"Who else? Ethan?" Alex Carter asked as he crouched before her, his shirt buttons undone to reveal a broad, sculpted chest. A soft smile played on his lips as his slender, pale hand gently wiped away the tears and sweat from her face. Looking down at her pallid expression, he said, "Lily, don't be so afraid."
Lily's face was filled with terror; even the briefest brush of his fingertips made her tremble. "Don't do that… You're becoming so frightening," she managed to say, her voice quivering. How had Alex become like this?
"When Ethan treated you that way back then, did you ever feel fear?" Alex asked, his tone measured and almost admiring—as if he were observing an exquisite work of art—as his fingertips lovingly traced her cheek.
