He looks down at Oliver’s bleeding body like it’s garbage on the floor. Then his gaze lifts—and it’s on me again.
Those eyes. Cold steel wrapped in blue flame.
But beneath the fury… there’s something softer now, more tender.
I don’t move. I want to. I want to throw myself into his arms, bury my face in his chest, and say thank you, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I want to beg for forgiveness for not telling him I came here. I want to scream out how much I need him, and just seeing him, feeling him, is what’s kept me sane through all of this.
But the intensity in his gaze, so raw and unflinching, pins me in place.
Then he moves.
One slow, deliberate step at a time until he’s in front of me. My breath catches as he reaches out and lifts my chin gently with his fingers. His touch is warm. Reverent. I can feel the tension in his body, like he’s holding back the urge to crush me against him just to make sure I’m real.
His voice is quiet. Rough. But filled with something I can’t name.
“I swear, one day you’re going to give me a goddamn heart attack.”
I blink at him, lips parting. My chest aches from everything I’m holding in.
He studies my face for a second longer, his thumb brushing my jaw.
“You okay, krasivy?”
His voice cracks on the edge of the question, and that name, the name he always calls me, the intensity of it, and how much he means it, flood through me like a wave.
It makes me dizzy how much I love this man, even though I haven’t told him yet. How much I trust him. How much I want to stay beside him, no matter the wreckage around us.
I swallow thickly. “How… how did you know something was wrong?” I whisper.
“Tyler called me,” Alex replies, his voice low, thumb still brushing along my jaw with a gentleness that steals the air from my lungs. I barely have time to process the words before the trailer door swings open again, and my body tenses, panic rushing in like a second wind as I see more men, this time dressed in suits, enter.
I brace for another threat.
But then I see him.
Tyler.
He’s the last to enter.
His eyes scan the room in a wild frenzy, and the moment they land on me, I watch the tension drop from his shoulders like a weight being lifted. His breath catches, and then he’s moving—fast, unfiltered, desperate.
“You—” he starts, voice tight with emotion, “you absolute ass—” But his words catch as Alex turns toward him with that signature cold stare. Tyler falters, huffs, folds his arms like he’s collecting himself, then exhales hard.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” he mutters instead.
And then he’s in front of me, grabbing me and pulling me into a crushing hug that knocks the last of my fear out of me. I bury my face into his shoulder, my fingers gripping his shirt. The moment stretches, my body finally registering safety. His warmth. His scent.
God, it makes my chest ache.
Alex silently steps away, speaking in low tones to one of the men who came in. Behind them, I see two others lifting Oliver’s limp body off the ground, dragging him out like the trash he is.
Tyler finally pulls back, both hands cradling my face like he’s making sure I’m real.
“My mom called me,” he says, voice trembling with adrenaline. “Said the loan sharks had cornered you. I almost ignored the call—hell, I ignore most of them, but something told me to pick up.”
His eyes flick to Alex briefly. “And I didn’t know who else could help. He was the only one I could think of and who I know has the power to help, after all, he is your Man.”
A tight knot coils in my throat. My voice is shaky when I whisper,
