Not because the danger vanished.
Because I’m finally with someone who will step between me and it without thinking twice.
I don’t fall asleep right away.
I stay awake long enough to memorize the shape of this moment—the weight of his arm, the heat of his chest, the way his breath ghosts through my hair. I hoard it like evidence against the world.
Just in case.
Then even that fear loosens its grip.
My eyes close.
And I fall asleep in the arms of a man who chose me over heaven and hell both.
For the first time in my life — I don’t dream of running.
I dream of staying.
The Peace Before the Storm
Evening settles over the sanctuary like the world finally learned how to exhale.
The light turns honeyed and low, stretching shadows along the exposed beams. Outside, the pines whisper against the windows in their own language. The rain has eased from a steady drumbeat into the occasional tired tap, like the sky doesn’t have the strength left to do more than breathe.
For once, I understand exactly how it feels.
I’m sprawled across Santino on the battered couch, my head on his chest, one leg thrown over his hip like I own him and don’t know how to pretend I don’t. The blanket tangles aroundus, with half of it on the floor. His arm is heavy along my back, his hand tracing slow, lazy circles over my back.
Every rise of his chest lifts my cheek.
Every fall pulls me deeper.
It feels like the end of a war.
This couch.This man.This fragile peace in a house that should never have existed.
His heartbeat thuds steadily under my ear.
I let it drown out the ghosts.
“Tell me something real,” he murmurs, his voice vibrating through my cheek.
I snort. “That’s dangerous territory, ex-Father.”
His fingers pause just long enough to pinch my side.
I yelp, swat his chest. “Asshole.”
He laughs—quiet and surprised, like the sound still catches him off guard. Like he’s not used to being allowed this.
“Something you’ve never said out loud,” he says. “No priest loopholes. No half-truths. Just you.”
My eyes drift to the beam above us. It still smells faintly of sawdust. He hauled it up himself.
I thought then, a man that stubborn should’ve scared me.
Instead, I wanted to kiss him.
