“Grace!”
Footsteps.
The door opened.
Grace stood there, eyes wide, hair loose around her shoulders. She looked guarded.
“Are you okay?” The words came out rough, urgent, unfiltered. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she said slowly. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard what happened,” he said.
She stared at him for a long second, something unreadable flickering across her face.
Behind her, water rushed through pipes. A shower. Someone inside.
Luke registered it instantly. He swallowed hard.
Something heavy pulled down through his gut. Not just jealousy—something colder. Something like regret.
“Someone’s here,” Luke said.
“Yes.”
The confirmation lit something sharp and unwelcome in his gut.
“Is that safe?” he asked.
Her eyes flashed.
Luke dragged in a breath, forced himself to slow down. “Grace, I just needed to make sure you were okay.”
She shook her head once. “You don’t get to show up now and act like this.”
Luke swallowed. “I know.”
“You didn’t want anything serious,” she said quietly. “You didn’t want people seeing you with me. So why are you here now?”
Water shut off down the hall. Pipes rattled. A door opened, then closed.
Male footsteps. Unhurried.
“Mercer said you have a houseguest,” he said. “A criminal?—”
Grace folded her arms, red splashing across her cheeks. “You don’t get a say on who I have in my life, Officer.”
“I’m not here to interrogate you,” he said. “I just?—”
“You banged on my door,” she interrupted. And then softer: “You scared me.”
The words cut deeper than anything else she’d said.
Luke took a step forward automatically. “Grace. I didn’t want to scare you. That’s the last thing I’d want. I just—when I heard what happened, I had to see you.”
She didn’t soften.
“I’m safe,” she said. “I’m not alone. And I don’t need you to check on me.”
