Page 148 of Seeking Shadows

“Why?” My voice is low.

She clenches her fists on her knees. “Because Carter was buying drugs from the cartel.” Her tone is emotionless, but there’s a subtle tremor in her fingers. “I knew it would bring punishment on him. And then, because I was embarrassed to admit I kept his secret for so long.”

My lungs burn.

The shock, the anger, the confusion—everything mixes chaotically inside me.

“Did you know?” I whisper.

She laughs, a mirthless sound. “I was a coward. I shouldn’t have turned you in like that.”

My hands close. The truth dances between us, raw and irreversible.

Carter didn’t die because of me.

He died because Lara chose to protect a secret that cost him his life.

And me…

I understand.

I take a deep breath, feeling the weight of the revelation wash over me. “If it were my brother,” my voice softer now, “I probably would’ve done the same. I mean, the protecting part. I probably would’ve ended his life before the drugs. But just like you, I wouldn’t have given up on him. I understand, Lara.”

Lara lifts her head, her eyes widening slightly. She studies me, searching for something in my expression.

For a long moment, she says nothing.

Then her posture relaxes a little, and she nods, as if absorbing my words.

The silence between us is no longer hostile.

I don’t know if we’ll ever be friends like we were before, but there’s a mutual understanding here, an acceptance of what we’ve both done.

I lean forward a little. “I’m sorry.”

Lara blinks.

I struggle to keep my tone steady. “Not for what you did, but for what you lost.”

Her eyes flash with something she quickly hides.

“He was an idiot,” she mutters, playing with her bubble tea straw.

I smile a little. “Brothers tend to be.”

She laughs, and for a moment, everything feels lighter.

And for the first time since Lara tied me to that chair, I feel like we can actually move forward.

Lara leans forward a little, resting her forearms on her knees. There’s something serious in her expression now, a quiet determination that makes me hold my breath before she even speaks.

“You should come back to our territory.”

I snort, throwing my head back. “Really? You too?”

She raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

I cross my arms, irritated. “Everyone’s telling me the same thing. ‘Stay here, Mia. You’ll be safe, Mia.’” I shake my head, exasperated. “It’s like I didn’t know that.”

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