-Blake West:
I didn't hear anyone calling my name when I shoved through the door and into the hallway. I didn't see the way Larkin's head snapped up, or the shock flashing across her face. I didn't register the cluster of voices—Killian, Ian, Kayla even Chris—all hovering by the entry as if they'd been waiting for the verdict.
I didn't care.
I only knew that if I stayed there one more second—if I looked at Rena's smirk one more time, or the pity on that lawyer's face, or Zade's eyes burning with anger I didn't deserve—I was going to shatter in front of them all.
So I ran.
My legs carried me up the stairs two at a time, lungs burning, vision blurring as I shoved open my bedroom door and slammed it shut behind me. The sound echoed like a gunshot, but it was the silence that followed that nearly destroyed me.
I couldn't breathe.
