Alle Kapitel von Criminally in love: Kapitel 61 – Kapitel 68

The lights were still glowing through the curtains. She stepped closer, her bare feet slapping softly against the balcony. She didn’t even feel anything. All she felt was the panic clawing at her chest, the guilt tearing through her ribs as if trying to break free. She pressed her palm to the bedroom bed trying to catch her breath. And then she froze. There, on the stairs stood Jane. Her friend. Her closest confidant. The girl she’d cried to. The girl she’d trusted. Jane’s Jane Jane Karen’s heart dropped so sharply she felt physically dizzy. Jane leaned closer, her hair falling over her shoulder, her voice soft, almost coaxing. Karen couldn’t hear the words, but she didn’t need to. The way Jane looked at him, the way her hand trailed up his arm it was enough. Her stomach twisted painfully. “No,” she whispered, her voice cracking into the night

Immediately Mark left, Peter was so sure he would not let Karen stay at home because mark could plot another one of his mischievous evil on Karen.He didn’t dare.Not after seeing Mark wandering the estate like a wolf searching for blood. Not after hearing his voice dripping with hatred for the child Karen carried.As he carried her through the dimly lit back pathway, Karen clung to him, her arms around his neck, her face buried in the warm space between his shoulder and jaw.He could feel her trembling.Not from cold.From fear.From exhaustion.From everything she’d endured in the last hours.“Peter,” she whispered weakly, “where where are you taking me?”“Somewhere safe,” he murmured, brushing a kiss against her forehead. “Somewhere Mark doesn’t know exists. Somewhere not even Jane can find you.”Her fingers tightened in his shirt.“Why do you sound like you’re saying goodbye?”He didn’t answer.Not yet.He carried her to his car behind the maintenance building his backup vehicle,

Night settled heavily around the safe house, the kind of night that pressed against the windows like a warning. Inside, Karen curled on the small couch, knees drawn up, one hand resting protectively over her stomach. Her eyes were swollen from crying, but the tears had finally stopped. Exhaustion had replaced them.Peter stood by the window, barely breathing, watching the empty road like it might sprout danger at any moment. The safe house was hidden behind thick bushes, a forgotten bungalow his father once used for storage during his construction days. No cameras. No neighbors. No one to ask questions.But safety felt thin tonight. Too thin.Karen’s voice broke the silence. “He’ll find me, Peter.”Peter turned. The fear on her face nearly ripped him apart. She wasn’t the Karen who snapped back, who insulted him for every little thing, who tried to prove she didn’t care. She looked fragile. Almost breakable.“He won’t find you here,” Peter said, crossing to her. “I promise.”“Mark alw

The storm had passed, but the air inside the safe house still crackled with something fiercer than thunder.Peter set the lamp on the floor, its low flame throwing long shadows across the peeling wallpaper. The golden light caught on Karen’s face cheekbones sharp with exhaustion, lips swollen from biting back everything she couldn’t say. She sat curled into the corner of the couch, knees hugged to her chest, drowning in his jacket. The sleeves swallowed her hands. She looked small. She looked like his.He crossed the room in three slow strides and dropped to one knee in front of her, close enough that the heat rolling off his body cut through the damp chill clinging to her skin.“You’re shaking,” he said, voice rough.“I’m not cold.”“I know.”Her eyes flicked up to his, dark and glassy with unshed tears, and something inside his chest tore wide open.He reached for her face. She let him. His palms framed her jaw, thumbs sweeping across the wet tracks on her cheeks. The touch was care