Something I shouldn’t want.
I swallow hard.“Then why are you?”
His jaw tightens.
He doesn’t answer.
Good.
Because I have my own questions.
I take a step closer.
The air between us shifts, heavy now, thick with everything we haven’t said.
“Tell me the truth.”
My voice is low, steady, but it feels like it costs me something.
Sin exhales through his nose, slow. His eyes drop for the briefest second before they’re back on mine.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I take another step, my heart thudding hard in my chest. “The blueprint.”
He doesn’t answer.
Just watches me.
Like he’s weighing something.
Like he’s trying to decide how much of the truth I can handle, or how much he’s willing to give.
Finally, he speaks.
“Whatever you’re thinking… it’s not what’s really going on.”
He steps in, just a little, his voice softer but sharper now. Like a secret on the edge of a knife.
“Your family’s planning something,” he says. “And they’re making damn sure I’m not part of it.”
His eyes darken. “You weren’t supposed to come back to me.”
“Is that why you’ve been pushing me away?”
His jaw flexes. “It’s the only way I knew how to protect you.”
That hits something raw. Anger, heartbreak. Too much all at once.
I shove at his chest. He doesn’t move.
“You don’t get to decide that!”
I push him again, harder. “You don’t get to choose what I feel. What I want.”
He catches my wrist, firm but gentle. Not stopping me, just holding me there.