CHAPTER 44
Author: Ng
last update2025-03-07 16:03:54

Lies & Half-Truths

Riley was watching me again.

She thought I didn’t notice, but I did. Every flicker of hesitation. Every moment she glanced away when I caught her staring. The way she bit the inside of her cheek when she thought too hard about something.

Something she wasn’t telling me.

The safe house was quiet, save for the distant hum of traffic outside. It was one of Julian’s old boltholes—underground, reinforced, built for people who didn’t want to be found. People like us.

Riley sat across the room, her back against the wall, legs pulled up, arms wrapped around them. She looked small like that. Almost vulnerable. But I knew better.

She was a storm waiting to break.

I exhaled slowly, setting my gun down on the table between us. "You’re thinking too loud."

She blinked, her brows pulling together. "What?"

"You’re staring," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Either you like what you see, or you’re debating whether or not to put a bullet in me."

Her lips twitched, but the smile didn
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