I tucked my phone away and glanced down again. His expression was soft in a way I hadn't seen in a long time. No tension on his face. No tightness in his posture. He looked peaceful for once. Or at least as close to it as he could get these days.
Very slowly, I reached up and eased the glasses off his face. He let out a quiet breath and sank a little deeper against me, but he didn't really stir.
Okay. So far, so good.
I reached behind me to arrange the throw pillow againstthe arm of the sofa, then carefully adjusted myself to manoeuvre him off my lap. I half-expected him to jolt awake or flinch, but instead, when I lowered him onto the pillow, he simply turned onto his side with a faint sigh and curled in slightly.
I sat back and watched him settle, his breathing slow and steady now and with no sign of the panic that had tried to take him over just a little while ago. He hadn't let himself rest properly since those first texts came in. Every time I saw him drift off during the past several days, he seemed to be bracing for something to go wrong.
Not this time. He was actually sleeping. He felt safe enough to let go.
I leaned down, careful not to disturb him, and brushed a light kiss to his forehead. My voice stayed barely above a whisper as I said, "I've got you, Ro. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."
He didn't move, but I could swear I felt a tiny change in his breathing. Like something in him heard me and decided it was okay to stay asleep.
A faint vibration in my pocket startled me. I pulled out my phone to check the screen.
Unknown number.
I almost declined the call. I hadn't picked up any new work for the past several weeks, but sometimes clients from recent projects still called with questions or follow-ups. I probably shouldn't ignore it. Just in case.
I stole a quick glance at Rowan to make sure he was still asleep. The buzzing hadn't disturbed him, and I didn't want to wake him if this turned into a longer conversation. So I stood up and headed to the kitchen to take the call.
I answered with a quiet, "Hello?"
Silence.
I paused. "Hello?"
Still nothing.
For a second, I thought the signal had dropped. I pulled the phone away to check the bars. Full service. Still connected. I brought it back to my ear, but before I could speak again, a familiar voice finally came through.
"Didn't take you long to move in, did it?"
Of fucking course.
"You've got three seconds to tell me what you want before I hang up," I spat.
There was a pause, and then Marcus kept going. "Just calling to check in, make sure the place is to your liking. Cosy little setup, innit?"
My grip tightened around the phone as I turned back toward the sitting room. Rowan still slept soundly on the sofa, oblivious to the conversation. I quickly moved to the spare bedroom and closed the door so I wouldn't wake him if I raised my voice. "You calling for a reason or just to run your mouth?"
He gave a short laugh. "Bet you think you're some kind of hero, don't you? You think you're going to swoop in and save him from me?"
I stayed quiet. He was digging for a reaction. I refused to give him one.
When he spoke again, his voice was low and dangerous. "You might think you've got him now, Elias, but Rowanwillcome back to me. I know how to get under his skin."
I didn't take the bait. Marcus was trying to do to me what he'd done to Rowan – erode my confidence, wear me down in small pieces. But I'd seen what that looked like already. I wasn't letting it in.
Instead, I said, "For someone who's so sure I'm not a threat, you're putting in alotof effort to chase me off."
Silence. I would'velovedto see the look on his face.
"You done?"
Still nothing at first. Then, "Tell him I said goodnight."
