Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Chapter 626

Clara almost woke up at the sound of the gunshot, but she didn't. She couldn't move, couldn't even control her own body. All she could do was watch the look in his eyes shift from happiness to something so wounded, it felt endless.

He pressed a hand to his chest, head down, silent.

Outside, the rain was coming down in sheets. The storm was wild, shaking the windows, making it feel like the whole world was about to cave in.

Clara wanted to snap out of it, break through whatever was holding her back. She hated scenes like this-two people on the edge, everything tense and raw.

Crash.

Something hit the floor. Clara jerked awake. The glass that had been on her desk was now shattered on the wood, broken by the wind.

She hadn't closed the window last night. Living by the sea, she knew how strong the wind could get sometimes it felt like it could tear the whole place apart.

She'd been through storms before. That island with Dylan, the hurricane—they'd survived together.

So why was she thinking of Dylan now?

Clara rubbed her forehead, still unsettled by the dream. She'd finally had a few quiet days, but after this, sleep was out of the question.

She got up, grabbed a bottle of water, and took a long drink, trying to calm the storm inside her.

She didn't bother with the window. She just stood there, letting the cold air slap her awake until her skin stopped burning.

through her phone, thumb hovering over her contacts. For a second, she didn't

Finally, she dialed Z.

to answer. Z had always been closed off, almost allergic to other people. As far as

chest ache. It was like the pain from her dream had followed her into the real world, squeezing her

kept ringing. She silently begged him to pick

Then, he did.

"Hello?"

he knew it

but Clara's heart

cold wind made

face with

hand,

it wet. She

and hadn't even noticed.

was just a dream, she thought. So why

to speak, but

come. The

blurry, like she wasn't sure if she

spoke again, quiet: "Is that

but her

all she could

laugh. It sent a chill through