Page 78 of Captured Heart

My hands tremble as I stand up and grab a pillowcase I’d left on top of the toilet. I rip it in two and soak one with water. After squeezing off the excess, I sift through the cabinets foritems I remember seeing in there. Acetone and bleach. I grab the bottles, working quickly to plug the sink, and then I carefully pour in the required amount of each.

Step one,I tell myself, trying to drown out the panic clawing at my insides. The sharp smell of acetone hits the back of my throat as I take the other half of the pillowcase and soak it in the liquid.

“Okay, so this is the part you’re not going to like,” I say, holding up the soaked cloth.

I take both halves of the pillowcase out with me as we move back to the room.

“Are you sure I’m not going to die?” he teases.

“I’m...ninety percent sure it’ll be safe.”

He chuckles softly. “The hesitance in your voice puts me so at ease.”

I ignore the playful jab because I don’t want to get distracted. “Sit near the door. It needs to look like you fell asleep, and I snuck up on you.”

He sits down, but still protests like I knew he would. “Why can’t I just pretend like I accidentally left the door unlocked?”

I let out an annoyed humph. We’ve already been through this a hundred times, and he knows this is the most plausible option.

“Victor shot at a mere boy for his incompetence. What do you think he’d do to you if he finds out youaccidentallyleft the door unlocked?”

He doesn’t answer because he knows how dangerous that suggestion is. Instead, he flips tactics. “But I don’t have to be unconscious. I could fake it.”

I shake my head, clutching the dampened cloth in my hands. “You wouldn’t be able to pull it off.”

“I could try.”

“Alex, the second the smoke hits your lungs, you’ll cough. It’s instinct. Even if you try to hold it back, your body will betrayyou. The other men will see right through it.” My voice wavers, but I force myself to sound confident. “This has to be convincing. If you’re out cold, there’s no way they’ll think you were part of this.”

“But if something happens to you...” Worried hands rake over his head, then down his face. “Fuck, I can’t just be lying here.”

The panic in his voice tugs on my heartstrings, but I don’t let that deter me. We’ve been through the plan. This is how it has to be, but God, leaving him here is killing me.

Alex’s hands cup my face, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks with a tenderness that wraps around my heart and squeezes it tight. His stormy gray eyes search mine, as if he’s trying to imprint every detail into his memory. I feel the same desperate pull, like I’m holding on to something I’m about to lose forever.

“Katie...” He says my name like a prayer, like it’s sacred.

I treat it like a calling. He’s beckoning to me, and I respond. I straddle him, my knees on either side of his hips. His hands slide down to my waist, gripping me tightly, like he’s afraid to let go. His touch is warm and firm, the only thing grounding me in this moment.

I lean forward, and he slams his lips on mine as if he couldn’t wait for me to close the distance. He captures my lips in a kiss that feels like a final goodbye. It’s not just a kiss. It’s everything we’ll never say, everything we’ll never have. It’s the future we could’ve had if things were different, if fate hadn’t conspired against us to keep us apart.

His lips move against mine with a fierce urgency, his hands roaming up my back, pulling me closer until there’s no space left between us. I cling to him with the same aching desperation. His kiss is hot and hungry, but beneath the passion, there’s a quiet sorrow that pushes me to the verge of tears.

I want to remember everything. The way his breath hitches when I press closer. The faint scratch of stubble against my skin. The way his hands tremble ever so slightly as he holds me. Scorching heat envelops us, and I want the burn. I crave it. I want it to take this moment and bore it into my brain because I never want to forget what it feels like to be in his arms.

When we finally pull apart, I rest my forehead against his, enjoying the warmth of his skin and the strength of his arms one last time. His eyes are glassy, his guard slipping for just a moment, and in that moment, I see everything he’s too afraid to say.

“I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to you.”

I place a hand on his cheek, my thumb brushing over his rough jawline. “You have to let me do this. You have to trust me.”

His hand covers mine, pressing it harder against his face. “I do trust you, but if—”

I press my finger against his lips to silence his escalating worry. “We’ve been through this. This is the only way.”

He exhales shakily, his hands still locked on my waist as if he’s physically incapable of letting me go. “Be safe, Rebel.”

“You, too.”

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