This was the man I'd been so afraid of just days ago. The man whose world I'd wanted to run from.
But he was also the man who'd torn apart a warehouse to find his son. Who'd held Leo all night through nightmare after nightmare. Who looked at me now like I was something precious he was afraid of breaking.
"Thank you," I said softly.
"For what?"
"For this. For being here. For—" I gestured vaguely at the three of us tangled together. "I know this isn't what you signed up for. The nightmares and the fear and—"
"Isla." He shifted carefully, not wanting to disturb Leo. "This is exactly what I signed up for. All of it. The good and the hard and everything in between."
Something in my chest loosened at his words. Something I'd been holding tight since the moment I'd learned what he really was.
"I should get some sleep," I said finally, though leaving felt wrong. "Leo seems settled now."
"Stay." Cassian's voice was quiet but certain. "Please. Just a little longer."
So I stayed. We both did. And when I finally drifted off, it was to the sound of Leo's soft breathing and the warmth of Cassian's hand still holding mine.
Morning light filtered through Leo's curtains, painting everything in soft gold. I woke to find Cassian already awake, watching Leo sleep with an expression I couldn't quite name.
"How long have you been up?" I whispered.
"Not long. He's been sleeping peacefully for the last hour." Cassian carefully extracted himself from the bed, wincing slightly. "I'm getting too old to sleep in a toddler bed."
I smiled despite myself. "Try being pregnant and sleeping in one."
His eyes met mine, and for a moment something passed between us—a shared understanding of all the moments he'd missed, all the nights I'd spent alone with Leo.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said quietly. "For that. For all of it."
"You're here now." I sat up, careful not to wake Leo. "That's what matters."
We moved into the kitchen, leaving Leo's door cracked open so we could hear if he woke. The apartment felt different in the morning light—less like a prison, more like a home.
"Coffee?" Cassian asked, already reaching for the expensive machine.
"Please. Strong."
He worked the machine with practiced efficiency, and I found myself watching his hands. The same hands that had held a gun hours ago now measured coffee grounds with careful precision.
"What?" He'd caught me staring.
"Nothing. Just—" I shook my head. "You're different from what I expected. In a lot of ways."
He handed me a mug, our fingers brushing. "Different how?"
"Gentler. With Leo, with me." I wrapped my hands around the warm ceramic. "When I first learned what you were, I thought—I don't know. That you'd be cold. Unfeeling."
"I've spent a long time being those things." He leaned against the counter, his own mug cradled in his hands. "It's safer. Easier. When you don't let yourself feel too much, you can't be hurt."
"And now?"
"Now I feel everything. Too much, probably." His eyes found mine. "It terrifies me."
The honesty in his voice made my breath catch. This wasn't the controlled CEO or the calculating Don. This was just Cassian, vulnerable and raw.
"Pancakes!" Leo's voice broke the moment. He stood in the kitchen doorway, hair sticking up, clutching Rex. "Want din'saur pancakes!"
