A slow smile stretched across his lips as if he’d known I had been staring all along.“Do you like what you see?”
I nodded, completely honest.
He licked his lips. “You look like a snack.”
I propped my chin on my hand, pretending to be unimpressed. “And here I thought this was about you.”
His laugh was deep and warm, his gaze filled with something feral and unbearably tempting.
“You don’t have to do anything, Amelia.” He slid a plate of perfectly scrambled eggs and a light salad toward me. “You’re already perfect to me.”
I accepted the meal and a cup of coffee with a soft “Thank you.”
After smoothly depositing me on a chair, he settled beside me and kissed my temple before we ate in comfortable silence.
When I moved to get my bag from the car, Zane stopped me, fingers wrapping firmly around my wrist.“I’ll get it.”
He guided me to the couch, placed my bag in my hands, and settled beside me, one strong arm looping around my waist like I belonged there.
I fished my phone out of my bag, scanning the flood of notifications from my friends and Spencer.
My phone rang, making my pulse spike instantly.
“Good morning, Amelia,” Spencer’s deep voice said over the line.
“Morning, Spencer.”
“I’m sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Are you okay?”
I sat up instinctively, shifting away from Zane, but his grip on my waist tightened.
When I glanced at him, his expression was stoic. He was listening.
“Yeah… I’m fine,” I replied.
“I read your messages,” Spencer continued.“I will look into it. I also sent you something. Thetone from the bag.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Okay, I’ll listen to it.”
There was a long exhale from Spencer.“Amelia, I need to tell you something before the news breaks.”
I waited, my chest tight with anxiety.
“No matter what you hear today, don’t think your efforts were for nothing. Something about this isn’t right. I know it.”
My stomach dropped.
“Spencer. What’s going on?”
“The department is making an official announcement today. A suspect has been arrested.”
“Who?”
There was a pause.“They’ve arrested Tristan Lane.”
My world tilted. It felt like ice water had been dumped over my head.“What?”
“They believe he’s behind the murders.”