I brushed a strand of hair from Candace’s forehead, then pushed to my feet. My legs were unsteady, blood rushing to the pads of my fingers as I reached for the door.
I paused, hand on the knob, inhaling once—twice—trying to settle myself.
Then I slipped out, closing the door behind me with a finalclick.
The hallway felt cold after the warmth of the room—the air carrying tension, soy, and something metallic that didn’t belong.
I walked slowly at first. Taking in the overturned chair. The scuffed wall. The faint smear of blood near the molding. The shadow of what had happened here.
Then I saw him.
A silhouette, hunched on the edge of the sofa. Shoulders tense. Head bowed. A hand dragged over his face like he was trying to wipe himself out of existence.
My feet moved.
Faster.
Faster.
Until I was running.
He startled at the sound, head snapping up, expression shifting the moment he registered it was me.
“Emma—”
I didn’t let him finish.
I crashed into him with my whole weight, arms slinging around his neck, mouth finding his in a desperate, urgent kiss—like I needed him to breathe, like I needed him to understand.
He froze, shocked—just for an instant.
Then his hands came up, warm and careful on my waist, pulling me closer, kissing me back like he couldn’t believe I was real.
When I finally tore my mouth from his, my forehead pressed to his, I didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t second-guess.
Didn’t let fear steal this from me, too.
“I love you,” I whispered.
Something long-locked at last set free.
Chapter 45
***
Emma
The new apartment smelled faintly of paint and lemon cleaner, the kind of manufactured freshness that came with a space no one had lived in yet. Afternoon light spilled across the hardwood floors, catching on the edges of stacked moving boxes and the plastic-wrapped corners of the sofa the movers had maneuvered in an hour ago.
Candace stood in the middle of it all, arms folded, her focus wandering the room like she wasn’t sure she had permission to look. I watched her take it in slowly—every corner, every empty stretch of wall, every possibility the space offered—and something tight in me loosened.
She was safe.
Finally, unquestionably safe.
“They’ll finish setting up the bedroom in the next hour,” I said, stepping beside her. “Damien hired the movers directly, so they know to bring everything from your old place.”
