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I groan at the thought of that. This is a bad idea…especially with a dead man stalking me. Plus, nothing is lining up. My memories are jumbled, like my timeline isn’t quite right.

She tilts her head. “I thought you liked Gabe? What happened?”

I roll my eyes. “I’ve never liked Gabe, Mom. He’s sleazy.”

She steps in and hands me my phone, which she stole from me before she left yesterday. “Here. Take this back as a gesture of good faith. I just want things to go back to normal between us.”

I glance down at it, then up to her. “Then give me my life back. Hand over the keys to the company like Grandfather wanted.”

She scoffs. “You’re hardly ready to take over a multi-million-dollar company.”

“Grandfather thought I was,” I quip. He was ready to hand everything to me, so he must have seen something in me.

Her eyes smolder. “Your grandfather was a sick man. He didn’t know what he was doing.” I haven’t stopped to think about how that must have felt—being cut out of a will.

“Did anyone call?” I ask, changing the subject, staring down at my phone.

She shakes her head, eyes dropping. “I haven’t been able to look at your phone, it’s locked. But Keely called the house.” I stare up at her, raising my eyebrows, and she sighs. “This is the last chance I’m giving you. Don’t screw it up.” She shuts the door as she leaves.

I grab my pillow and throw it at the spot where she was standing. “Fuck,” I scream. Calming myself, I unlock my phone and see a flood of notifications. There are a few from Gabe and one from Keely, asking to talk. I quickly scroll through the messages. The messages from Archer are still gone…any trace of him is non-existent.

“Layla,” Beth calls from the kitchen.

With a heavy sigh, I throw the phone down and scramble to get ready, my eyes catching my reflection in the mirror hanging on my closet door. At first, I pause, fussing with my dark hair that tumbles over my shoulders, trying to figure out what’s different about me. Then, gradually, I notice something. I’m glowing…radiant, actually.

I bite my lip and smile when I turn around and slip my sweats down and notice sex marks on my body. Marks, I know I didn’t give myself. Butterflies flicker in my stomach, causing my entire body to shiver.

This is all the proof I need.

“Nick, what are you doing to me?” I half expecting him to answer.

I hate myself for grabbing my bathrobe and heading to the shower to get ready for Gabe. Especially knowing Nick is so close and watching. But Nick has always been close—and he’s always watching.

After my shower, I blow-dry my hair with a round brush and apply some makeup. Heading downstairs, I find Beth in her element, arranging a cheese and meat board. She’s changed into loose-fitting jeans and a tight, low-cut top, and I shake my head at the lipstick she’s wearing. It’s so easy for her to pretend she’s not what she really is.

I glance at my father out back, clearing snow and chopping wood, and a cold sensation shoots through my veins. He looks so innocent in his backward hat. Does he know what she is? He must…

Someone steps up beside him. A dagger pierces my heart as a familiar figure appears, holding what looks like a jack saw. My pulse quickens and blood drains from my face.

“Mom,” I whisper.

She glances up as she places out a few napkins. She frowns when she sees the look on my face. “What is it now, Layla?”

“Who’s that with Dad?” I ask as if I haven’t memorized every line on his face.

She cranks her head and squints just as Nick disappears behind a tree and hides from view. “Oh, is there someone here? Your father is hell-bent on getting that tree down before winter settles in, he probably paid someone to help him hack it.” From here, I can’t see his face, but my eyes are locked onto the black boots Nick wears.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Did I just see him? Does Beth see him?

She frowns at me. “Are you okay?”

I blink a couple times as my heart slams inside my chest. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

He was in my bedroom last night, fucking me senseless, and now he’s here working with my dad as if he hasn’t consumed my entire existence, spat me up and chewed me up over the past few weeks. This can’t be happening.

Beth saunters to the back door. “Jake, are you hungry?” she calls out. Jake steps forward, with Nick trailing slightly behind him. I want to die as I watch Nick for a few seconds before he turns toward me, flashing that killer smile. Seeing him put together, all the parts of him in the daylight, in the present moment, makes my body want to explode. He moves exactly the way I expect him to—with deadly grace. Except he is no longer the boy I once knew.