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“I’ll never forget the day you stood up to my parents,” she says in a pensive tone. “I know everyone blames you for what happened next, but I never saw it the way the others did. You weren’t the villain; you were my knight.”
I tense through a shroud of ancient rage, the same fury I felt the night I finally told her parents what I thought of them and where they deserved to go (hell). I may have tossed some threats of my own, but as usual, my attempt to do the right thing backfired in spectacular fashion. It triggered a sequence of events that still haunts me.
She thinks I’m her knight? I almost got her killed.
“How can you say that? They hurt you and kicked you out because of me.”
“No, they learned I was special to someone. That Imattered. I know you blame yourself, but I never saw it that way. The trauma of that weekend made me realize who my family was and who it wasn’t. You.Youwere my family. Kim and your parents, sure, but it was your compassion, your bravery that set me free. Even my grandparents never stood up to my parents because they didn’t want to set them off. You were the only person who ever truly fought for me. You didn’t need to take Kim’s punishment to be a hero. You were already mine.”
I clasp her tight through the fresh blow to the gut. Another fragment of twisted history. Another secret I can’t tell her. Because that was also the day her grandparents figured out how I felt about her and told me to back off. That I was just making things worse for her by interfering. They said I’d ruin her life and they were right.
“You’re going to be okay no matter what. You know that, right?” I say firmly. “You don’t need anyone else to succeed. You’re so strong, Iz. You just need to trust yourself. Get away from Pierce. Find someone who will treasure you. Promise me.”
She pulls back and searches my eyes with concern. “Why does that sound like a goodbye?”
“It’s not,” I lie.
“Tristan. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing,” I say, planting a kiss on her forehead and tugging her close again. Maybe it’s not a lie because Iwon’tbe saying goodbye if they send me back. I can’t.
I feel her deflate in my arms, and it breaks my heart but maybe that’s the point. I will never be the person she’s constructed in her head or a certainty she can count on. I’m no fucking prince. I’m the devil holding the apple.
“Let’s just sleep, okay?” I say gently. I can’t stomach the thought of spending our last few hours fighting—or even worse, being a disappointment.
Her warm breath grazes my chest, and I fight to keep my emotions in check.
You can’t have her. You can’t havethis.Tomorrow you will call your PO and it will all be over.
“Unloved,” she says softly. “That’s another thing you’re not.”
My PO sits on our couch for the second time in two days. The expression on his face chills my blood, but he wouldn’t speak over the phone. I’m even more nervous about the fact that he told me to make sure Isabel wasn’t around, then did a complete one-eighty when I informed him she wasn’t dating Pierce. He was even more insistent that she be present after he learned we were together and she was the reason Pierce hated me so much. That bit of intel must have been a missing piece, because here we are, one big happy family about to be torn apart.
Brian takes a sip of his coffee and clears his throat.
“I could get in a lot of trouble for being here,” he says. “Everything I’m about to say is off the record and never happened, understood?”
I nod, my heart slamming against my ribs.Shit, this must be bad.
“Of course,” I say.
He looks to Isabel and Kim for confirmation, then focuses back on me.
“Look, I’m gonna be straight with you. You seem like a decent guy, and I’ve been doing this a long time. That dude Pierce? He’s got it in for you, man. Like, balls-to-the-wall, obsessive-level vendetta. I’ve seen plenty of exes and bitter rivals try to make trouble for my parolees, but never anything like this.”
I swallow hard and try to suppress the rising panic.
“I know,” I say. “He’s made it clear from the beginning he wants me back upstate.”
Brian shakes his head. “No, I don’t think you do. And now that I know about you two,”—he waves between Isabel and me—“it all makes sense. Sorry, man, but you couldn’t have picked a worse enemy. Your ex is trouble,” he says to Isabel. “You’d be wise to watch your back as well.”
She pales, and I see the silent message on Brian’s face when he focuses back on me.
Are you sure she’s worth it?
She is.
“You should know something,” he continues. “That prick tracked me down last night and spouted off all kinds of shit, thinking I was somehow on his side because I knew his father.”
