Chapter 49

Well, that wouldn’t be a problem—that was the absolute last place I wanted to be.

“Is that what you think? That I’ll ask to go home?”

Alex visibly hesitated, no longer smiling. “Do you want to?”

I tilted in his direction, drinking in this moment like it was my oasis. “What kind of answer do you want to hear from me?” I whispered, and he didn’t look away.

“I want to hear you sayno,” Alex admitted without hesitation, “I want you to stay. Here. With me.”

His gaze held mine—steady and certain. He knew I wanted to hear exactly that.

“Actually…I think it’syouwho’s staying withme,hm?”

And there it was—his smile. Butterflies sprung inside my lower belly just from that spark in his eyes. But before he had a chance to say anything else, the lights inside the house turned on, interrupting us once more.

“Maybe let’s go inside. Before he has an aneurysm,” I said, reluctantly conceding to the circumstances.

But I made a mistake. I turned to collect my towel, swinging my hair to one side, and he saw it.

That scar. Still red. Still angry.

Still burning my skin.

“Jade!”

It was like lightning—his hands were on my waist in a second and we both gasped loudly. I slumped back onto the sand, my entire soul screaming for this not to be true.

I trembled, the fear of showing him—showinganyonethis scar—now blooming into reality.

And Alex noticed. As fast as his hands were on me, he ripped them away. It was a moment frozen in time—his gaze roamed the nasty scar and his tattooed fingers merely ghosted over it, having no permission to touch.

"This wasn’t an accident.”

He said it like an absolute truth. Like a declaration of war. Bending closer to the scar, he slowly inspected it.

“N-no.” I shook my head, but then realized—it was. Ahappyaccident that I survived.

“You don’t have to share the details, Malyshka, but…” He looked up, his eyes no longer reflecting joy. “Who did this to you?”

The instinct kicked in without thought. I drew my shoulder in, too afraid of this conversation. Too scared of the answer, the truth, the awful reality.

"Alex..." I hesitated, not finding the right words. "I don’t think you—"

“Who. Tell me who thought they could get away with this.”

I was in a daze. The ocean, this house, the peace in my soul…it all collided here, in a sharp moment that forced me to remember what I so desperately wanted to hide from.

But I was so tired of covering it all up, and Alex saw that. He sawme. The man who trapped me and locked me up in a secluded house held onto every word I said as if it were a gift from God. He caught every glance, every hesitation, and all my fear.

So I leaned back into him, deliberately blurring the line, and he wrapped me in his arms, both of us falling into the abyss.

All of me succumbed to his light touch, prohibited, unorthodox, but the most beautiful and thoughtful action that had ever happened to me.

With all the strength I could collect, I half turned and found his gaze again, dark and relentless. Angry and empathetic. Focused only on me. Our lips aligned, and my quiet whisper was meant only for him.

“You already know.”