Fiona’s face goes pale.
My jaw clenches. I step slightly in front of her without thinking, protective instinct flaring. Then I look at Silas. “Tell me everything,” I say.
Because whatever Marcus started? We’re ending it. Today.
NINETEEN
FIONA
I hate this part. Not themen with muscles and hero complexespart—although, yes, that also makes me nervous in a very specific way that I will unpack later with a therapist and a bottle of wine. I hate thewaiting. The standing on solid ground while the people you care about walk into danger like it’s just another Tuesday. The not knowing. The helplessness that crawls up your throat and sits there, heavy and sharp, like a stone you can’t swallow.
The meeting ends fast. Too fast. Plans snap into place. Routes. Entry points. Radio channels. The kind of talk that makes my skin prickle because it’s so calm. So practiced.
Chase moves like he’s already halfway out the door. Focused. Controlled. Deadly in a way that doesn’t show in his face—only in the tension of his shoulders and the way his gaze keeps checking exits. He catches my eye once. Just once. And in that look, I feel everything we didn’t get to finish saying.
I meant it.
I’m coming back.
You’re safe.
Then he’s gone, swallowed into a cluster of men grabbing gear and loading vehicles.
I stand on the porch of the clubhouse with Kayley, Harper, and Emma plus Aidan and Poppi on a blanket at our feet like tiny, oblivious bundles of cuteness.
Aidan grabs Poppi’s sock.
Poppi squeals.
Kayley laughs softly, but her eyes stay locked on the SUVs as they roll toward the main gate.
The engines growl. Tires crunch gravel. Radios chirp.
My chest tightens. “What do you do?” I blurt, the question escaping before I can stop it. “How do you… handle this?”
Kayley turns to me, her expression warm but steady—like she understands exactly what’s twisting me up. “We breathe,” she says simply. “We trust them. And we keep the home fires burning.”
“That sounds like something embroidered on a throw pillow,” I mutter.
Harper smiles. “We’d totally embroider it if we had the time.”
“I don’t have the trust part down yet,” I admit, hugging my arms around myself. “I’ve spent so long… waiting for people to fail me.”
Kayley’s gaze softens. “I get that.”
She shifts closer, voice gentle. “But these men? They’re different. They’ve trained for this. They’ve lived for this. And as much as I hate it… they’re good.”
Harper nods. “It’s what brought them here in the first place. They couldn’t stop protecting people, even when the world tried to break them.”
I watch the last SUV disappear past the trees. My stomach rolls. “And what if something happens?” My voice cracks. “What if?—”
Kayley reaches out and squeezes my hand. “Then we handle it. Together. But we don’t borrow trouble. Not before it arrives.”
That sounds wise. And impossible.
I glance down at the babies. Poppi has rolled onto her side, face scrunched in concentration like she’s solving a difficult puzzle. Aidan is trying to eat the corner of a blanket.
Life just… keeps going. Even when the world is sharp.