I haven’t told my parents about Leo yet, and … God, I don’t even know what her recovery is going to look like. He’ll need help at the gym and with the girls. Are we going to have to talk every day to keep this up? Who’s going to watch Leo? What if they wonder why you’re not visiting and … the-the press, and what if this comes up with custody lawyers?—”

Her voice cut off, her breathing ragged, face flushed.

My own breathing was shallow because I felt we were at a tipping point, the edge of a cliff just past this conversation.

Sinking my weight against the doorframe, I let my gaze linger on Anya’s face, waiting for her to look over at me. But she didn’t. She stared down at her suitcase.

It was too much.

We’d gone too far, and it was past time that we both admitted it.

“Anya.” She still didn’t look up, her hands fisting in the shirt she’d just put in the suitcase. “Look at me, golden girl.”

Her hands were shaking, and I pushed off the doorframe, approaching her carefully. I laid a hand on her arm, and she released the shirt, finally giving me her full attention.

“We can’t keep lying to everyone, Anya,” I whispered, like if I said the words any louder, someone might hear. “Wecan’t.”

There was no numbing this. No pretending. No hiding and no lying. No masks.

It took her a moment to answer, and her lips parted on a small, shaky inhale before she did.

“I know.”

Chapter 29

Anya

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