Part 2
“Don’t trust Jason.”
The words were so faint I almost thought fear had invented them.
I leaned closer, my breath catching somewhere between a gasp and a prayer. Ethan Thornton’s eyes were open—only barely—but open. Dark lashes trembled against skin too pale for a living man’s face. His lips parted again, but no sound came out.
“Ethan?” I whispered.
His gaze shifted toward me.
Not fully. Not clearly. But enough.
Enough to tell me that somewhere behind that still body, behind nine months of silence, Ethan Thornton was still there.
My fingers shook as I reached for the call button beside his bed.
Before I could press it, his hand moved.
Not much. Just two fingers curling weakly against the sheet.
No.
I froze.
“You don’t want me to call anyone?”
His eyelids dipped once.
Yes.
My heart pounded so loudly I was certain the nurse outside would hear it through the walls.
“Why?” I breathed.
His mouth moved again. I bent so close my hair brushed the pillow.
“Camera,” he whispered.
A chill slid down my spine.
I slowly lifted my head and looked around the room.
The flowers. The speakers. The polished corners. The small black dome tucked near the ceiling that I had mistaken for part of the security system.
Someone was watching.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to sit back like nothing had happened. Like I was just a nervous new bride, crying beside the unmoving husband she had been paid to marry.
Ethan’s eyes drifted shut.
A second later, the door opened.
Jason Thornton stepped inside without knocking.
“Well,” he said, smiling. “Settling in?”
My blood went cold.
I wiped my cheeks quickly. “I was just… talking to him.”
Jason’s gaze flicked to Ethan’s face, then to mine.
“People do that. Talk to coma patients.” He strolled into the room like he owned the air. “Makes them feel less dead, I suppose.”
“He isn’t dead.”
“No.” His smile sharpened. “Not yet.”
The words hung between us.
I stood, trying not to let my knees shake. “Is there something you need?”
Jason looked amused by my attempt at courage.
“Just making sure my dear cousin’s new wife understands the house rules.”
“I was told Vivian would explain them.”
“Grandmother explains the polite rules.” He came closer. “I explain the real ones.”
I forced myself not to step back.
Behind me, Ethan lay silent again. Motionless. A perfect corpse with a heartbeat.
