[Elena's POV]

Noah's thumb was pressing hard against my bottom lip, pinning me in place. His blue eyes were searching my face, looking for a lie.

Who is Ryan?

I couldn't tell him the truth. I couldn't say, "Ryan is the leader of the gang that tortured your nephew. He's also my brother, and I love him."

If I said that, Noah would kill me. Or worse, he would kill Adrian.

My mind raced. I needed a lie. A good one. A sad one. Noah didn't care about sad stories, which meant he wouldn't dig too deep.

"He's... nobody," I whispered, forcing my voice to tremble just enough.

"Nobody?" Noah...