Page 25 of Break Me

A warning.

A whisper of the storm that’s coming.

But right here, in the hollow quiet of this broken barn?

It’s just us.

And now there’s no going back.

Sam holds me for a long moment. “Sweetheart,” he whispers, voice rough, “whatever happens next, don’t doubt me. Don’t doubt this.”

“I won’t.”

For a second, it's easy to forget everything standing between us.

The secrets.

The lies.

The people we'd hurt if the truth ever came out.

Outside, a bird calls once. It feels like a warning.

“We should go,” he whispers.

But neither of us moves.

Not yet.

Not while this moment still belongs to us.

Because that’s how every tragedy starts, isn’t it?

With two people believing they have more time than they do.

Raven

Dad’s at the kitchen table, half drinking, half ignoring a cup of coffee, eyes locked on his phone when I walk through the door. His posture is too relaxed. His expression unreadable. Like he’s been waiting.

For me.

“Back already?” he asks.

My heart trips, but I force a shrug. “Katie got called into work when we were only a few stores in.”

Dad’s mouth twitches, but it’s not amusement. “Funny. You don’t have any bags.”

“I didn’t buy anything. Shopping alone sucks.”

“Uh-huh.”

His stare pins me in place. He’s always been able to read me too easily.

I move past him toward the stairs, but before I clear the table, Dad’s hand reaches out, gentle but deliberate, and plucks something from my hair.

A deep green and unmistakably out-of-place leaf.

My stomach drops straight through the floor.