Page 171 of Only Be Mine

I didn’t answer him.

I spoke into the phone instead, louder this time, because the sound of my own voice was the only thing keeping me upright.

“Detective,” I said, “Seth is here. If I leave, I’m not leaving alone.”

Trevor’s smile vanished.

For the first time since he walked through the door, something in him moved fast and hot. A crack in his calm.

Not rage, not yet, but the pressure behind it.

“Cate,” he said, and my name sounded like a warning dressed as affection. “Hang. Up.”

Seth stood.

Trevor’s eyes snapped to him.

The air tightened, electric, the way it does right before a storm hits.

And then, in the middle of all of it, my phone buzzed, another incoming call trying to cut through.

Unknown number.

Marshal’s voice was still on the line, urgent now. “Cate, do not…”

The unknown call kept buzzing, insistent.

Seth’s eyes flicked to my screen. “Answer it,” he said quickly. “It might be…”

Trevor moved, his hand reaching out fast and sure, like taking things from me was as natural as breathing.

And my body finally did something it hadn’t done in a long time.

I pulled the phone back.

“Don’t,” I said.

It wasn’t loud, but it landed.

Trevor froze, just for a beat, like he’d heard a language he didn’t expect me to know.

Then his eyes darkened, and he smiled again.

“Okay,” he said softly.

The word sounded gentle.

But nothing about it felt gentle anymore.

Chapter 62

Cate

Present

No one spoke.

Not right away.