JULIAN POV
The water is pulling me down and all I can think is: I'm going to die before I apologize to my daughter.
Everything happened so fast. One second I was standing on the dock, checking my phone. The next, someone shoved me hard from behind. My head cracked against the boat edge on the way down. Pain exploded through my skull. Then—water. Cold. Dark. Blood in my eyes.
I try to swim up but my vision is blurry. Which way is up? The lake water burns my lungs. I'm sinking.
This is it. This is how I die.
Then I hear it—muffled through the water. Mara's scream.
No. Not like this. She already lost her mother to selfishness. She can't lose me too.
I fight. Kick harder. My chest is on fire.
A splash above me. Someone dove in. Arms wrap around my chest, pulling me up with surprising strength. We break the surface and I gasp, choking on air and water and blood.
"I've got you. Don't fight me."
Sienna's voice. Sienna pulled me out.
She drags me to the dock. Mara is crying, helping pull me up. My head is spinning. Blood drips down my face.
"Dad! Oh my God, Dad!" Mara's hands flutter over me, not knowing where to touch. "What happened? How did you fall?"
I didn't fall. Someone pushed me. But through my blurred vision, I see Sienna looking at something behind me. Her face goes pale. She shakes her head slightly. A warning.
Don't tell.
Why?
"I slipped," I hear myself say. "Lost my balance. Stupid."
It's a lie. We both know it. But Sienna's eyes are begging me to keep lying.
"We need to get you inside," Sienna says, taking charge. "Mara, grab towels. Call Marcus. Your dad needs stitches."
She's so calm. Too calm. Like she expected this.
No. That's crazy. I hit my head. I'm not thinking straight.
They get me inside. I'm dripping blood and lake water all over the floor. Mara is sobbing, calling Marcus. Sienna presses a towel against my head wound. Her hands are steady.
"You saved my life," I whisper to her.
"You would've done the same for me." Her amber eyes lock with mine. "Wouldn't you, Julian?"
She used my first name. Not Mr. Cross. Julian. Like we're equals. Like we share a secret.
"Who pushed me?" I ask quietly so Mara can't hear.
"I don't know." But her eyes say she's lying. "Did you see anyone?"
"No. But someone was there. Someone wanted—"
"Marcus is coming!" Mara runs back. "He'll be here in ten minutes. Dad, you're scaring me. Are you okay?"
I'm not okay. Someone just tried to kill me in my own backyard. But I look at my daughter's terrified face and I lie again.
"I'm fine, sweetheart. Just clumsy. Must be getting old."
She laughs but it sounds like crying. "You're not old. You're just stupid for standing so close to the edge."
If she only knew.
Sienna is still pressing the towel to my head. This close, I can smell her perfume. Something floral and sweet. Wrong. I shouldn't be noticing her perfume when someone just tried to drown me.
But I can't help it. When she arrived an hour ago, I'd stood on that porch and felt my entire world tilt sideways.
Mara's awkward little friend wasn't awkward anymore. She was beautiful. Confident. She looked at me like... like...
No. Stop. She's eighteen. She's Mara's best friend. I'm forty-two years old and I will NOT think about her that way.
Except when she hugged me hello, her body pressed against mine for just a second too long. Her lips brushed near my ear and she whispered: "I'm not a little girl anymore."
Every alarm bell in my brain started screaming.
She'd done it on purpose. The hug. The whisper. The way she smiled at me like she knew exactly what I was thinking.
This girl—this woman—was dangerous.
I'd escaped to the dock to clear my head. To remind myself of all the reasons this summer needed to stay normal. Professional. Safe.
Then someone shoved me into the lake and tried to kill me.
"Here." Sienna hands me water. Her fingers brush mine. "Drink. You're in shock."
"How did you get to me so fast?" I ask. "When I fell, you were inside with Mara."
Something flickers across her face. "I saw you from the window. Saw you fall. I ran."
Another lie. I can feel it. But why?
Marcus arrives in record time. He takes one look at my head and whistles. "Jesus, Julian. What happened?"
"He fell," Mara says, still crying. "Just fell like an idiot."
Marcus looks at me. Really looks. He's been my best friend since college. He knows when I'm lying.
"You fell," he repeats slowly.
"Yeah." I hold his gaze. "Slipped on the wet dock."
"The dock that's been dry all day because it hasn't rained in a week?"
Mara frowns. "What are you saying?"
"Nothing." Marcus pulls out his first aid kit. "Let's get you patched up before we head to the ER. You definitely need stitches."
While Marcus cleans my wound, Sienna disappears. I hear her in the kitchen, making tea for Mara. Acting normal. Like she didn't just dive into a lake to save a man's life.
"She's something else," Marcus mutters, following my gaze. "That girl. Brave."
"She's eighteen," I say automatically.
Marcus raises an eyebrow. "I wasn't hitting on her, man. I was complimenting her courage. Why are you so defensive?"
Because I noticed her curves when she pulled me from the water. Because I can still smell her perfume. Because when she whispered in my ear earlier, my body responded in ways that make me hate myself.
"I'm not defensive. I hit my head. I'm not thinking clearly."
"Clearly." Marcus doesn't believe me. "So who pushed you?"
I blink. "What?"
"Drop the act. I know you. You don't slip. You don't lose your balance. Someone pushed you and you're protecting them. Why?"
Before I can answer, Sienna returns with tea. She hands Mara a cup, then looks at me. Our eyes meet and I see it again—that warning. That plea.
She knows something. Something she's not telling me.
"I should go unpack," Sienna says. "Let you guys handle this. Mara, you okay?"
Mara nods, wiping her eyes. "Thanks for saving my dad. You're like, a hero."
Sienna smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. "Anyone would've done it."
She leaves. I watch her go, my mind racing.
"Okay, what's going on?" Marcus demands once we're alone. "And don't lie. You're terrible at it."
I tell him the truth. Someone pushed me. I don't know who. I don't know why.
"Did you see them?" Marcus asks.
"No. But..." I pause. "Sienna looked behind me when she pulled me out. Like she saw something. Someone. Then she lied about it."
Marcus goes very still. "You think she knows who pushed you?"
"I think she saw them. And for some reason, she's protecting them."
"Why would she—" Marcus stops. His eyes go wide. "Oh no. Julian. Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."
"I'm not thinking anything."
"You think SHE pushed you." Marcus stares at me. "You think that eighteen-year-old girl tried to kill you."
"No. That's insane. She saved me. Why would she save me if she pushed me?"
"I don't know, man. But you need to figure it out. Because if someone tried to kill you once..." Marcus doesn't finish. He doesn't have to.
They might try again.
I take the stitches without anesthesia, needing the pain to focus. Marcus drives me to the ER for a proper check. Concussion. Five stitches. They want me to stay overnight for observation.
"Absolutely not," I tell the doctor. "I have a daughter at home. I'm not leaving her."
Not when someone dangerous is out there.
We get back to the lake house after dark. Mara is asleep on the couch. I carry her to bed, tuck her in like I did when she was little. She's seventeen. Almost grown. But she'll always be my baby girl.
I'm walking back downstairs when I see her.
Sienna. Standing in the hallway. Waiting for me.
"We need to talk," she whispers.
My heart starts pounding. "About?"
"About who pushed you." She steps closer. "Because I know who it was, Julian. And you're not going to believe me."
The lights go out. All of them. The entire house goes dark.
Sienna gasps. I reach for her instinctively. Pull her close.
Then I hear it. Footsteps. Slow and deliberate. Coming from the kitchen.
Someone is in the house.
Sienna's fingers dig into my arm. "Julian," she breathes. "They came back."
And in the darkness, I hear something that makes my blood run cold.
A voice. Female. Singing softly.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..."
It's the lullaby I used to sing to Mara when she was little. The lullaby only three people in the world know.
Me. Mara. And my ex-wife.
Vanessa.