Bound By Lies - Rafe Cameron

Chapter 73

The hospital feels colder than I remember, the antiseptic smell clinging to the air and stinging my nose as I make my way down the corridor, my heart pounding so hard I can barely breathe. I shouldn't be here. Rafe told me to leave it alone. He said it was over, that I didn't need to worry.

But I can't. I have to see her, to see Kiara. I have to know... I have to make sure she's okay.

My steps falter as I reach her room. I take a deep breath, my fingers trembling as I reach for the door handle, pausing for a moment as a wave of guilt and fear washes over me. What if she hates me? What if... what if she never forgives me?

"Just... breathe," I whisper to myself softly, closing my eyes for a moment to steady my nerves. "Just see her. Just apologize. Make it right."

With a shaky breath, I push the door open and step inside. Kiara is propped up against a mound of pillows, her hair pulled back messily, a faint bruise darkening her temple where her head must have hit the ground. The sight of it makes my chest tighten painfully, a surge of guilt twisting through me.

She's staring at the TV mounted on the wall, her face pale and drawn. But the moment I step inside, her gaze snaps to mine, and something dark and angry flashes in her eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she snaps, her voice a sharp, venomous hiss that cuts through the silence like a blade. "Get out. Get the fuck out, Teresa."

I flinch, the harshness of her words hitting me like a slap. I swallow hard, forcing myself to stay where I am, even though every instinct is screaming at me to turn and run. "Kiara, I—"

"No!" she shouts, cutting me off, her voice trembling with fury. She sits up straighter, her chest heaving as she glares at me, her eyes blazing. "You don't get to talk. You don't get to be here."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," I whisper softly, taking a tentative step closer, my fingers twisting together nervously. "I'm... I'm so sorry, Kiara. I never meant to—"

"Meant to what?" she spits, her voice rising with every word, the anger and pain etched into every line of her face. "To hurt me?" She lets out a bitter laugh, shaking her head as tears well up in her eyes. "You almost killed me, Teresa."

Tears blur my vision, and I shake my head desperately, my voice breaking. "No, I—"

"Get out," she says again, her voice low and trembling, her hands clenched into fists against the blanket. "I don't want to hear your fucking excuses. I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Just... get out."

"Please," I whisper, taking a hesitant step closer, my breath hitching as I stare at her, my heart aching with every word she throws at me. "Please, I'm so sorry—"

"Stop lying," she snaps, her voice sharp and laced with a bitterness that makes my chest tighten painfully. "If you were really sorry, you wouldn't have sent Rafe here to threaten me. You wouldn't have let him come here and... and say he'd kill everyone around me if I opened my mouth."

Shock courses through me, cold and paralyzing, and I feel the words catch in my throat, my breath stuttering as I stare at her, wide-eyed and horrified. "What?" I whisper, my voice barely audible. "Kiara... what are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't act like you don't know," she spits, her lips curling into a bitter, humorless smile as she glares at me, her eyes blazing with a mix of anger and pain. "Rafe was here. He told me exactly what would happen if I said anything about what really happened. He said he'd kill JJ. He'd kill Pope. He'd make sure everyone I cared about died if I didn't keep my mouth shut."