I sat on the edge of my bed, fingers tracing the moonstone pendant around my neck in a fit of nerves. Nathan stood in the middle of the room, staring at me with an unreadable expression. The silence was deafening between us, save for the distant hum of traffic from the open balcony doors and the creak of the floorboards under his weight.
It had been five minutes since I told him—five long, agonizing minutes of waiting for anything—to break the tension. I glanced at the clock on my dresser; the ticking sound made my chest feel tighter. I'd expected him to react differently.
Anger, maybe.
Shock.
Anything but this paralyzing quiet.
"Nathan?" I finally asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
His blue eyes flickered, and he blinked several times in rapid succession as though just now he was realizing where he was.
Then, finally, he said, "When?"
I let out a shaky exhale of the breath I'd been holding. "Over a year and a half ago," I said quietly, my gaze dropping to my hands, which were shaking. I clasped them together tightly, just trying to steady myself a bit. "It wasn't just once."
Again, the silence stretched between us, this time taut with something darker, something dangerous. I'd known Nathan was angry, though he tried keeping it contained. I could feel the heat of it.
"Who?" The word was low, threatening.
I raised my eyes to his and found fire there. "Nathan—
"Mylah," he said, cutting off, his hand reaching for mine, and I tensed.
Nathan's hand fell just between us. I could see the hurt in his gaze; all I wanted to do was erase that look on his face. But the fear and the guilt twisted inside me, stopping me as my heart pounded in my chest.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you," I whispered, my swallow audible over the lump in my throat. "It's that I'm trying to protect you. Because once you know. I can't anymore."
Nathan's jaw flexed, the muscle in his cheek twitching with restraint. "You don't need to protect me," he said firmly, his voice softening the instant the words were out of his mouth. "You're not alone anymore, Mylah." He reached for my hand. I relaxed when he finally took my hand, pulling me gently into his lap and wrapping his arms around me in a protective embrace. "You have me. I'm not going anywhere."
