Silence.
When I finally look back at Leviathan, his expression has shifted. Harder now. More guarded.
"No one touches you," he says quietly. "That's the rule."
"I'm not your property." The words burst out before I can stop them.
Cain's voice echoes in my head—You're mine. You're fucking mine—and suddenly I can't breathe. "I'm not—I spent three years being owned. Being controlled. Having every interaction monitored and catalogued and punished. I can't do that again. I won't."
Leviathan's jaw tightens. For a long moment, he doesn't say anything.
"You're not my property," he finally says. "I never said you were."
"Then what was that?"
"That was me making sure you're safe."
"By chasing off every man who talks to me?"
"By making it clear that you're undermyprotection." His voice is low, controlled, but there's an edge to it. "You've been through hell, Ripley. You're still recovering. And some of these guys—they're not bad men, but they're not gentle either. I was looking out for you."
"I don't need you to look out for me."
"Maybe not, but I'm going to anyway."
We stare at each other—tension crackling in the space between us.
I'm breathing hard, my hands clenched around my glass.
He's completely still, that controlled calm that never seems to break.
"I'm not Cain," he says quietly. "I'm never going to hurt you. I'm never going to try to own you or control you. But I'm also not going to apologize for wanting to protect you."
The words hit me somewhere deep. Somewhere Cain's voice still whispers its poison.
"I know you're not Cain," I say. The fight drains out of me, leaving me exhausted. "I know that. It's just... hard. To tell the difference between protection and control. They felt like the same thing for so long."
"They're not."
"I'm starting to understand that."
He reaches out slowly, giving me time to pull away.
I don't.
His fingers brush my jaw, feather-light, and I lean into the touch despite myself.
"I want you, Ripley," he says. "I want you in a way I've never wanted anyone. And part of that—a big part—is wanting to keep you safe. To make sure no one ever hurts you again. But that doesn't mean I own you. It means I care about you."
"I care about you too." The admission feels dangerous. Exposing. "That's what scares me."
"Why?"
"Because the last time I cared about someone, he destroyed me." I blink back tears. "What if this destroys me too?"
Leviathan's hand cups my face, thumb brushing away a tear I didn't realize had fallen. "It won't. I won't let it."
"How can you promise that?"
