The room sat in a silence so heavy, Eva thought it might suffocate her. Her breath came sharp and fast—she couldn't stop staring at the note in Kevin's hand. The ink looked like it should've been smeared in blood. Was her father's heart attack really not an accident? And Kevin, the same man who'd caught her mid-fall, had been the one to smash her life to pieces?
Kevin moved into the moonlight, a wicked glint sliding through his eyes. He wasn't angry. He looked straight-up entertained, and that somehow made him ten times more frightening.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, Eva." His voice rolled out low and calm. He balled up the note and tossed it aside like it was a napkin. "Or maybe it's just the truth coming up for air."
Eva's voice shook as she gripped a heavy glass vase on the nightstand. "Is it true? Did you kill him? Did you wreck my father just to get at me?"
Kevin didn't flinch, didn't even blink. He crossed the room until he stood toe-to-toe with her, radiating heat that sucked the warmth from her bones. "Kill him? No. I offered him a choice—he just wasn't built for the pressure. Your father was proud, Eva. Too proud to admit he was in over his head with people he should've avoided."
"You're lying!" she screamed, swinging the vase like it might save her.
He moved so fast she barely saw it—caught her wrist, twisted just enough for her to drop the vase, then slammed her back against the wall and pinned her there. He leaned in until she could see gold flecks burning inside his black eyes.
"I don't lie to what I own," he said, voice like poison. "I bought his debt. I bought his silence. And in the end, I bought you, too. If his heart gave out, it was because he knew what he'd sold."
Tears burned down Eva's face, scalding her cheeks as she fought back—no tricks or stunts, just pure desperation. She scratched, kicked, tried to bite—anything—but Kevin wouldn't budge.
"I hate you! I swear, I'll kill you!" she sobbed, but her energy ran out. She collapsed against his chest, forehead pressed to his collarbone, humiliated.
Kevin didn't let go, but his grip shifted—fingers threading into her hair, forcing her to look at him. His face softened just a little, but what came through wasn't comfort. It was hunger, and something else she didn't dare name.
"Hate me all you want," he whispered, thumb brushing her trembling lip. "Just don't pretend this chaos isn't what you want, too. Your heart's racing, Eva. And it's not only anger."
Before she could spit in his face, his mouth crashed into hers. The kiss wasn't gentle; it was brutal, desperate, full of salt and rage. She tried to fight him off, but the tether between them was like venom in her veins. For a few wild heartbeats, she kissed him back, just as furious—a betrayal burning through her father's memory.
He pulled away first, both of them gasping, that dangerous energy crack