She gasped in alarm. “Mr. Everly, you’re bleeding! Is this from the crash?”

Finnian caught her hand, holding her gaze. “It’s just a scrape from the impact. It’s not serious. Don’t worry.”

He was bleeding profusely. How could that not be serious?

Amara bit her lip. “I have a first-aid kit in here. Let me patch you up.”

She retrieved the neglected medical kit from the trunk, pulling out gauze and ointment to dress his wound.

But Finnian stopped her, his dark eyes locking onto hers with intense scrutiny. “Amara, do you still care about me?”

The sheer panic that had flashed across her face when she saw his blood wasn’t faked. That raw reaction had sent a jolt straight to Finnian’s heart, flooding him with a euphoric sense of hope.

He realized she hadn’t completely iced him out. Deep down, the feelings were still there…

Hearing his blunt question, Amara immediately dropped her gaze. “Mr. Everly, don’t say that. You’re hurt, and getting this wound treated is the priority right now. Let me apply the ointment.”

He gently pushed her hand aside, practically unrelenting. “If you do care about me, why have you been so freezing cold to me these past few days?”

He held onto her hand, naked vulnerability swimming in his eyes. Amara couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.

She heard his voice soften further. “Amara, I’ve been missing you like crazy lately, but you’ve been pushing me away. It’s killing me.”

As he poured out his longing, Amara’s mind inevitably drifted to that forceful kiss from last night…

Just the night before, they had been screaming at each other. He had kissed her against her will, and she had slapped him twice. The evening had ended in an explosive disaster.

She had fully expected their next encounter to be hostile and painfully awkward. She never could have predicted this—him saving her life, the two of them huddled in the back of a car, wading into this suffocating romantic tension.

Amara felt unbearably uncomfortable and stubbornly refused to utter a single word.

“Amara. Talk to me.”

He squeezed her fingers gently. When she still refused to speak, he lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

He pressed on, “Why the sudden ice wall? Just tell me the reason, please.” *Why the ice wall? Because you’re still hopelessly entangled with Liliana…*

*When she was sick, you went to the hospital for her. You hugged her! How am I supposed to be warmer to you when you’re still wrapped

around her finger?* f

Amara screamed the words in her head, but outwardly, she kept her lips sealed tight.

The bitter memories flooded back, dragging all her lingering resentment toward him to the surface.

But the crushing reality was that he had just saved her life. The two extremes warred within her. She couldn’t bring herself to condemn him right now yet the anger remained, so she chose silence

Her silence stretched on, and a wave of helplessness washed over Finnian.

He desperately wanted to clear the air, but how could he fix it if she wouldn’t even speak?

Just then, Will arrived with two tow trucks to haul away both the wrecked luxury car and the mangled Buick.

He also brought backup. Several bodyguards dragged the bloody,

half-dead hitman into another net

vehicle, ready to haul

to haul him off for g

brutal interrogation.

“Will is here.”

Spotting Will first, Amara called out with immense relief.

Before Finnian could react, she pushed the car door open and scrambled out to assess the cleanup.