"Then let me make you come. I need to feel you fall apart. Need to know you’re still mine while I’m stuck here like this."

I moan softly as two fingers sink into me. He works me expertly....thumb on my clit, fingers curling inside....while I cling to his good shoulder.

The fear from the call mixes with the pleasure, making everything sharper, more desperate. I come hard on his hand within minutes, biting his neck to muffle my cry.

Afterwards, I lie curled against him, both of us breathing heavily. The phone lies cracked on the floor. The threat lingers in the air like smoke.

Zane kisses the top of my head.

"We’ll get through this. But when I’m better... I’m ending this. And then I’m going to fuck you for days straight."

I smile against his chest, even as worry gnaws at me.

"First you heal. Then we fight. Together."

The house feels smaller now. The shadows in the corners longer. But with Zane’s heartbeat steady under my ear, I close my eyes and hold him tighter. We’re both still here. Still breathing. Still fighting.

———

Morning comes quietly.

For once, there are no rushed footsteps outside the room, no doctors, no security alarms and no gunshots tearing through the silence.

Just soft gray light filtering through the curtains and the steady sound of rain tapping against the windows.

I wake slowly, tangled in warm sheets and Zane’s arm draped heavily around my waist for a second I stay still.....Just breathing.

His chest rises steadily behind me, warm against my back, and I realize this is the first peaceful morning we’ve had in what feels like forever.

Then reality creeps back in.

Margaret....we have to plan her funeral.

My chest tightens immediately maybe Zane feels the shift in me because his hand moves lazily against my stomach.

"You’re thinking too loud again," he murmurs sleepily behind me and I let out a small breath.

"Sorry."

"Don’t apologize for having a busy brain."

I turn carefully in his arms to face him. He looks tired still, pale too. His dark hair is messy from sleep and there’s faint pain lingering around his eyes no matter how much he tries hiding it.

But he’s here and Alive, i think that realization will keep hitting me for a while.

His gaze studies my face quietly.

"You okay?"

I hesitate, then shake my head a little.

"No."

Something soft enters his expression immediately and hs fingers brush gently along my cheek.

"The funeral?" he asks quietly.

I nod onc as the heaviness settles back into the room almost instantly and I curl the blanket tighter around myself before speaking again.

"We should start planning it."

Zane exhales slowly through his nose and stares toward the ceiling for a moment.

I can already tell this conversation hurts him too.

Margaret wasn’t just staff to him, she practically raised him, loved him, protected him and took care of him. I think losing her broke something inside him that he hasn’t fully processed yet.

"She deserves something beautiful," I whisper.

"She will get it."

His voice is firm and certain immediately.

I look at him quietly.

"Does she have family?"

For a second his jaw tightens.

"Yes."

Something about the way he says it makes me frown slightly.

"But?"

He goes quiet for a moment before answering.

"Her husband."

I blink slowly.

"She was married?"

"She still technically is."

The bitterness in his tone catches me off guard.

Zane looks away briefly, jaw clenching harder now.

"He’s an. Absolute piece of shit."

The words come out cold so I I stay quiet and let him continue.

"He used to beat and abuse her a lot."

My stomach drops immediately.

"What?"

His expression hardens further.

"When I was younger, I walked in on it once." His voice grows quieter now, rougher somehow. "I remember hearing shouting downstairs. Margaret tried covering for him after, but..." He shakes his head slightly. "I saw the bruises."

Anger twists hard in my chest instantly.

"Oh my God."

"She left him eventually," Zane says. "But he never really disappeared. Every few years he’d show up wanting money or trying to guilt her into taking him back."

"That’s disgusting."

"He was disgusting."

The quiet fury in his voice sends a strange ache through my chest. Because I can hear the guilt buried underneath it too, maybe he thinks he should’ve done more back then, maybe he wishes he protected her better.

"I’m not letting him near her funeral," Zane says suddenly.

"There’s no way in hell that man gets to stand there pretending he loved her after what he put her through."

I reach for his hand immediately.

"You’re doing the right thing."

His eyes meet mine finally and fr the first time since this conversation started, some of the hardness in his expression eases slightly.

"She deserved better than him," he says quietly.

"She had you."

The words slip out before I can think about them and Zane stills slightly.

I squeeze his hand gently.

"You loved her," I continue softly. "I think she knew that."

For a moment he doesn’t answer, he looks down at our joined hands.

"She used to make me tea whenever I couldn’t sleep," he says after a while. "Even when I was already grown."

A sad smile touches my lips.

"That sounds exactly like her."

"She’d yell at me for working too much." Another faint smile appears briefly on his face. "Used to threaten to throw my laptop into the pool."

I laugh softly through the heaviness in my chest.

"I would’ve paid to see that."

"She nearly did it once."

The silence afterward feels gentler now, still painful bt softer somehow, like talking about her makes her feel close again for a second.

I lean closer carefully and rest my head against his shoulder.

"We’ll give her a beautiful goodbye," I whisper.

His arm wraps slowly around me.

"Yeah," he murmurs quietly. "We will."

Outside, the rain continues falling steadily against the windows while we lie there together holding onto each other and trying to figure out how to say goodbye to someone who became family before either of us fully realized it.

——

We settle on the funeral date sometime around noon...soon enough that everything still feels raw and painful. Soon enough that I still can’t fully wrap my head around the fact Margaret is actually gone.

Zane handles most of the practical side of it because honestly, I think my brain would shut down if I had to deal with flower arrangements and burial locations right now.

I sit beside him in bed while he makes a few calls, his voice calm and cold in that controlled way he gets when he’s forcing himself not to feel too much.

"Minimal press," he says firmly into the phone. "I don’t want this turned into gossip.

A pause.

"And tighten security at the church and cemetery."

Another pause.

"No fucking mistakes this time."

I know he’s blaming himself, for Margaret’s death...For the attack, for me nearly dying, probably for everything.

I reach over quietly and place my hand over his. His fingers immediately lace with mine automatically.

"You can’t control everything," I tell him softly.

His jaw tightens slightly.

"I should’ve protected her."

"You tried."

"It wasn’t enough."

The pain in his voice almost breaks me all over again.

I squeeze his hand tighter

"She loved you," I whisper. "That matters too."

He looks away for a second, staring toward the rain-covered windows before finally nodding once. I can tell he doesn’t trust himself to speak right now so instead of pushing him further, I lean over and kiss his cheek softly before sliding carefully out of bed.

"Where are you going?" he asks immediately.

I glance back while pulling one of his oversized hoodies over my head.

"I need to call my brothers."

His eyes follow me the entire time as I move around the room.

"You okay?" he asks quietly.

I pause near the door.

"No," I answer honestly. "But I will be."

Something soft flickers across his face.

"Come back after."

"I’m literally just making a phone call love."

"And?"

I almost smile.

Possessive man.

"I’ll come back," I promise softly.

Only then does he finally relax slightly against the pillows.

I step out into the hallway with my phone clutched tightly in my hand.

Security guards stand at nearly every corner downstairs now, armed and alert. Some nod respectfully when I pass while others continue scanning the property through earpieces and security feeds. The entire estate feels like it’s holding its breath.

I walk toward the balcony at the far end of the hall, needing air before I completely lose my mind inside this house.

The rain has slowed into a light drizzle now.

Cold wind brushes against my face the second I step outside.

I inhale deeply before dialing Lucas firs, he answers almost immediately this time

"El?"

Just hearing his voice makes something inside me loosen slightly.

"Hey."

"You okay?"

"No," I say again with a weak laugh. "Apparently that’s my default answer now."