Bound By Lies - Rafe Cameron

Chapter 70

The air is thick and humid, the kind of heat that wraps around you and makes every step feel heavier. I walk down the narrow path leading to my car, lost in my thoughts, trying to shake off the strange tension that's been sitting in my chest ever since Rafe brought me to our place. Everything should feel perfect. It does feel perfect... but I can't shake the feeling that it's too good to last.

"Teresa!" A voice, sharp and angry, cuts through the quiet evening.

I freeze, my heart leaping into my throat as I whip around, eyes wide. Kiara is storming toward me, her face twisted in a fury I haven't seen in her since... since the trial. Since I lied to protect Rafe.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snaps, her voice trembling with rage as she stops a few feet away, her chest heaving. "I thought I told you to stay away from me—stay away from all of us."

My pulse races, my fingers tightening around my purse as I take a small, tentative step back. "Kie, I—"

"Don't you dare call me that!" she hisses, cutting me off, her voice trembling with anger. "You fucking traitor!"

I swallow hard, my throat tightening painfully as guilt and shame twist together inside me. "I know I hurt you," I whisper softly, my voice shaking. "But I didn't have a choice, Kiara. I had to protect him."

"Didn't have a choice?" she echoes, her voice rising to a near scream. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Don't," I murmur, shaking my head as I take another step back, the ground beneath me feeling unsteady. "Please, Kiara. Just... don't."

"No!" she shouts, taking a step closer, her eyes blazing with anger. "You don't get to walk away from this. You don't get to act like you didn't destroy everything—like you didn't betray us all!"

I feel something snap inside me, the pressure that's been building up for weeks finally breaking through, and before I can think, before I can stop myself, I shove her—hard.

"Stop it!" I scream, the sound ripping out of me like a wild, desperate thing. "Just stop!"

Everything happens so fast. One moment, Kiara is glaring at me, her eyes wide with shock, and the next... she's stumbling back, her feet tangling together as she falls.

The sound of her head hitting the ground echoes through the air, a sickening thud that makes my stomach twist violently. Time seems to slow down, every second stretching into an eternity as I stand there, frozen, staring at her crumpled form.

No. No, no, no.

"Kiara?" I whisper, my voice barely audible as I take a hesitant step forward. "Kiara?"

She doesn't move. Her chest doesn't rise. Her eyes don't flutter open. She just... lies there, still and silent and—

"Kiara!" I drop to my knees beside her, my breath coming in quick, panicked gasps as I reach out, my hands trembling violently. "Oh God, oh God, please—please wake up."

My fingers brush against her cheek, her skin cool and clammy beneath my touch. "No, no, no," I murmur frantically, my voice breaking as I gently shake her shoulder. "Please, Kie. Please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

But she's not breathing. She's not moving.

Panic seizes me, a cold, suffocating wave that wraps around my chest, making it hard to breathe, hard to think. I press my fingers to her neck, searching for a pulse, for any sign that she's okay, that she's still alive, but—

Nothing. There's nothing.

"No," I choke out, shaking my head wildly as tears blur my vision. "No, this can't—this can't be happening."