Page 163 of Sinful Games

In that moment, all I wanted was to take away her pain, to bear it for her, despite my own hurt. But all I could do was hold her close. Suddenly, she slipped away, putting distance between us. She stood a few paces away, lips trembling.

"You don’t understand, Alexsei!" she exclaimed, voice wavering, chest rising and falling rapidly. "I—I lied to you!"

My body went rigid, like ice water coursing through my veins.

"What?" The word barely escaped my lips.

She lied to me?

Her face went pale, lips pressed so tightly they’d lost their color. She crossed her arms like she was trying to hold herself together, but her whole body was trembling. "I remembered something about that night... And I—" Her voice broke, another sob ripping free. "I know the person who killed Lukyan is after me because I didn’t listen, and I—" Her words came out in gasps, tumbling over one another, chaotic, like they were spilling from a wound she couldn’t stop.

A rush of heat flooded my chest. "Caia, stop," I said, sharper than I wanted, but the confusion clawing inside me wouldn’t let up. “Slow down. Take a breath and tell me what the hell is going on. Who’s after you?”

Fuck,I was so angry I could barely see straight, my mind spinning, trying to grab onto anything solid, anything that made sense. But it wasn’t just anger—I felt something heavier in the pit of my stomach, something cold, like a weight dragging me down.

She took a jagged breath. "That night... I was in your study," she began, her voice faltering. "I wanted to surprise you with the pictures I took of Lukyan... but I felt someone behind me. B-before I could turn, there was a g-gun at my neck. The voice... it was a woman. She said she had a m-message for you."

A woman?My chest tightened, a cold sweat breaking out along the back of my neck.

"A woman?" I repeated, my voice rough, disbelief tanglingwith the fury building in me. “And you didn’t think to mention this? What the hell, Caia? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

The memory of that night hit me hard. I could still see her standing there, surrounded by blood, while I held Lukyan’s lifeless body. Weeks of begging her to remember, and she’d lied. Told me she couldn’t recall anything.

God, it hurt more than anything.

She crumpled to the ground, knees buckling under her own weight. She sobbed uncontrollably, and I didn’t know whether to feel furious or helpless. Part of me wanted to shake her for keeping this from me, the other part... couldn’t stand seeing her like this.

I should be better than this. Fuck, Alexsei, get your shit together.

I knelt beside her, wrapping my arms around her shaking frame, trying to pull her back from the edge. “Shit, Caia,” I muttered, my voice a little softer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push you like that. I just... need to understand.”

She gripped my shirt, her fingers curling like she was afraid to let go. "I should've told you, Alexsei. I-I’m so sorry. But I was scared. I’m stillsoscared."

“But I’m here,” I said. “You’re safe with me, Caia. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her tear-filled eyes locked onto mine, a pleading look that made my stomach twist. She grabbed my hand, squeezing it like her life depended on it. Her voice was so broken, it was barely audible. “She said if I didn’t leave you, she’d kill you next. Kill you for what you did to h-her.”

A cold, searing chill spread down my spine, tightening my muscles like ice.

What?

"Did she say anything else?"

My heart felt like it was ready to tear itself apart, pounding so hard I could feel it echoing in my chest. The weight ofLukyan’s death was crushing, suffocating. This was my fault. It was all on me.

I’m so sorry, Lukyan.

I failed you.

Caia’s grip on my hand tightened. “She said she'd burn you alive... just like you did to him.”

Chapter

Fifty-Four

“My guilt is an ocean for me to drown in.”

?Nicola Yoon

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