Page 105 of Hidden Memories

That way, he won’t see it coming when I take his ass down.

Mila stiffens at my side, sensing the shift in the air. My pulse kicks up. My hands clench at my sides. My body screams at me to get him the fuck out of here before Kat arrives.

But before I can even confront him, the quick patter of footsteps crunches on gravel. She’s jogging toward us, her hair bouncing with each hurried step, her breath coming fast. And without a second of hesitation, she reaches for my hand.

The moment our palms connect, Paul’s sharp gaze snaps down to where we’re joined. His face barely shifts, but it’s there—a tight swallow, the blink that lasts a fraction too long. He has to reset himself.

Becauseweweren’t part of his plan.

But Kat isn’t letting go.

Her fingers clutch mine, knuckles pale from the pressure, her grip like steel. Even though we agreed to lay low, us together like this is a statement.

Solidarity. Reassurance. A middle finger to her father, wrapped in the simplest, most devastating gesture.

I squeeze back.

Paul takes a step forward, his polished shoes gleaming in the sunlight. He tilts his head at Kat, a smile curving his lips, practiced and smooth.

“Katinka.” His voice is silk over a sword.

I step forward before she can answer, my body a wall between them.

“What do you want, Castellanos?”

Paul’s smile doesn’t falter. But his nostrils flare in irritation. “And who are you to demand answers from me?”

“The man taking care of what you couldn’t.”

Kat’s fingers tighten around mine.

Paul responds as if I’ve just said something quaint. “Ah… The cowboy.”

I should be over this. But standing here now, with Paul Castellanos staring at me like I’m nothing more than dirt under his Italian loafers?—

I feel twenty-one again. The same untamed fury I swallowed back the night he tore Kat from me claws its way up my throat.

Back then I let him win. I let him gut me, strip me down to nothing, take everything that ever mattered and walk away without a scratch.

But that was then.

Now?

I don’t break for this man anymore. And I sure as hell don’t lose to him.

I breathe in, deep, measured. Control is a thin, fraying thread. I step closer.

Deliberate. Unhurried. Just enough to make him feel it—the balance of power shifting in my direction. Let him fight a man he can’t manipulate. He’s inmyworld now.

I hold his gaze.

Let him see exactly what’s waiting for him if he so much as blinks wrong.

When I finally speak it’s low, dark, lethal. “Step careful, Paul. I let you take everything from me once. Try it again—just fucking try—and I will end you so completely no one will even remember your goddamn name.”

Paul stares at me for a mighty long time. I know his instincts are to fight me back, but thank God he thinks better of it.

Eventually, he tears his gaze from me and places it on his daughter. “I was worried, Katinka.”

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