Her gaze fell to the woman’s pretty face.
Evangeline was who mattered. She’d been ripped from the life of her family, and that was something Isla understood all too well.
Isla’s stomach rolled and unshed tears heated her throat as she fought to keep them at bay.
The knob on her door began to twist.
“Hey, Isla,” Sinjin said, knocking on her door as it swung open, a practice they’d fallen into when entering each other’s cottages the past few weeks.
She jumped and nearly fell off her stool, then quickly slammed her laptop shut. Loki decided to pop an eye open, then stretched and settled back down to sleep.
“What’s going on?” Sinjin asked, suddenly still. Too still.
Before she could find her composure and reply, he was already at the island, opening her laptop.
His inhale shook right through her.
“I-I can explain,” she said, touching his arm.
He stiffened and stepped back. “No need. I can see for myself that you couldn’t just let things alone.”
“Of course not. I care about you.”
He snorted. “That’s why you’re going behind my back to dig into my past.”
“You left me no choice,” she said. “You wouldn’t tell me when I asked, and neither would your dad.”
“What?” He whipped around so quickly that she plowed right into him. His fingers curled around her upper arms as he drew back. “You went after my father?”
“I saw him when I had Loki out for a walk…to look for him.” She wouldn’t lie to him. “I thought he might still be around, so I checked at all the restaurants.”
“That was very clever of you.”
“Look, Sinjin. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to find out this way. I just want to help.”
“You can help by leaving it alone,” he muttered as he walked right out of her house.
Isla was still shaking and a bit uncertain if he’d said “it” or “me”. But she raced after him, shutting her door to keep Loki in, then marched straight to Sinjin’s place and opened the door without knocking.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
He had his back to her. It was stiff, rigid. So rigid, it looked like he was about to snap in half. He inhaled then exhaled slowly before he turned around.
His anger had disappeared, but his eyes didn’t quite have the life in them that she’d grown to love. “It’s been a crazy couple of days.”
She nodded, wanting to move closer but afraid he’d turn away, so she remained where she was…near the coffee table, where he’d done some amazing things to her, and he’d admitted that he’d trusted her.
And her actions today just jeopardized that trust. Hell, she’d be lucky if she hadn’t killed it altogether.
But still, she wasn’t sorry. How could she be, when she had what was best for him in mind?
“I can’t leave it or you alone,” she said, quietly. “Over the past few weeks, you’ve become more to me than my stress reliever, Sinjin. You’re my friend. And a good one, at that. One that I just discovered I have a hell of a lot more in common with than I’d realized, and I wish to God we didn’t have that in common. But we do.”
He remained quiet, his jaw working as if he was clenching his teeth to keep from saying something he might regret.
“I understand the darkness,” she said, taking a few steps closer. “If you dwell in there it’ll consume you.”
“Too late,” he ground out. “Look, you should go. I’m not the best company right now. I need time.”
