Page 127 of The Quiet Witness

Maybe she wasn’t a good person. How else could she explain the pull in her chest? The need to close the distance? Her gaze flickered, to his lips, the needle on the counter, back to his lips.

Get up, go to your room and leave him here. He’s still covered in blood for goodness sake. Do it!

But she didn’t. Instead, Kate leaned her weight forward. Biting nervously into her lips while she lifted her eyes to his, saw the surprise shoot over them before his pupils darkened, just as they had before he’d vanished down the stairs. It was like he had frozen before her, the only sign of life was the heartbeat pulsing in his neck, faster and faster. Kate’s hand raised to his cheek and felt the tension wither away beneath her touch. She leaned in, eyes flickering up to see his were closed, breath hitching, she brushed her lips over his, they trembled beneath hers. She stilled, waiting for a response, anything to know she wasn’t the only one wanting this.

His hand shot up, cupping her cheek.

“Don’t.”

She shot back in her seat. “Don’t?” Her cheeks heated in embarrassment. Had she misread the signals? But… she’d felt him relax.” Kate couldn’t help it, she blurted out. “Why?”

His eyes snapped open. “You’d hate me for it.”

Chapter 54

Time for Truths

“I’d hate you for it?!” Kate stumbled out of her chair, backing away from the counter. “Why then this whole—” She trailed off, her blank mind left her standing in the middle of the living room, grasping for words.

“You’ll understand soon enough.” Lucien stood as well, fingers twitching like he wanted to reach out for her.

She took another step back, wanting nothing but space between them now that the bubble had burst. “But I felt you… relax.” She blinked back hot tears. “You’ve been pulling on my strings this entire time. The dress, dinner, the touches. Why? Why play with my heart like this?”

His hands balled to fists, jaws grinding over each other. “If we cross the line tonight, I won’t be able to hold back.”

“I never said you’d have to hold back.”

What did that even mean? Kate swallowed, wincing from the heavy ache in her throat. Lucien just stood there, leaving her with clues for answers, but she was done with it. Done with the half assed truths and digs. “You’re selfish Lucien, always keeping the truth to yourself and leaving me in the dark.” She released a staggered breath, leaning against the couch for support.

Lucien raked a hand through his hair, breathing hard. “You want a piece of truth? Fine. Maybe I wanted a sense of normalcy in a world that is anything but, maybe I wanted to be near you to convince myself there is still good out there.”

Kate froze, ire leaving a hole in her chest. Where has he even been?

“I’m always in control, Kate.” His gaze snapped to his white knuckled hand. “But I’ve been slipping.”

A truth, but not the whole truth, else he would hold her gaze still, but his eyes danced away from hers. He murmured lowly, almost as if he was talking to himself. “What happens when I can’t hold back anymore?”

Something hit him tonight, hard. “What did you do tonight?” She braced herself against the couch. Truth, she needed the truth.

A stone-cold look took over his face. “I’ve merely been productive.”

You’re scaring me. She almost voiced it, but shoved it back at the last possible second. But he’d noticed, of course he had.

“You’re scared of me, sweetheart.”

“No. I’m not.”

Lucien strode forward, grasping her hand to place a finger on her wrist.

Her heartbeat raced beneath his touch, offering up the truth. “You do a lot of things well, but lying? It’s not one of them.” Tracing a slow pattern over her forearm, he murmured. “Even now you stay, you don’t ever stand down, do you?”

“I could never.” How could she? When all she wanted was to comfort the killer in front of her, even now her mind was numbing below his touch, like an addict to drugs.

She shook her head in confusion, tearing her wrist from his grip, refusing to look at the pain that flashed across his face when she broke the connection.

Clear, she needed a clear mind.

“But I don’t understand you. There is this side of you that cares, teaches even nurtures. And the other side? Soaked in someone else’s blood, uncaring like a killer who feels no remorse.”