Bound by the Past, Locked by the Heart novel Chapter 75

Willa stepped out of the bathroom, water still dripping from her hair. She rubbed it vigorously with a towel as she walked toward her bedroom.

As she passed the living room, the doorbell suddenly rang.

She froze, her eyes darting to the wall clock.

It was ten-forty at night.

The list of people who would drop by her apartment at this hour was extremely short.

In fact, there was only one real possibility.

She pretended not to hear it and kept walking.

The doorbell chimed relentlessly, echoing through the apartment for what felt like an eternity before finally going silent.

But a second later, her phone buzzed in her hand.

[Agent J: Open the door. I know you're awake, the lights are on. If you don't open it, I'm coming in myself.]

Willa's grip on the towel tightened. She suddenly flashed back to the night she had that terrible fever, waking up to find him in her apartment.

She pressed her lips together, tossed the towel aside, and quickly typed back.

[Randal, breaking and entering is a crime.]

She waited, but there was no response for a long minute.

Just as she started to hope he had actually left, a low, mocking scoff came from right outside her bedroom door.

"Then call the cops."

Willa threw the door open to find Randal standing casually in her hallway, looking entirely too comfortable.

She glared at him furiously. "How did you know my door code?"

"I guessed."

"You guessed?" She let out a humorless laugh. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

He leaned against the doorframe, his eyes dropping to take her in.

Her hair was still damp, beads of water sliding down the strands to soak into her pajama top. Her skin was flushed from the heat of the shower.

He quickly averted his gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"The code is the date we got together. You've had it for five years and never bothered to change it."

Willa's breath hitched. She wanted to argue, but the words died in her throat.

She looked down, hastily shoving her damp feet into the soft slippers. When she looked back up, she was caught off guard by his expression.

There was the faintest trace of a smile lingering in the corners of his eyes, though it vanished a second later.

Willa's heart skipped a beat. She quickly turned her back to him. "Seriously, why did you come over in the middle of the night?"

"Scarlett came to see you," he stated, leaving no room for argument. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing." Willa dropped her gaze, unwilling to reopen the wound.

She refused to hand him whatever pathetic scraps of pride she had left, only for him to shatter them again.

Randal stepped closer, wrapping a firm hand around her shoulder and gently but forcefully turning her to face him.

"Whatever she said to you, don't listen to a word of it. I'll take care of her."

Willa stared at him in pure shock, unable to process that those words had just left his mouth.

How would he take care of it?

She wanted to ask, but she swallowed the question before it could escape.

Rationality begged her to wake up. She despised herself for how easily his words tore down the walls she had spent years building.