“Oh.”
“Didn’t you hear her?” I cut in. “We were robbed.”
Silence stretched on the other end. Then—
“Was he armed?”
She nodded, even though he couldn’t see. “Yes.”
“With a gun or a knife?”
“Gun.”
“Jeez, that sucks. What kind?”
“I—I don’t know. A small one,” Candace stammered.
“Oh, that’s good. At least it wasn’t an AK or something.”
Our eyes met again, a thousand words conveyed between us in mere moments.
NotAre you okay?
NotWhere are you?
NotWhat can I do to help?
Cold gathered at my fingertips.
Rage collected around Damien like pressure in the air, but he didn’t move. Didn’t speak.
And there it was—the echo I recognized. Not the CEO. Not the liar. The man whose care had never wavered when the world tilted sideways.
My pulse stuttered, something new unfurling under the leftover adrenaline. Maybe I didn’t fully know Damien Holt. But Read—the way he cared—had always been real.
“Are you going back to Emma’s?” Garrett asked, distracted.
Candace hesitated. “I was hoping I could come home.”
“Sure,” he said after a pause. “I’m at a friend’s house right now. We’re in the middle of a project, but I’ll be home by seven.”
Damien and I both glanced at the clock. 12:35 p.m.
A muscle jumped in his jaw. His hand twitched toward the phone, then stilled. Fingers curled back around the steering wheel, knuckles whitening.
Candace wet her lips and lowered the phone to her lap. “Em, is it okay if I stay with you a while?”
“Of course,” I said, catching her eyes in the mirror. “As long as you want.”
She lifted the phone again. “I’ll just stay with Emma.”
“Sounds good. I’ll pick you up from there.”
The line went dead. Silence seeped into the car as she passed the phone forward, her hand trembling.
Damien took it carefully and set it in the console. His fingers brushed mine—just for a heartbeat—and the touch shot through me, scattering what was left of my composure.
I gave him my address, my voice thin around the adrenaline still clinging to my veins. The car eased into motion, engine humming low. For a while, that was all there was—the city rushing by, tires humming, and the quick cuts of panic replaying in my head. Moments that had lasted seconds, stretching impossibly long inside me.
