Page 57 of Theirs to Ruin

"I passed out in the water. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground next to Ava just before we were found."

“And who pulled the two of you out of the river?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“And there was nobody else there?”

She looked down, fidgeting with the edge of her shirt. "No," she whispered.

That brief hesitation was enough. I felt it—a sliver of doubt, the kind that worms its way in and refuses to let go. A sharp stab of disappointment cut through me. She was lying to me. She’d told the cops she’d seen someone before the water took her but not well enough to know who it was.

Had she forgotten that? Tension coiled inside me like a venomous snake, waiting to strike.

“You told the police you saw someone.”

She paled. “Yes! I forgot. A-a figure,” she stammered. “But I don’t know who it was. I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.”

"When did you see it?" I growled at her.

"Just before I passed out."

I studied her, the intensity of my gaze making her shift uncomfortably. “Did you recognize the person you saw?"

Another flash of hesitation before she shook her head and whispered the word no.

I wanted to believe her.

Fuck, Ineededto. But for now, trust was a luxury I couldn't afford.

Chapter 25

Camille

At first, telling Kage what happened that night was painful but also cathartic. I could never bring back Ava, but maybe by sharing her last moments with her brother, I could help him process what had happened. I felt guilty that I was keeping something from him, but I couldn’t tell him about Ty.

Not yet. I needed to figure out if I’d really seen him. And if I had… Well, I hesitated to make him a suspect in Ava’s death when all I’d seen him do was try to save her.

Kage's expression darkened. Suddenly, he slammed his hands against the steering wheel with a force that made the entire car tremble. The unexpected violence of it made me flinch.

With a screech of tires, Kage yanked the wheel to the side, pulling the car off the road. I barely had a moment to brace myself before he braked hard, sending gravel spewing into the air, and threw the car in park. In an instant, he’d exited the Range Rover and came over to my side. He flung my door open and pulled me out and into the cool evening air, his movements predatory.

“Damn it, Camille,” he shouted. “Be fucking honest with me.”

A swirl of dead leaves rose around us as he cornered me against the rough bark of a tree, pinning me against it with a firm grip on my arms. The world seemed to blur, his figure dominating my vision, his presence bearing down on me. My heart raced, the reality of his anger, his physical power over me, the unmistakable rawness of emotion in his eyes, all pressing in on me, making it hard to breathe.

“Tell me the truth.” His face was mere inches from mine, his eyes aflame with anger. "You’re protecting someone," he snarled, his breath hot on my face. “I can feel it.”

“I’m not," I choked out, lying to him again. "I don’t know who killed Ava. I swear it.” That part was true, at least.

His fingers tightened harder around my arms and I gasped, trying to struggle free. He released me and slammed his hands against the tree on either side of my head, his face contorting with rage. “You’re lying!”

Tears stung my eyes. "I don’t know who killed her. I swear it on my mother. I don’t know."

The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by my quiet sobs and the sound of our heavy breaths. Kage's gaze never wavered from mine. Then, ever so slowly, I felt him calm down. The tension in his body eased. His anger slowly faded and was replaced with something else.

Regret.

Everyone knew that my mother’s death had left me a veritable zombie. He knew I wouldn’t swear on her unless I meant what I was saying.

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