My heart sinks when he shakes his head. “I won’t be long.”

“Oh.”

I don’t know what else to say. I thought him showing up here meant…But no. He said he wasn’t going to chase me, didn’t he? So why is he here?

“I just had some things to say,” he tells me carefully, “and then I’m going to get out of your hair.”

Don’t go, I want to beg. Stay in my hair. Nest there, for all I care.

I say none of that. “What did you want to say?”

“I needed you to know that I didn’t do what you thought I did,” he says evenly, holding my gaze with sincerity in his eyes. “I’m not here to plead my case, but I need you to know that I would never betray your trust like that.”

“I…” A pressure builds in my chest, one that feels too big, too much. It makes the words harder. “I know,” I say honestly. “I know you wouldn’t.”

I don’t know what I expected him to do with my admission, but a solemn nod was the last thing on my mind. Though that’s all I get.

“Good.” Another slow nod.

His jaw works as if he’s rolling his next words over his tongue, unsure if he wants to let them out or not. I know that I should say something, that I should tell him I’m sorry, that I didn’t mean what I said, that I know he would never hurt me on purpose—but fear keeps my mouth shut. Because I don’t know what will happen if he’s forced to choose between being with me or keeping his mother safe. I know I could never ask him to choose.

And maybe that means I was right, as much as it kills me. Maybe this was never going to work out.

“I shouldn’t have said what I said,” I tell him, knowing I can’t let him walk away without saying it. “In the stairwell. I went too far.”

His head ducks as he watches his feet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he nods. “You weren’t exactly wrong.”

“No, Ezra, I—”

“I was a coward,” he admits quietly. “I did do everything he wanted, because I was too afraid to refuse him. I was acting like I was still just a kid hiding in my room from this scary man that lived in my house. Thinking that if I kept my head down, he wouldn’t notice me, that I could get by.”

“Ezra, that isn’t—”

“But you made me realize that getting by isn’t going to solve anything,” he says determinedly, turning up his face to meet my gaze. “And I think I needed that.”

It feels harder to breathe. “You did?”

“I did,” he answers gently. “And for that I wanted to say thank you.”

I can’t help it, I bark out a laugh. “You’re thanking me?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles. “I guess I am.”

“Jesus Christ,” I scoff, scrubbing a hand down my face.

It’s the lightest moment I’ve had in days, and everything about it makes me want to pull him close, to wrap my arms around him, but at this point, I don’t even know if he’d want me to. It keeps me rooted in place.

“There was one more thing I wanted to tell you,” he says, straightening.

My breath catches when he takes a step closer, his hand lifting to cup my cheek. My voice comes out on an exhale. “Yeah?”

“I meant everything I said to you.” His eyes search my face, and I have to force myself to keep still, to not lean into him. “You are worth staying for,” he murmurs. “I still believe that.” My lashes flutter when his lips press to mine, too soft to even be called a kiss, but I feel it in my toes all the same. He lets out a stuttered breath after. “But you have to believe that too.”

He pulls back, and I sway on my feet before catching myself.

“And when you realize that,” he says slowly, “I want to be the first one to know.”

I blink at him in a daze, a million things running through my mind but not one of them making its way out of my mouth. I just…stand there.

“That’s all I wanted to say.”

“I…” My mouth hangs open, and the words are right there, right there—but so is that fear. “You will be.”

I expect him to be angry, or disappointed, but instead, Ezra smiles at me. That same one that feels too bright, the one that lights me up.

“Good,” he answers softly.

We both continue to stare at each other, but I can see the moment that Ezra is gearing up to leave. He shifts, just a little, and he gives me a short nod, and all I can seem to do is the same.

“I’ll let you get back to it,” he says.

“Okay.”

He turns on his heel, and I’m three seconds from calling out to him when he turns back, looking strangely lighter. “Oh, and also…Anton Andrews.”

My nose wrinkles as I’m caught off guard. “What?”

He doesn’t answer, just flashes me one last sweet smile, before he leaves me standing in my open door, more lost than I’ve ever been.

But what’s more, I feel surprisingly hopeful for the first time in days.

Even if I have no idea why.

•   •   •

It takes me barely twenty minutes to find everything I need to know about Anton Andrews. Twenty-nine years old, no outstanding debt…So far, I haven’t come across anything that would lead Ezra to believe it’s a name I should be looking into. It has to be important, Ezra wouldn’t have mentioned him otherwise, but at first glance, I just can’t seem to determine why. The name sounds familiar, nagging at the back of my brain, but I can’t seem to grasp it.

I haven’t allowed myself to think about everything else he said, because I know if I start down that road, I’ll get lost on it. I tell myself that it’s something I will face after this trial. After that there is nothing else between us either way. After that…no matter what happens, I won’t have any more excuses not to face the things I’m actively avoiding.

Things like how much it hurts to think about never seeing Ezra again. How devastating a possibility it is that he might never smile at me like he did today ever again. I know that the answer is there, staring me in the face, but I stubbornly push it aside, just like I do everything else.

I push a stack of Bianca’s financial statements for her trust away so I can reach a folder I’m hunting for; it’s the last bit we were able to find in Bianca’s storage, mostly concerning the transfer of the funds from Italy to the United States—and while I’m sure it will yield as little as all the ones I’ve already looked at, I want to be able to say I’ve exhausted every option. I jolt when my phone rings, causing me to knock the entire stack onto the floor, and papers scatter everywhere.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

Ignoring the mess, I snatch up my phone and bring it to my ear. “Yeah?”

“So I’m still on my stakeout,” Nate tells me. “And you’ll never guess what I’ve found.”

I breathe out a sigh. “You know you’re not a detective, right? Only you would waste your time on this.”

“Hey! Vera is here too.”

“I refuse to believe that.”

There’s a moment of silence before: “Um, I didn’t have anything else to do today.”

“Damn it, Vera,” I groan. “You’re supposed to be the smart one.”

“Are you saying I’m not smart?” Nate huffs.

“I’m assuming you called for a reason,” I venture, kneeling on my living room floor so that I can start gathering the strewn documents. “Or did you need coffee and doughnuts?”

“I’m starting to think I shouldn’t even tell you my amazing news,” Nate practically hmphs. “You’re being awfully testy.”

“We’re due back in court in two days, I have nothing concrete yet, and now Ez—” I press my lips together. “I’m just a little stressed, okay?”

I should have known Nate wasn’t going to let it slide. “Did you say Ezra? What’s wrong with Ezra?”

“Nothing is wrong with Ezra,” I mumble. “Forget I said anything.”

Vera’s voice nears the phone, like she’s pulling it away from Nate. “Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

Yeah, I think bitterly. Mine.

“Never mind that.” I sweep papers into a pile. “Tell me why you called.”