She didn’t answer.
Her fingers brushed Roman’s sleeve, then pulled back like she’d touched fire.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
That was what finally got him. It wasn’t the blood or the bruises. It was that. The way her voice folded in on itself, that helpless sound in her tone.
He reached out and wrapped one hand gently around her wrist, grounding her. He pressed his thumb against her pulse, steady and warm. “Hey,” he murmured. “He’s breathing. He’s alive and talking. From what Hawk told me, he’s still giving attitude, which means we’re winning.”
Her eyes flicked up to his—wide, glassy, and furious with fear. “I should’ve been here,” she snapped. “I shouldn’t have left him alone.”
He felt his brow arch as he shook his head. “No, Del, this isn’t on you. No one could’ve foreseen that this guy would’ve gone after your partner. Even the marshal didn’t think about it.”
He leaned closer so that only she could hear him. “This is on me. It happened because I asked Blaze to run a search on you. I pushed for answers, which put eyes back on your past.” He felt the muscles of his jaw flex as he ground his teeth in frustration. “Leon didn’t come for Roman because of you.”
He exhaled slowly.
“He came because of me.”
Her lips parted, but Elvis didn’t give her time to argue. “You don’t carry this. You don’t get to. I do.”
Her throat worked, and he could see the war inside her, the instinct screaming to fight him on it, while exhaustion told her she didn’t have the strength.
So he did the only thing he could. He shifted closer and let her lean into him. Just enough without being too possessive when all he wanted was to be possessive.
Her shoulder brushed his chest, and she sagged against him for half a second before catching herself.
But Elvis felt it.
Felt how desperately she needed something steady. And for the first time since he’d walked back into her life, he let himself admit the truth—he would burn the world before he let her kneel like this again, feeling what she felt right then.
“He’s alive,” he said. “We have to be thankful for that.”
Delaney heard nothing after the word alive, he was sure.
Not the paramedic asking Roman his name.
Not the marshal’s low, clipped questions.
Not Hawk murmuring something into his phone.
Elvis was sure all she could see was what he could see, which was the way Roman’s skin had gone gray beneath the bruising, the way his hands trembled even as he tried to joke through the pain, the way blood had soaked into the hotel sheets like the room itself had been wounded. She reached for him again, fingers curling into the front of his shirt, grounding herself in the undeniable proof that he was still warm.
“Stay with me,” she whispered, the words breaking loose before she could stop them. “Roman, please—just stay with me.”
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” he said, but his voice wavered, and that—that—was what seemed to shatter her. He chuckled, his eyes closed even though he tried to look at her. “You think they’ll comp us a room because of this? I could use a couple of extra nights. Still haven’t played the slots or found a redhead.”
Her breath stuttered in her lungs, too fast, too shallow as she reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “If they don’t, then I’ll spring for it.” For a heartbeat she looked very young, very unguarded, like the woman she’d once been before aliases and protocols and survival instincts had hardened her into something sharper.
“I can’t do this again,” she said, turning to face Elvis, the words spilling out in a rush, tears blurring her vision. “I can’t watch someone get hurt because of me. I can’t?—”
Her knees buckled.
Elvis was there before she hit the floor, catching her under the arms and pulling her back against his chest. He felt the way she shook, full-body tremors she couldn’t stop, her breath coming too fast, too shallow.
“She thinks she’s the reason someone came after him,” Hawk whispered from across the room, not unkindly. “Give her room to breathe.”
Delaney twisted in Elvis’s hold, pushing at his chest weakly. “This is my fault,” she said hoarsely, confirming what Hawk had said. “I knew something was wrong. I knew he was watching me, and I stayed anyway, even after Deke told me I needed to leave. I stayed because I wanted—” Her voice broke completely. “Because I wanted to pretend I was normal.”
