Page 58 of Ruthless Regret

Another knock sounds.

“I’ll get it.” I push past Karla, and walk slowly along the hallway.

My heart is pounding. I have a good idea who is going to be standing on the other side of the door when I open it. But I still hesitate, my fingers curled around the door knob, for half a second before I pull it open.

Zain is standing there, just as I expected. His dark eyes find mine, intense and unwavering. He doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything, just looks at me, and the air immediately turns thick with tension.

His presence fills the doorway, larger than life, and for a moment, the rest of the world feels like it’s miles away. It’s just me and him … the man who’s consumed my thoughts, my nightmares, and my life for longer than I care to admit.

“Gonna let me in?” His voice is low.

I don’t reply. I want to slam the door in his face. I want to tell him I’m sorry. I want to scream at him. I want to ask for his forgiveness. I want to tell him to leave and never come back.

I don’t do any of those things. Instead, I take a step back, and let him walk inside, because from the second I made the decision to leave Whitstone and come back to New York, I knew he wouldn’t let me leave without an argument. I knew this confrontation would come.

“We need to talk.” His gaze moves over me, along the hallway, then back to me.

“We don’tneedto do anything of the kind.” I’m pleased by how steady I sound.

A muscle in his jaw tightens. “I know you don’t owe me anything, but you owe it to yourself to figure out what is going on.”

“I don’t needyouto tell me what I might or might not owe myself.”

Behind me, I can hear the muffled voices of Peter, Scott, and my friends in the kitchen. But right now, all I can focus on is Zain, and the way his presence changes the very air that I’m breathing.

“You might still be in danger.” He steps closer. “Whether you believe it or not, there’s more at play here than either of us understands.” His voice softens, but stays just as intense. “I understand that you don’t want to do anything to help me, but think about doing it for yourself.”

“You used me as bait, Zain.Bait!On what planet, would I help you do anything after that? You lied to me, threatened me, manipul?—”

He cuts me off with a single word. “Ashley.”

It’s not the word itself, but the way he says it that stops me in my tracks. There’s something raw in his voice, something that cuts through all the anger and defensiveness I’ve built up since he forced me into this mess.

For a moment, neither of us speaks. We just stand there, eyes locked together, while the silence stretches out between us.

“Look, you have every right to hate me,” he says finally. “But whoever is out there … they’re trying to cover their tracks. They didn’t expect me to be released, and they sure as fucking shit, didn’t expect you to come back to Whitstone. You’re a loose end, Ashley. They’re going to want to clean that up.”

“Clean it up?” I know what he means. I wish I didn’t.

“Remove you from the game board.”

“I wouldn’t beonany playing board if you hadn’t blackmailed me.” I don’t know why I keep my voice low. I should be screaming it from the rooftops, and yet …

“Wouldn’t you? Or would you be dead now, because they found you before I did? I think the clock was ticking from the second I walked out of prison a free man.”

My heart stops beating. I stop breathing. He’s right. I know he is. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons for the nightmares.

But I don’t want to give in to him. I don’t want him to think he’s won.

“Ash?” Scott steps out from the kitchen. His eyes flick from me to Zain. “What’s going on?”

The tension in the hallway spikes. Zain’s expression blanks, his eyes narrow, then he turns his head to look at Scott. I take a breath, mind racing as I try to think of a way to explain any of this. But I’m not fast enough.

“I’m her husband. Who are you, and what the fuck are you doing in my wife’s house at this hour of the morning?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

ZAIN

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