Hayden points a finger at me, but he's fighting a smile. "Traitor."
"You started it."
"When did I start it?"
"Fifteen years ago. You were very annoying."
"I wascharming."
"You stole my cookies."
"You offered them."
"I offered youone."
His dad is laughing properly now, his shoulders shaking. Even Trixie's smiling, watching the exchange with something that looks a lot like warmth.
Declan leans over to her and signs something. She glances at me and then, very slowly, gives me a small nod.
I don't know exactly what he said, but something about it makes my throat tighten.
After dinner, Hayden and I are the last ones in the kitchen. Everyone else has drifted off. Mason and Miles are arguing about something on the TV, Declan and Trixie disappear upstairs, and Lileah is asleep on the sofa with her phone on her chest.
Hayden’s leaning against the counter. I'm sitting on it.
"You good?" he asks.
"Yeah." I look at him. "Really good, actually."
He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Stop looking at me like that," I say softly.
"Like what?"
"Like I'm going to disappear." I reach for his hand, threading my fingers through his. "I'm not going anywhere," I tell him. "I promised."
He squeezes my hand once, then leans down and kisses my forehead, resting his lips there for a moment longer than he needs to.
"Come on," he murmurs. "You're exhausted. Let's go."
I hop down off the counter, and he keeps hold of my hand all the way to the door.
Thirty-One
Hayden
I've been sittingin this car for two hours.
My eyes haven't moved from the building across the street, a converted apartment block, glass fronted, security buzzer on the door, and two cameras. I've already clocked and memorized the rotation of the cameras.
Leo's building.
I found the address in under twenty minutes. Miles pulled the registration details from the university housing system, sent it to me without a single question asked. That's the thing about my brothers. They don't need the full picture. They just need to know it matters to me.
And Leo matters to me now. Not because of what he did to me, though I haven't forgotten that. But because of the notes he’s sending to Olivia. Because she saidI'm not scared anymoreand I intend to make damn sure she never has to be.
I watch the entrance.
