“You think I don’t know that?” I ask, my voice low, tightly controlled. “You think I don’t hear how this sounds when it leaves my mouth?”
Her chin lifts, defiance sparking in her eyes. Unyielding. Brave.
God help me, always brave.
I swallow hard, the weight of the moment pressing down on my chest.
If I tell her everything, she’ll hate me for what I’m about to do next. For the choices I’ve already made. For the ones I haven’t finished making yet.
And if I tell her nothing?
She’ll hate me anyway.
Control or truth. Protection or honesty.
Either way, I lose something.
And the worst part is knowing I’m still standing here, calculating which loss I can live with.
“This isn’t permanent,” I say at last. The words taste thin, fragile. “But for now, you stay here. You don’t go anywhere alone. You don’t tell anyone where you are.”
Her eyes narrow, sharp and unyielding. “You’re still not answering me.”
No. Because if I do, I won’t be able to pretend this is about control anymore.
And the truth?
The truth is I’m terrified that if I loosen my grip even slightly, he’ll reach her first.
“I will,” I promise quietly. “When it’s safe.”
She studies me then, really looks at me, like she’s weighing something far heavier than my words. As if she’s trying to decide whether I’m the threat…
…or the only thing standing between her and it.
I don’t know which possibility frightens me more.
A soft, disbelieving laugh slips from her. “And who decides that?”
She remains where she is, arms crossed, eyes keen and suspicious. Waiting. She’s always been good at that, at holding her ground, even when the ground beneath her is already giving way.
I don’t hesitate.
“I do.”
The certainty in my voice leaves no space for argument. And even as I say it, I know I’ve crossed another line, one I won’t be able to step back over when this is done.
The silence that follows is brittle, stretched too thin. I feel it splinter between us.
I turn away before she can say anything else and pull my phone from my pocket.
One message.
To Jaxon.
Khai:
She stays with me. Pull eyes off the hospital. Redirect everything. No contact unless I say otherwise.
