Sheba laughed so hard her ribs hurt.
‘I’ll take your twin devils over Sacran possessiveness any day.Sante, sis. I needed the giggle.’
As Sheba climbed the stairs back to her apartment, a warm, yeasty scent hit her before her key touched the lock.
Inside, Idan was at the kitchen island, his massive frame casting a shadow on the ceiling as he worked a mound of dough, his knuckles dusted with flour, his focus locked in.
‘Decided to come back?’ he rasped without looking up.
‘Are you going to be less of a jackass?’
He glanced at her, nostrils flaring, eyes blazing, before he twisted his lips and simmered down.
She took it as his partial surrender.
‘Midnight baking?’ she asked, dropping her keys on the console.
‘I can’t stay still,’ Idan rasped, eyes on his kneading. ‘My mind won’t let me.’
Sheba walked over, resting her hip on the counter across from him.
‘We need to talk, Idan, about this wall you’re building around me. It’s too much.’
Idan’s jaw tightened. He rolled the dough into a ball, tucked it into a bowl, and covered it with a damp cloth. Moving to the sink, he scrubbed his hands under the hot water.
He dried them, then leaned onto the countertop, crossing his arms over his chest.
After a beat, he took a deep inhale.
‘It feels like I’m losing my grip on my life,’ he admitted, his timbre rough. ‘I lost Sacra. Now I’m away from the farm. Sulfiqar’s meddling means I’m not sure I even have a future because his potency might be beyond what Molan and I can handle. Restraining what happens to you, the one soul I care the most for, is the only way I feel like I have any say in thisfokkin’ uncertain future. I’m worried that if I let go of you, too, everything will fall apart.’
Sheba rounded the counter and reached for him, her hands encircling his waist, tilting her face to gaze up at him.
‘I get the impulse, honey. I really do. But when I tell you I’ve got this, you have to believe me. If you’re this stressed out, you need to deal with that worry inside yourself instead of making me prove I’m okay to calm you down. Sharing your fears is fine, that’s just part of being together. However, limiting me so you feel better is not acceptable.’
She paused, her gaze steady. ‘In other words, my love? Stop trying to run the whole show.’
Idan stared at the floor, the silence stretching out between them.
He shook his head, realization crossing his face.
‘I’ve been obsessing over you because I haven’t been dealing with my own crap.’
Sheba nodded. ‘Honey, if you take care of yourself, you won’t have to manage me. You’re ignoring your own healing and dumping it all on me instead. Be strong for me when I ask for it,not because you think I’m too weak to handle life. You need to trust me, not hover over me.’
A small, pained smile touched Idan’s mouth. ‘Fokkme. I thought I was being the perfect protector, but you’re the one shielding me from my foolishness.’
‘Thank my sister for the reality check, but yeah, show me some appreciation too,’ she replied with a grin.
‘I am grateful,’ he growled, the tension snapping. ‘I’m also sorry for crowding you and your decisions. What I thought was ‘looking out for you’ was caging you. Trusting you to handle yourself is not easy for this not-so-divineNihil-Stalker, but I’m going to do it. Forgive me?’
She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head.
‘You’re forgiven.’
He jolted. ‘Just like that? How are you just letting this go? I was bracing for you to wreck me.’
‘Babe, I was never gunning for you. I was just sad, because I thought you lost sight of who you are, who we are.’
