Page 175 of His Reckoning

Maybe because the story is already out there now.

I let my forehead rest against her shoulder. Her hand moves slowly through my hair.

The apartment is quiet, except for the soft hum of the city outside the windows.

“You should’ve told someone,” she murmurs eventually.

“Maybe.”

Her fingers trace lightly along the back of my neck. “You were just a kid.”

I stare down at the floor. “I handled it.”

She pulls back slightly so she can look at me. “That doesn’t mean you should’ve had to.”

For a moment, neither of us says anything.

I know what she’s seeing right now—the scars and the nightmares. All the things I’ve spent years making sure no one noticed.

I brace myself for the shift. The moment when she looks at me differently, but Kayla doesn’t pull away.

Instead, she just cups my face gently. “I’m really glad you told me.”

The words land somewhere deep in my chest.

Uncomfortable but not bad. Just … unfamiliar.

I look down at my glass again. “Yeah.”

She leans her head against my shoulder again. This time, I don’t fight it.

I just sit here, letting someone else carry a little bit of the weight for once.

Chapter Thirty-One

Kayla

Idon’t sleep. Sawyer eventually does.

After the whiskey, the long conversation, and the quiet that followed, his breathing finally settles beside me. One arm draped loosely across my waist, like he’s making sure I don’t disappear in the middle of the night.

For a long time, I just lie here, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything he told me.

About the way his voice went completely flat when he talked about standing at his uncle’s funeral, listening to everyone praise a man he hated.

The thought lingers heavier than I want it to. The thing that won’t leave my mind isn’t the violence.

It’s the control.

The way Sawyer built an entire life around never letting anyone see weakness again. Never needing anyone.

Except … he trusted me with it tonight. The realization stays with me long after the conversation ended.

I slowly turn my head on the pillow.

Sawyer is still asleep. The tension that usually sits in his face is gone for once.

No tension pulling at his expression. Just quiet, peaceful.