Page 28 of Bound

My mouth goes dry.

My knees are not steady.

But I step forward.

Lucian turns on me. “No.”

My name on Carlos’s file. Lucian’s terror in the air.

Everyone watching to see whether I let him decide what parts of my own life I am allowed to face.

I stop beside him.

“Open it,” I say.

His eyes burn into mine. “Erin.”

“Partnership,” I remind him.

The word hits him harder than any accusation.

His face tightens. “You don’t want this, Erin. Not here.”

I see the fight inside him. The panic. The command. The need to lift me, lock me away, and burn the file unread.

“It’s okay,” I say. “We’re all in this together.”

“Not all of us,” Blaze mutters at Isobel.

“Play it,” I whisper.

Lucian turns back to Rafe. His voice is raw. “Open it.”

Rafe does.

Photographs fill the screen. Me outside the apartment before the first night. Me with Cass.

Ryan walking into school.

Bambi’s building. Us playing outside.

Timestamp after timestamp after timestamp.

My body goes cold.

It’s me. One the screen.

In the dress.

It’s that night. I’m standing outside his building.

My jaw is set, determined.

In my eyes? Pure terror.

Beneath the image, a note appears.

SHE WAS NEVER YOUR MISTAKE TO MAKE