Page 83 of Scars of Fate

“You’re lying now.”

“I said I don’t know!”

“Then why did you look terrified when you read that message?”

“Because armed men just tried to drag me into a vehicle!”

“No.” His voice dropped. “You were scared before that.”

I stepped back.

Lucas followed.

Not threatening.

Protective.

Always protective.

Even when I didn’t want him to be.

Especially then.

“You recognized something in that message,” he said. “I saw it on your face.”

“You don’t know me well enough to read my face anymore.”

Pain flashed through his eyes.

I regretted the words instantly.

But I couldn’t take them back.

Lucas nodded slowly.

“You’re right.”

His voice was quiet now.

Too quiet.

“I don’t know what you’ve done for the last six years. Where you’ve lived. Who you call when you’re afraid. Whether there’s someone waiting for you back home.”

My heart twisted.

“There isn’t.”

The answer escaped before I could stop it.

Lucas went still.

I looked away.

This was not the time.

Not here.

Not surrounded by bodies and burning vehicles.