In the quiet that followed, I could hear the soft tick of Dutch’s wall clock, the occasional creak of the cabin settling, the pop of the fire in the wood stove, and the distant hoot of an owl in the forest outside.
“You okay?” Trent asked, his voice low in the darkness.
I nodded, then realized he might not be able to see me clearly. “Yes.”
His hand traced lazy patterns on my stomach, warm and solid. “We shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” I turned to face him, our noses almost touching on the narrow pillow.
“Because...” He sighed, his breath warm against my face. “Because we’re in the middle of a crisis. Because there are people out there trying to hurt you. Because Sophia’s across the hall and Dutch could radio any minute.”
“Those are all reasons we should have done it,” I countered. “Because life is short and dangerous, and I’m tired of putting happiness on hold while waiting for safety that might never come.”
He was quiet for a long moment, his fingers still moving lightly across my skin. “I told myself I was keeping my distance to protect you. But you were right. I was protecting myself.” His voice dropped so low I had to strain to hear him. “Caring about people makes you vulnerable.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “It does.”
“And in my line of work?—“
“You can make all the excuses you want, Trent Dalton.” I pressed my palm against his chest, feeling his heartbeat strong and steady beneath my hand. “But you came back. You could have sent someone else when my name showed up on that auction list, but you came yourself. You already care.”
He didn’t deny it.
“My father left before I was out of diapers,” he said instead after a long silence, his voice rough. “Never knew him. Not even a picture. Just a name on my birth certificate that my mother wouldn’t talk about.”
I held still, afraid that if I moved, whatever had opened in him would snap closed again. Trent never spoke about his past.
“My mom... she did her best. Worked two jobs most of my childhood. When I enlisted, she was so proud.” His thumb traced slow circles on my shoulder. “She got sick while I was in basic. Pancreatic cancer. Stage four by the time they found it.”
“Oh, Trent,” I whispered.
“She died three weeks before graduation. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” His body tensed beside me, muscles going rigid with remembered pain. “After that, there was just the job. The mission. The team became my family, but it’s not the same as...”
“As having someone who’s yours,” I finished when he trailed off.
He nodded, his chin brushing the top of my head. “I’ve been alone a long time, Evelyn. Haven’t let myself have anyone to care about—or let anyone care about me—since she died. Then I met you.”
I pressed closer, trying to absorb some of his pain. Outside, the wind picked up, branches scratching against the cabin’s roof.
“I had planned to come right back to you, but then Ethan lost someone in California,” he continued. “Maya. She died trying to stop the cult, and it broke him. He’s still not right. He’s… hollow now.”
I remembered the haunted look in Ethan’s eyes on the video call. I could tell there was something missing in him. Now I knew why. “Is that why you stayed away? Because you were afraid of feeling that kind of loss?”
“When I’m on a mission, I can’t hesitate. Can’t second-guess. People depend on me to make the hard calls.” His hand stilled on my skin. “What if I couldn’t do that anymore? What if I chose wrong because I was thinking about getting back to you and Sophia?”
I shifted to look at his face, barely visible in the darkness. “And now?”
“Now I know that staying away doesn’t work. That I think about you anyway.” His fingers traced my jawline. “That I’d rather have whatever time we get than nothing at all.”
The conviction in his voice made my chest ache. I’d spent so long running from men who wanted to control me, to own me. But Trent wasn’t trying to possess me. He was offering himself instead—damaged, complicated, and real.
A soft whimper from the other room made us both freeze. Sophia. I listened, but no other sounds followed. Just a dream, then. Not a nightmare.
“I should check on her,” I whispered, reluctantly pulling away from his warmth.
He nodded, releasing me. I slipped from the bed and pulled on his discarded t-shirt, which hung to mid-thigh. The floor was cold beneath my bare feet as I padded to the door.
“Evelyn.” His voice stopped me with my hand on the doorknob. I turned back to find him propped up on one elbow, his face half in shadow. “I’m not going to disappear again. Whatever happens tomorrow, whatever Langston throws at us… we face it together.”
