Chapter 70
Chapter 70:
Brinley’s lips parted as if she might swallow the words, but she forced them out.
“Austin.” Her voice trembled, then steadied. “Do you… do this often p>
He tilted his head, his gaze fixed on her in the dim light. “Do what p>
“Manipulate people.” The hesitation faded, replaced by quiet insistence. “Even me p>
Austin didn’t answer right away. A long silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken things. At last, he said evenly, “In the Moore family, if I don’t stay three steps ahead, I’ll end up falling into someone else’s trap. I won’t let that happen. And I won’t let you get hurt either p>
There was no mockery in his tone, no shield of arrogance—only a raw honesty that caught her off guard.
Even with the shadows obscuring his features, Brinley could hear the truth in his words.
𝘑𝘰𝗶𝘯 𝘰𝘂𝘳 co𝗆𝗆𝘶ո𝗂𝘁у 𝘰n ѕ.𝗰𝗼𝗺
“I see,” she murmured, barely audible.
She curled onto her side with her back to Austin, trying to quiet her racing thoughts. Only a few minutes passed before the steady rhythm of his breathing filled the room.
Unable to resist, she shifted just enough to steal a glance at him. A thin blade of moonlight slipping through the curtains sketched his face in sharp relief, outlining the strong cut of his profile.
He looked as if sleep had already claimed him.
Her taut nerves loosened, yet rest still wouldn’t come.
The slight dip in the mattress reminded her he was there.
His scent drifted across the narrow space—crisp cedar, not heavy, yet persistent, curling around her senses like smoke. The more she breathed it in, the more awake she became.
A low murmur drifted from behind her. “Still awake p>
The words sounded easy, but a quiet thread of curiosity ran through them.
Brinley’s pulse faltered. She instinctively went still, her breath turning shallow, lashes fluttering despite her effort to remain composed.
She forced her breathing into an even rhythm, fingers curling tightly into the sheet beneath her.
Austin didn’t speak again, leaving the room to its hush.
Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of his unseen gaze pressing against her back—steady, inquisitive, almost burning—raising goosebumps along her nape. She didn’t dare turn over. Her eyes stayed clamped shut as if sleep had already claimed her, though her thoughts roamed restlessly through the dark.
The clock on the nightstand marked each dragging second until its hands crept to one in the morning.
Brinley’s eyelids grew heavier by the moment, and just as she began to sink into real sleep, the mattress shifted beneath a subtle weight.
Her breath caught. Every muscle went taut as she sensed him leaning closer, his presence falling over her like a shadow. For one dizzying heartbeat, she thought his fingers might graze her hair—but the touch never came. The moment hung in a fragile hesitation.
“Brinley.” Austin’s voice brushed her ear, hushed and fleeting, like a sigh swallowed by the dark.
Her lashes trembled, something strange unfurling in her chest.
She burrowed deeper into the mattress and gave a soft, sleepy murmur, as though his voice had tugged her from a dream.
Austin let out a low chuckle, the sound carrying both resignation and quiet fondness.