Chapter 2: The Question He Wouldn't Answer
I shoved the test behind the cabinet and yanked the door open before Liam could knock again.
"Fine," I said.
"Just felt sick."
Liam looked at me the way he always did when he knew I was lying.
He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, coffee mug in hand.
"Emma.
Talk to me."
"I'm fine, Liam.
I just need to get to my shift."
He didn't move.
His eyes dropped to my hand, still trembling at my side.
"You've been in there twenty minutes."
I couldn't tell him.
Not yet.
Liam was the only person in the world I trusted completely, but he also knew things about Alessandro Vitali that I didn't — things he had never told me directly, only hinted at in quiet moments when he thought I wasn't paying attention.
Things that made me wonder why he had asked me to take that catering shift in the first place.
"Liam." My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
"Why did you really get me that job at the gala?"
The silence lasted two seconds too long.
Something shifted behind his eyes.
"I told you," he said carefully.
"A friend needed extra staff."
"Which friend?"
He set his coffee mug down on the hallway shelf.
Slowly.
Like he was buying time.
"Emma, don't."
"Don't what?"
He looked at me then, and for the first time in seven years, Liam Carter looked afraid.
"Just…
don't ask me that yet."
---
Emma is starting to realize the gala was no accident — and Liam knows more than he's saying.
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The truth behind that night is darker than anyone expected.
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