I didn’t have a weapon with me. I would have done just about anything to still have my knife, but there was no choice now. I had to see what was going on.

I twisted the knob and the door swung open.

“Well, it’s about fucking time.” Kaavi’s voice was like a slap across my face.

“Kaavi! You’re all right? You haven’t been hurt? Everyone’s been so worried—”

“Amaya, what the fuck are you doing here?”

My eyes finally adjusted to the darkness of the small room in front of me. It took me a moment to notice the man slumped over in the corner.

“Spencer?” I called out.

“Amaya!” Kaavi said in return.

“Did he do this to you? Did he hurt you?”

“Amaya, god, you’ve got to help me. She’s crazy.” Spencer’s voice was a rasp.

“What’s going on?” I turned to face Kaavi. She looked livid.

“What’s going on is that you need to get out of here right now. Just go outside and hide or something.”

“No way. I’m not leaving you.”

“Amaya, seriously.”

“Leave while you can,” Spencer mumbled. “She’ll kill you too.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Spencer. Kaavi’s not going to hurt me. Or you. Are you, Kaavs?” But she didn’t meet my eye.

“Tell me,” she addressed Spencer now, “tell me why I shouldn’t just kill you. After everything you’ve done?”

“I haven’t done anything, Kaavs. All I wanted to do was give you the life you wanted. That’s all. I’m sorry if, oh god, I’m sorry I did some fucked-up shit to get here. Look, we’ll call the whole thing off, okay? I’ll delete the pictures. We’ll just put it all behind us. You have to understand that I never meant to hurt you.”

“And what about Zoe Bassett, Spencer? Did you never mean to hurt her too?”

Even in the dimly lit room, I could see Spencer pale.

“Zoe? She’s just an ex-girlfriend. I don’t know what crazy shit she’s told you, but I’ve never done anything to her.”

“Like you never did anything to hurt me?” The question was out of my mouth before I even thought about it.

It was the voice he’d just used—placating, gentle, seeking out forgiveness. I’d heard that voice before. I’d fallen for that voice before.

Seeing him here, on the floor, helpless—it brought out a wave of something in me. I’d blown Spencer up as a monster in my head. A powerful, cruel monster who was always able to hurt me. Just the memory of him had been enough to knock the wind out of me. To make it hard to breathe. To make me tremble. And here he was, more than five years later, just a man. Just a man who was trying to hurt again.

“Why don’t you tell Amaya the truth, huh, Spence?” Kaavi spat. “Tell her how you went to our college reunion after Zoe dumped your ass and moved away, because your funds had run out. You needed a quick buck, didn’t you? And you figured the best way to do it was to try and worm your way back into Amaya’s life again. I’m right, aren’t I?”