“I’m not judging.” His voice dipped into something more venomous. “I’m just surprised you’d settle for playing house in a dump like this. But hey, you always did have a thing for broken things, didn’t you?”
The past surged up in my throat—old arguments, old bruises in places no one could see. I could still hear the way he used to twist things. Still feel the ache of being made to question myself.
“Guess Cav still thinks he can play the hero.” Leo sneered. “You should’ve seen his face when I told him what kind of loser you really are. I guess that was what started the fight."
My blood ran cold.
“What fight?” I asked, the words like shards of glass. My voice cracked, not from weakness—but from something deeper. Something dangerous.
Because if Leo went after Cavil…
He had no idea what that meant.
But I did.
“Oh, please.” Leo scoffed, his voice muffled through the door but sharp enough to slice. “You really don’t know? He came after me like some wounded knight, thinking he could save you—from what? A few bad memories?” He laughed, low and mocking. “What a joke.”
The words struck like a spark in dry brush. My pulse surged. That familiar fury—the one I spent years learning to bury—roared to life. I gripped the edge of the counter to steady myself, but it wasn’t enough to contain the fire he always knew how to light.
His laugh echoed again, bitter and cruel. “You've got nothing to say?” he said. “That's funny, considering you're hosting his little Boy Scout meetings at your precious bookstore? How sweet. Guess you two found your tribe.”
Tribe.The word hit like a bruise. He knew exactly what that meant to me—belonging, safety, community. All the things he made feel impossible. Leo always had a gift for cutting deep, right where it hurt most.
“How dare you,” I breathed, the heat behind my eyes rising with the pressure in my chest. My hands shook at my sides, clenched tight to keep from throwing open the door.
“You think this is some big revelation?” His tone shifted—mockery laced now with something darker. Somethinglonely. “You think Cavil cares about you? He’ll leave, Callie. Just like the rest of them. Just likeme.”
That last part—meant to gut me—landed hard. Not because I hadn’t thought it myself on the worst nights, but because he was saying it like a promise. Like he still held the power to make it true.
“You left!” I shouted, the words cracking under the weight of everything he’d taken. “You broke it. Youchoseto walk away from everything!”
“And yet here we are,” he said, quieter now. But not soft. Never soft. There was a tremor beneath it, like a thread pulled too tight—just enough to show me this wasn’t only about me. He hated that I had built something new. Hated that I’d done itwithouthim.
I closed my eyes, breathing through the whirlwind in my chest. “I’m done playing games with you,” I said, low but solid. A truth I’d needed to say for too long. “You don’t get to rewrite the past. And you sure as hell don’t get to ruin what I’m building now.”
"You do this with my brother, Callie, I'm warning you, all bets are off," he said slowly.
Silence fell—thick, suffocating. And then, footsteps. Heavy and angry, retreating down the porch stairs without another word.
I stood frozen for a moment before slowly sinking against the door, my legs no longer able to hold the weight of everything he’d stirred up. Not just the anger or the grief—but the doubt. The deep-rooted fear that even now, Leo might be right.
But somewhere beneath the mess, another voice—quieter, steadier—reminded me that hewasn’t. Not this time.
As soon as the sound of Leo’s boots faded into the night, I pushed off the door, breath still ragged. My pulse hadn’t settled, and neither had the questions clawing their way through my chest.
I didn’t have time to think it through—I just knew I couldn’t sit with this gnawing silence any longer. I grabbed my coat off the hook, shoved my arms through the sleeves, and snatched my keys from the table. If Leo had said even a fraction of the truth, then I needed answers—and there was only one person who could give them to me.
The cold hit me hard as I stepped outside, but I barely felt it. My boots crunched across the snow-dusted walkway as I made my way to the car, urgency pressing down on every movement. The wind whipped at my cheeks, but it couldn’t cool the fire still burning beneath my skin. I didn’t know what I expected to hear—or what I was afraid of hearing—but I knew this couldn’t wait until morning. I had to know what happened between them. Why Cavil hadn’t said anything. Why Leo had walked away with a smirk like he still held the upper hand.
The streets of town blurred past in streaks of light and shadow as I made the drive, too fast and too focused to notice the quiet hush that had settled over everything else.
When I pulled up in front ofThe Book Nook, the windows were still aglow, soft light spilling onto the sidewalk like a beacon.
I didn’t hesitate.
I climbed out of the car, slammed the door shut behind me, and strode toward the entrance with a heart full of fury and fear.
Cavil owed me the truth, and I wasn’t leaving without it.
