A message.
Her eyes scanned the door again. The windows. The locks.
All secure.
And none of it mattered.
That hard-won feeling of safety splintered. Quiet. Absolute.
She pulled her knees tight to her chest, arms locked around them, pulse hammering beneath her skin.
Penny would panic.
She’d call the cops. She’d drag Arden to a hotel or worse—insist on staying somewhere else altogether.
Arden didn’t want that.
She didn’t want to be a victim again.
She wanted this to be nothing.
A mistake. A misstep.
But deep down?
She knew.
Someone had been here.
And they wanted her to know it.
Surrounded by comfort, routine, this veil of safety. Even here, they could find her.
And that knowledge exposed her in a way she hadn’t felt in years.
The lock gavebeneath his hand like a whispered secret—soft, familiar.
He’d studied her security the way he studied everything about her.
Every habit.
Every small defense she thought made her untouchable.
Devotion wasn’t too strong a word.
Stepping into her space felt like entering hallowed ground.
A sanctuary for something volatile. Almost holy.
His Little Fire.
But then?—
His lip curled.
Penny.
A storm of clutter and chaos.
