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He clearly wasn't expectingthat.
“You’re in the worst of it,” he says, his voice tight now, more strained. “We know. But I can’t -”
“I’m not asking you to fuck me,” I snap. “I just - I need someone. Just to hold me. Just to be here. Just to breathe near me so I remember I exist.”
“That’s biology talking.”
“No, that’sexhaustiontalking. That’sI’ve-been-in-hormonal-hell-for-days-and-my-uterus-is-trying-to-secedetalking.”
He doesn’t reply.
“I’m not delirious,” I press. “I’mdesperate. There’s a difference. And I don’t care who it is - justsomeone. I’ll take Lucian’s cold indifference, Theo’s reverent panic, Kai’s chaotic nipple commentary - hell, I’d take Lexi yelling at me through the wall if it meant I wasn’t alone anymore.”
I hear him exhale hard on the other side. “If I come in there, sweetheart…”
His voice is tight.
“Thendon’ttouch me,” I whisper. “Just sit. Let me curl in your lap. Let me pretend for a second that I’m not alone. Let me feel you, let mebreathe you.I won’t ask for more. I won’t push.Just -please.”
“Rhea...”
“And if you still won’t come in,” I say, brokennow,“then go get the others. I don’t care. Just don’t leave me here like this. Not again. I’masking,not begging.Asking.”
His voice drops.
“You really want this?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “Let me choose.Please.”
The silence sharpens - and then -
The sound of retreating footsteps.
He’s going to get them.
And I don’t care if I’m slick and shaking and half-dressed in someone else’s shirt - I’m ready.
I need this. I want this.
I wantthem.
And when that door opens, I’ll be ready.
Chapter Twenty
Ash
Iwalk the halls the same way I used to walk patrol in enemy territory.
Calm. Controlled.
Ready to snap someone’s neck if they looked at me funny.
Only now, the enemies are expensive wallpaper, and the only thing firing is my patience.
This place is a goddamn castle. Vaulted ceilings. Stone floors polished like a Bond villain’s ego. Lucian's family probably commissioned the whole estate with phrases likefortress aestheticandmake it intimidating enough to scare off God.
I hit the west wing and round the corner into the library - because of course Lucian has a two-story library stocked with books no one reads.
