"The hell I can't."
The fierce certainty in his voice settles something panicked in my chest.For the first time since Ethan left, I feel like I can breathe again.
"I was so stupid," I whisper."I spent years with him, and I never saw what he really was."
"You saw what he wanted you to see.That's not the same thing as being stupid."
"I should have known."
"How?Men like him are experts at hiding their true nature until they don't get their way."
His hands stroke through my hair, and I let myself sink into the comfort he's offering.This is what safety feels like.Not control disguised as protection, but genuine care without conditions.
"Come on," he says after a while."Let's get some ice on that bruise."
He leads me to the kitchen, settles me at the island, and wraps ice in a dish towel with the kind of practiced efficiency that makes me wonder if he's done this before.
"Here," he says, gently pressing the ice to my cheek."Better?"
"Better."
We sit in comfortable silence for a while, him holding the ice pack, me letting myself be taken care of for the first time in longer than I can remember.
"Hades?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
"I know."
"Not just of Ethan.Of everything.Of making the wrong choices, of putting the kids at risk, of wanting something I shouldn't want."
"What do you want, Angel?"
The question is quiet, serious, loaded with everything we haven't said to each other.
"You," I whisper."I want you.Even though it's complicated and messy and probably going to cause more problems."
"Then have me."
"It's not that simple."
"It is exactly that simple."
His free hand finds mine, fingers intertwining, and I'm struck by how right it feels.How easy it would be to just say yes, to stop fighting what we both want.
"What if it doesn't work?What if we try and it falls apart and I lose you too?"
"Then we'll figure it out.But, Angel, you can't live your life being afraid of what might go wrong.Sometimes you have to take the risk."
"Even with the kids involved?"
"Especially with the kids involved.They deserve to see you happy.They deserve a home where love exists instead of just duty and obligation."
He's right, and part of me knows it.But the fear is still there, the voice that whispers I'm being selfish, that I'm putting my own wants before what's best for everyone else.
"I don't know how to do this," I admit."How to be with someone without losing myself."
