Page 46 of Captured Heart

“That was atrocious.” I’m supposed to sound a lot firmer, but I can’t be serious when she’s like this.

She wipes a tear from her eye, still chuckling. “Admit it. That one was good.”

“Well, it was...something, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, you just witnessed genius-level comedy.”

“Nah, I think what I witnessed was...a cry for help.”

She erupts again, a little louder but still lethargic.

“I really like your laugh,” I whisper. “It’s so...authentic, like you laugh with your whole heart.”

She quietens, her laughter dying down almost instantly. “You already told me that.”

I can feel her piercing eyes on me, but I keep my gaze focused on the ceiling. “Yeah...because I mean it.”

For a moment, the room falls into a slightly uncomfortable silence. Her eyelids droop, but she’s fighting to stay awake to ask all the questions lingering in her mind. I say nothing, listening to the quiet sound of her breathing, wondering how someone so uncomplicated could make everything inside me feel like a tangled maze of confusion.

“Don’t say things like that,” she murmurs. “It makes me think...” Her words trail off, and I risk a glance in her direction.

“What?”

“That you might want more than friendship.”

I pause, then look back up at the ceiling. It’s far less complicated up there. “I don’t.”

Her brow furrows. “Then what do you want?”

I don’t know how to answer that. The truth feels too heavy to voice, but eventually, it slips out. “I just want you to be safe. And I’m only going to end up hurting you.”

“And we’re back to theit’s not you, it’s megarbage.” She lets out a heavy sigh of disappointment. The weird tension I thought we got rid of returns as fast as it left. “Let’s call it a night, Alex.”

“Alright. Goodnight.”

She doesn’t respond. She simply pulls the covers up to her neck and closes her eyes.

Before I can stop myself, I lean forward and press a kiss on her forehead. “Sweet dreams, Katie,” I whisper.

I wait a few minutes for her to be sound asleep, then leave her room quietly and head to the study. The files are where I saw them last, and as I flip through them again, the weight of what I’m holding sinks in. Victor’s crimes have only grown more brutal, more horrifying since the days I worked for him. Kenji’s right to double-cross him. Some of the photos in there leave me traumatized, and that’s saying something because I’ve seen some shit in my lifetime.

I scour the study from top to bottom, then search the other rooms upstairs, but there’s nothing more. The sun is already inching up in the sky when I decide to pack it up. Hiding the files under my jacket, I take them to my truck and drop them onto the passenger seat. I shoot a quick text to Victor to tell him to have my money ready before I fire up the engine.

It’s over.

It’s finally over.

Yet somehow my relief is outweighed by the heaviness in my chest.

It’sover.

I’m never going to see her. I’ll never have the chance to see what could’ve been. The thought leaves me feeling hollow. It’s too abrupt, too premature. I’m ending something that never began. It’s for the better. Of that, I’m certain. She deserves more than a piece of shit like me.

But it still feels...incomplete. I felt a spark with her, and now I’ll forever wonder if it would have fizzled out or caught alight and caused an inferno.

I exhale slowly, letting go of that ludicrous possibility. It’s time to get this job done.

The files sit heavy on the passenger seat of my truck as I drive to Victor’s place. My grip tightens on the steering wheel, and I force myself to focus on the road ahead.

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