My body senses what’s happening before my mind can, goosebumps erupting all over my skin, my stomach twisting so violently I might be sick. And when my brain catches up, denial slams into me like a wall. No. There’s no way this is what I think it is. No fucking way. Mouly understood wrong. They aren’t going upstairs. Or they aren’t here to make an arrest.
I look around at the guys, who are all as shocked as I am. But when I meet Oliver’s eyes—filled with raw, unmistakable anguish—my nausea doubles.
“Do you know who they’re here for?” Steven asks, his voice thick with disbelief.
“No, Mouly said it was, like, FBI and Homeland, and they had ‘CYBER’ patches, but that’s it.”
Again, my body reacts before my brain can, practically jumping out of my chair and rushing out. I nearly knock Brian over on my way out, but I don’t stop. I don’t even look back.
No. No. No.
There’s no fucking way this is happening.
The open space is chaos—murmurs, frantic whispers, and suffocating tension. But I don’t hear any of it. I only hear my own heartbeat, a brutal pounding in my ears. Hellbent on getting there, I climb the stairs faster than I ever have, two at a time, and slam my entire body into the door when I reach it.
I refuse to believe it. Not even for a second. There’s no fucking way…
As I stumble into the Kelex upper floor, I see people have gathered there, curious to see what’s happening. I shove through them like a desperate force of nature. And when I break through to the front, I witness the crushing scene that caused everyone to gather like this.
My hammering heart stops beating and the entire world ceases to exist as my fears materialize before my very eyes.
Lex.
Lex, with his hands cuffed behind his back. Lex, surrounded by armed federal agents. Lex, his face carved with agony, defeat, and fear.
A blade of ice buries itself in my chest. I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Like Brian said, over ten federal agents are here, and they’re escortinghim toward the elevator. One of the suits grips his arm tightly, forcing him forward like some criminal. Seeing him like this rips my heart in half, my chest aching so much, tears well up in my eyes.
But he isn’t just another criminal. He’s Lex.MyLex.
The hallway spins around me, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. At the same time, it feels as if the Earth stopped on its axis. Countless questions fill my mind, too many at once to leave me capable of thinking rationally. How did they figure it out? Why is this happening now? What will they do to him? Where are they taking him?
Sheer panic makes breathing hard, and when Lex’s eyes drag up and meet mine among the gathered crowd, my lungs stop working altogether. His whole body goes rigid, his steps halting. This isn’t fucking happening.
One of the geared-up men shoves his shoulder with the tip of his assault rifle. A gun. On Lex.
It’s only then that the fear of their weapons sinks in. They could have shot him. One wrong move, one moment of resistance, and they could have ended him during their arrest. The realization hits me so hard that I nearly collapse.
But somehow, the awareness that this could have gone way worse alleviates my overwhelming dismay. Only a little, but enough to get my body to move again.
“Wait!” I scream, the sheer desperation in my voice silencing the room. I don’t think as I lunge forward, ignoring the men barking at me to stay back. I crash into Lex’s solid chest, wrapping my arms around him with every ounce of strength I have.
This isn’t it.
This isn’t our story.
This isn’t how we end.
“I love you,” I utter over and over, my body trembling violently. Someone pulls on my shoulder while they shove him back, trying to separate us. But I cling to him like my life depends on it.
“Andrea, my love, let go,” Lex begs, his voice cracking up. I can feel how much he wishes he could hold me in return, and I resent the handcuffs for preventing it.
I shake my head furiously. “I promised I’d never leave you. I meant it.”
The agents hesitate—maybe out of mercy, maybe to avoid causing a scene. I tilt my face up, struggling to see Lex’s dismayed face through my tears. “What do we do?” I whisper.
“For your own sake, nothing.”
“But—”
