“Threats,” Fiona repeats, like the word tastes bitter. “Right.”
Eli sets his med kit down and walks over slowly. “Fiona, are you hurt?”
“No,” she says quickly. “I’m fine.”
“Okay,” Eli says, nodding. “But your pulse is racing. You’re pale. And your hands are shaking. So either you’re lying… or you’re about to pass out.”
Fiona’s eyes widen. “I am not about to—” Her knees wobble.
I’m there before she hits the floor. I catch her—one arm around her waist, the other bracing her shoulder. She’s lighter than she looks. Warm from the fire. And she smells like cold air and peppermint chapstick.
She grips my shirt like she’s embarrassed to need me. “I’m fine,” she grits out.
“You’re fainting,” I tell her.
“I’mresting,” she corrects weakly.
I should put her down. But I don’t. Because the second she’s in my arms, something primal in my chest settles likemine, protect, keep.
It pisses me off.
It also feels inevitable.
Gavin steps closer, voice soft now. “Fi… talk to me.”
Fiona closes her eyes for a second. When she opens them, her bravado is still there—but it’s cracked at the edges. “There was a car behind me when I left,” she admits quietly. “Not here—back home. I saw it three times. Same plates. Same dent on the bumper.”
The room goes still.
Rafe’s face turns hard. Thorne shifts closer to the door like he’s already planning angles. Silas’s eyes sharpen.
I tighten my hold on Fiona without thinking.
“And then?” Gavin asks, his anger emanating through his features.
Fiona swallows. “And then I found out my ex—mywonderfulex, Marcus—has been… involved in some things.” She lets out a short laugh that isn’t funny. “Turns out when you date a charming man with perfect teeth and a ‘motivational entrepreneur’ Instagram, you should maybe ask why he has three burner phones.”
Wyatt mutters, “Yeah, that’ll do it.”
Fiona glares at him. “I didn’t know. Okay? I didn’t know.”
Gavin’s hand finds Fiona’s arm. “What things?”
Fiona’s voice drops. “People. Money. A deal. I overheard him on the phone. And then he saw me.”
Silas’s voice is calm. “Do you think he’s coming for you?”
Fiona’s breath shudders. “I think he wants what I heard. And I think he wants to make sure I don’t talk.”
Rafe nods once like he expected it. “Okay.”
Fiona blinks. “Okay?”
Rafe’s gaze is steady. “Okay. You’re safe here.”
Gavin adds, fiercely, “No one touches you.”
Fiona looks at all of them like she can’t believe this is real. Like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then her gaze lands on me.