Page 49 of Lured By Shadows

“My actions will always speak louder than my words,” he murmured, brushing his thumb across my cheek again. “And I will prove myself again and again if I must. One day you will believe me completely, and you’ll laugh at how frightened you once were because you’ll realize I was always safe.”

The promise lingered heavily between us.

And somehow, that frightened me more than it comforted me.

Because part of me wanted desperately to believe him. I wanted to fall straight into whatever safety he offered, even knowing it came wrapped in danger and shadows.

“Who… lives here?” I asked suddenly, clinging to the subject change like a lifeline.

I stepped back slightly, dizzy beneath the force of his attention, and nearly stumbled. It was embarrassing how easily he knocked me off balance and how impossible it became to think clearly when he looked at me like that.

Culver glanced down the hall as we started walking again, his voice steady, as though nothing between us had affected him at all.

“Rupert and Soroush stay here occasionally,” he explained. “They still keep rooms within the estate. My sister and her fiancé live here as well, along with the staff who maintain the property.”

I blinked, my sneaker catching briefly on the thick rug beneath me. “Oh.” The word slipped out. “Anna has a fiancé?”

The surprise in my own voice caught in my throat, followed quickly by heat creeping up my neck. Of course she did. Of course the woman who’d calmly watched me stand there completely naked already had someone beside her, someone who fit into her world effortlessly, while I’d been left exposed like entertainment she didn’t mind indulging in.

“Yes,” Culver replied, his tone tightening slightly.

Before I could ask anything else, a smooth voice drifted down the hall behind us, light and amused with just enough edge to command attention.

“Anna might have the greatest fiancé to ever exist.” Startled, I turned toward the sound.

A man stood a few feet away, the hallway light catching the vivid verdi of his eyes so sharply they almost didn’t look real. They were the first thing I noticed, bright and piercing, but not the last. His brown hair was tousled into a soft, curled quiff, and his suit fit him with the effortless ease of someone who knew exactly how to wear it. He was tall and lean, polished in a way that felt natural rather than flashy.

“Hello,” he said, smiling with measured charm. “My name is Liam.”

I froze a half-second too long before taking his outstretched hand. His skin was smooth and unnervingly cold, eerily similar to Culver’s, and the realization sent a faint chill through me. Why was everyone in this family built like expensive haunted statues?

I didn’t pull away, though. “Hi,” I said, forcing my voice to cooperate. “I’m Ira. And I’m… I guess I’m Culver’s friend?”

The word felt weak the second it left my mouth. Friend. After everything that had happened between us, it was the safest label I could reach for, yet it still sounded wrong hanging there in the air. Liam’s expression stayed steady, though I caught the quick flick of his eyes toward Culver as though silently weighing the word himself.

We dropped hands, but the lingering chill of his touch stayed with me. I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, trying to gather myself while I felt Culver’s gaze cutting into the side of my face.

“Ira,” Culver said, his voice clipped enough that my attention snapped to him instantly. “Liam is Anna’s fiancé.”

Oh.

The implication landed hard in my stomach. My eyes flicked back to Liam, who stood there calmly without even a hint of arrogance.

Heat rushed into my cheeks. I’d stared at him. Not long, but long enough for Culver’s jealousy to flare again, sharp and obvious beneath the surface. Men were exhausting. Attractive men somehow managed to be worse.

I still didn’t fully understand why Culver was jealous in the first place, but I couldn’t deny there was something addictive about that possessive edge in him. It pulled out a side of me I wasn’t used to seeing. A reckless side that wanted to push a little further just to watch his reaction.

The moment stretched quietly until Anna appeared as though she’d been waiting for the perfect cue.

Her presence filled the hallway effortlessly, her fitted dress whispering against her body as she moved to Liam’s side. Their bodies aligned naturally, her arm slipping through his while their fingers laced together with easy familiarity. It wasn’t performative. It was certainty itself.

A small ache stirred unexpectedly inside me. Not because of either of them specifically, but because of how naturally they belonged together. I wanted something like that someday.

My gaze dropped to myself.

A crop top and bare stomach. Definitely not an appropriate meet-the-family outfit.

Wearing Culver’s jacket suddenly felt rude, but taking it off would expose just how little I actually had on underneath. Awareness crawled over every inch of visible skin, sharpening how out of place I looked among tailored suits and quiet luxury. One might wonder why I’d worn a crop top in cold weather. Yeah… I never claimed to make good decisions.