Page 14 of Seeking Shadows

“We shouldn’t have done this in the first place.”

“You don’t really believe that.”

His voice cracks like he’s holding back more than words. It'salmost like he's giving me the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t deserve it.

I swallow hard.No, but now he hates me.

“I never wanted your anger.”

He shakes his head, his frustration building, and I see the old version of him—distant, unreadable, but still trying to fight for something. I’mnot sure what anymore.

“Are you going to tell me why you left?”

I didn’t.

But I won’t tell him that—because hiding the truth is the only chance I have at getting him out of here alive.

He’s too close, his words too sharp. They cut deeper than I want them to, but I know I can’t back down now. I need to make him angry. I need him to leave. I can’tdrag him into this, not again.

I open my mouth but no words come out. What can I say? I can’t tell him the truth. He’d never forgive me.Paulina. Coercion. Trapped here like a doll in a glass case. I don’twant him to know. It would only make him stay—and I need him to walk away.

“You…” I breathe, struggling to keep it together. “What are you doing here, Little Angel?”

“Don’t call me that,” he snaps, his voice harsh. He looks at me like he wants to tear something apart, and I feel it—his anger radiating through the room. It tightens my chest, but I keep smiling, pushing his buttons, forcing him to stay mad.

“Do you want me to call you by your name? What should I use? The one promised to me or the one you were married to me?” He doesn’tflinch. The silence between us thickens, loaded with things we both refuse to say.

“I am.”

“What?”

“I’m married to you. You saw the paper. I didn’t sign that shit.”

The weight of his words hangs in the air.

I stare at him, not knowing how to respond. There’s something in his eyes now, something softer than before, and for a secondI almost believe we can be the people we once were. Almost.

But I can’t let that happen. I can’t.

"I'm sorry about Carter," I mumble, my voice barely a whisper. The words feel too small, too weak for what he deserves to hear.

"Tell Lara that," Zane snaps, the venom in his tone sharper than I expect."Look her in the eye and tell her you killed him—and that you're sorry."

His words pierce through me, and my chest tightens. I don’t know how to respond. The truth sits in my throat, heavy and bitter.It wasn’t me,I want to scream.I didn’t pull that trigger.But I can’t. Not now. Not when I’ve already let him believe it.

My eyes fill with tears because it’s true in a way, even if I didn’t directly kill him.I killed him.I didn’t stop it. I didn’t stop any of it, and that guilt claws at my insides like an animal I can’t shake.

"If I hadn't followed through... the what-ifs and the should-haves... they fuck with my mind every day, Zane."

His face hardens, jaw clenched. "You shouldn’t have done it. Should’ve come to me. You should’ve told me the truth. I would’ve protected you. We would’ve figured this out together."

I can feel his frustration, his anger. It's a living thing between us, hot and biting. But it’s also guilt, I realize. He doesn’t know the truth. He doesn’t know I wasn’t the one who killed Carter, and I can’t bring myself to say it. I feel like a coward, but I can't undo what’s been done.

"You should’ve come to me, Mia. You should’ve told meeverything—about the spy shit. About all of it. You’re my wife. I had a right to know."

I snap. The words come out before I can stop them. "I was not a fucking spy, Zane!"

I feel the scream tear out of me, my voice raw with frustration, but there’s more behind it—more than just anger. It’s desperation. It’s the ache of everything between us unraveling in a way I can’t stop. I’ve never felt more exposed.

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