Velvera’s POV
“We need to stop seeing each other for a while.”
For one moment, I thought I had misunderstood him.
I held the phone tighter against my ear and stared at the dark window across my bedroom. Outside, the forest surrounding the cottage was quiet. The candles I had lit hours earlier had burned low, leaving wax along the silver holders Modric once bought for me.
“What did you say?”
Modric released a slow breath.
“This has become too dangerous.”
Dangerous.
Not wrong.
Not over.
Dangerous.
The word should have comforted me. It meant he still wanted me but believed the timing was bad. It meant this was temporary.
Yet something in his voice frightened me.
He sounded tired.
Worse, he sounded guilty.
“Mary Ann did this,” I said.
“This is not about her.”
“Do not lie to me
