Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella)

Living Room.noveldrama

Only Silas and Susanna were left. Susanna broke the silence first. "I swear, I didn't mean to. I just..."

She trailed off, thinking of the things Barnaby had said earlier.

Truth was, everyone around Hull already looked at her with suspicion. And now,

after what had just happened, things couldn't be worse.

"How's his wound?" she asked instead, her voice soft.

There was nothing she could say to explain herself anymore. Even if she tried, no

one in Hull's circle would believe her.

Silas shrugged, rubbing his forehead. "Completely reopened. All of it."

Susanna's eyes went wide. "It's that bad?"

He shot her a look. "You did kind of slam your whole weight right on top of him. That's, what, over a hundred and thirty pounds, right?"

"Excuse me!" Susanna squawked, indignant. "I weigh, like, one-twenty at most."

Silas just raised an eyebrow.

Wait a second... Why was she even arguing about this? Was her weight really the issue here?

But then again-what if she'd actually gained a few pounds since coming to Hull's place? She'd been eating a lot of mac n' cheese lately.

Silas smirked. "Want me to grab a scale real quick?"

Susanna's face went red. "No, no, that's really not necessary. So... he's going to be okay, though, right?"

She asked the question like she was tiptoeing on eggshells. Deep down, she really was scared she might've actually hurt Hull for real. The guy was already injured, after all.

And honestly, she already owed him more than she could ever pay back.

Silas looked serious. "Honestly? It's pretty bad. The doctor was really clear-he needs rest. Lots of it."

"Right. Yeah. Of course," Susanna nodded quickly.

Silas smiled, almost wickedly. "So, he's your responsibility now."

"What? No, no, I can't—” She started to protest, panic rising in her chest.

Her mind flashed back to all the warnings Stella had given her about not causing trouble. But every time she was around Hull, chaos seemed to follow. There was no way she could be responsible for him.

She knew herself too well. Her hands, her feet, her mouth whenever Hull was around, they seemed to have minds of their own.

Silas leaned in, lowering his voice. "You broke him. Don't you think you should pay for that?"

Susanna gaped. "What?!"

"Responsibility, Susanna."

The words hit her like a ton of bricks. She glanced at Silas, mouth half-open, desperate to say no. But Silas was too good with words; he'd left her with no way out.

"Let's be real," he went on, "if it wasn't for you, he'd be almost healed by now."

Susanna swallowed hard. She couldn't argue with that. It really was her mess to fix.

Finally, Silas left.

Susanna hovered nervously at Hull's bedroom door. It was slightly ajar. Inside, Hull sat on the bed, phone pressed to his ear.

She couldn't hear what was being

said on the other end-but Hull'set

eyes were cold, his voice sharp as ice. Take care of it," he said, each word precise and dangerous.

The meaning was obvious. If he was talking about a person, that person probably wouldn't see the sunrise.

Her old, safe world suddenly felt a million miles away. Here, livesē seemed to hang by a thread, and she realized-this was her reality now. Scenes like this would probably happen again and again.

She was still lost in thought when Hull ended the call.

He looked up to see her hovering in the doorway, clinging to the frame like a frightened mouse.

"Come in," he said, his tone flat and unreadable.

Susanna snapped out of it and looked at him. Hull was shirtless, a thick bandage

wrapped around his strong, bruised chest.