Page 84 of The Quiet After The Fall

“I genuinely don’t know where she gets this stuff.” She sits up slowly, stretching her shoulders. “I should get up and pack.”

“In a minute.” I catch her hand while she’s mid-stretch.

I’m not ready to leave this bed. Not yet. I take her in, hair a tangled mess, dark circles carved under her eyes from a night spent watching over me instead of sleeping, brow furrowed with worry—and she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I notice every small detail. How the black ring encircling her irises makes the blue so much brighter. How her top lip has the most perfect, delicate bow. How the fine hair near her temples curl before she tames it, sticking up in all directions.

I’ll never get used to the way she guts me without even trying.

She goes still, studying me for the first time since she woke up—the bruising, the same worry on her face mirrored back—and her expression softens.

“How are you feeling? For real. No lying.”

“Sore. Better than last night.” It’s true enough not to be a total lie.

She reaches out and touches my glasses frame. “I forgot how much I love you in these.”

“Oh, yeah?” I push them up my nose. “It must be the sexy professor look.”

“Shut up,” she says with a laugh. “You look like you in these. The old you before contacts and business suits and that chip on your shoulder. Reminds me of the Knox who’d stay up late reading on the couch.”

My chest swells. “I was so nerdy.”

“No, you weren’t. I loved that side of you.”

I pull my lips into a smirk. “You loved a lot of things about me if I remember correctly.”

“Don’t get cocky, Aldrich.” She can’t tell if she wants to scowl or smile at me and it’s fucking adorable. “I just meant that I missed this version of you.”

“I missed being him too,” I say quietly.

The mood shifts and I regret bringing the conversation down. I don’t know…that’s how I feel. It’s the truth. I miss life before when I didn’t have to play a part for my father, for the company, and now for Moretti.

Sawyer shifts and I reach for her hand, pressing a kiss right in the center of her palm. I hold her there, until she taps my nose with her fingertips. I’m not ready to get up. As soon as we do, this is all over. No more pretending we’re a couple relaxing in bed, reminiscing about better times.

I hate that I’m about to ruin the mood completely.

“You said something before you fell asleep,” I say. “About your dad.”

“I did?”

“You said he’d know. That he always knows. I’ve been thinking about it the whole time you slept. That David must know everything. Not about the embezzling, but we need to ask about that too. But about Velocity and everything to do with Wonder World.”

Understanding dawns on her face, mixed with a hint of trepidation. I know her relationship with her father is rocky, and I never helped the situation back then. But maybe this is my chance to mend things. Fix my fuck ups.

“If he knew, don’t you think he’d have said something already?”

Good point. I think for a minute. Try to get inside my father’s twisted head. He’s a master manipulator, and apparently an expert at hiding evidence.

“I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.” I sit up a little straighter ignoring the ache in my ribs. “Think about it. Your dad went down for embezzlement he swears he didn’t commit shortly after Velocity went live. Maybe the embezzling had something to do with that project? I don’t know, I’m just spitballing here, but David has to have more information than we do.”

“So we need to visit my father.”

Her saying it out loud makes it real, not just a thought. Her drawn brows tell me she’s not thrilled about this plan.

“We do.”

She’s quiet, staring at the wall. “God, I haven’t visited him since he first went in. It’s been years. I’ve talked to him, of course, but only on the phone.”