Olivia's POV
The words felt like a heavy blow.
No. No, no, no.
I'd been playing games, testing him, pushing his boundaries. But I didn't actually want him to leave.
I didn't want him to give up.
I opened my mouth, ready to break down and confess, ready to tell him not to go, ready to drop the act entirely…
"I need to go out there and look for the intruder," Maxwell continued.
I stared at him, my confession dying on my lips.
"What?"
"The intruder," he repeated. "I need to find him. Before he can hurt you again."
Relief and concern warred inside me.
He wasn't leaving because of me. He was leaving to protect me.
But that also meant…
"You want to go into the storm?" I asked, genuinely alarmed now. "Maxwell, that's insane. It's still raining, the ground is going to be slippery and dangerous. Where would you even start looking?"
