Chapter 8

Lila couldn't go back to sleep. The glow of Eli's phone screen had seared the message into her mind: The girl in Seattle wasn't just anyone. She was pregnant. And you put her boyfriend in a coma. She lay beside him, body still humming from their earlier lovemaking, but her heart felt like it was cracking open.

Eli stirred just before dawn, sensing her wakefulness. He pulled her closer, his hand sliding possessively over her hip. "Can't sleep?"

She turned to face him, searching his face in the dim light. "I saw the text on your phone. The latest one."

He went completely still. For a long moment, the only sound was the distant hum of the city waking up. Then Eli sat up, running both hands through his hair. "Fuck."

Lila sat up too, pulling the sheet around her bare breasts. "Tell me the truth, Eli. All of it. No more pieces."

He looked haunted. "Maria—the woman I helped—was pregnant. Her boyfriend was an abusive piece of shit. That night, he was drunk and waving a knife around, threatening her and the baby. I stepped in. Things got ugly fast. I beat him badly. He ended up in a coma for three weeks. The baby… she lost it two days later. Stress, they said. Maria blamed me in the aftermath. Said if I hadn't gotten involved, maybe it wouldn't have escalated."

Lila's breath caught. "Did you know about the pregnancy?"

"Not until after." His voice was raw. "I was trying to protect her. But I lost control. I've carried that ever since. I paid for some of her medical bills anonymously. Left Seattle because the guilt was eating me alive. I wasn't sure you could love the version of me who did that."

Tears stung Lila's eyes. She reached for him, cupping his face. "You were protecting an innocent woman and her child. That's not a monster. That's you."

He leaned into her touch, eyes closing. "I should have told you everything from the start. I was scared of losing you again."

Lila kissed him softly at first, then deeper, pouring her love and fear into it. Eli responded with desperation, pulling her into his lap. The sheet fell away as their bodies pressed together, skin to skin. His hands roamed hungrily—cupping her ass, squeezing her breasts, tangling in her hair.

"I need you," he whispered against her mouth. "Need to feel you right now."

She rose up on her knees and sank down onto him slowly, taking every inch until he was buried to the hilt. They both groaned. Lila rode him with aching tenderness at first, then increasing urgency. Eli's hands guided her hips, thrusting up to meet her. The intimacy of the moment—eyes locked, foreheads pressed together, sharing breath—made it more powerful than any frantic coupling before.

"I love you," she gasped as pleasure built. "All of you."

Eli's grip tightened, one hand slipping between them to rub her clit. "Come for me, baby. Let me feel it."

She shattered around him, crying out his name. Eli followed with a deep groan, pulsing inside her as he held her close.

They stayed joined afterward, catching their breath. Eli stroked her back. "No more secrets. I swear on everything."

The day brought fragile normalcy. Lila worked from Eli's apartment while he handled bar inventory downstairs. She tried to focus on her manuscript, but the words kept circling back to their story—two people fighting to choose each other against the tide.

Sofia stopped by in the afternoon, bringing takeout. Eli's younger sister had her brother's warm eyes and a fierce protective streak.

"So," Sofia said, grinning as she unpacked containers, "you and my brother are finally doing the damn thing. About time."

Lila blushed. "It's complicated."

"Love usually is." Sofia's expression sobered. "Dad mentioned some guy named Reyes called him. Old debt stuff. Eli's handling it, but… just watch his back, okay? He thinks he has to carry everything alone."

The warning settled heavily. When Eli came upstairs for a late lunch, Lila told him what Sofia said.

"I'll talk to Reyes," Eli said, jaw tight. "Pay whatever's left and end it. I won't let this touch you."

But that evening, as they walked together toward Lila's apartment for a change of clothes, trouble found them. A stocky man with a scarred face leaned against a lamppost near her building. He straightened when he saw Eli.

"Rivera. Been looking for you."

Eli stepped in front of Lila protectively. "Reyes. This ends now. I'll wire the rest tomorrow."

Reyes smiled coldly. "Interest has compounded. And word is you've got a pretty girlfriend now. Nice motivation."

Eli's posture shifted, dangerous. "Stay away from her."

The man chuckled and walked off, but the threat lingered in the air like smoke. Inside Lila's apartment, Eli paced, anger and worry radiating from him.

"I should have handled this years ago," he muttered.

Lila went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "We handle it together now."

Their kiss started as comfort and quickly blazed into passion. Eli lifted her onto the kitchen table, spreading her legs and dropping to his knees. He devoured her with single-minded intensity—tongue and fingers working in tandem until she came hard, fingers gripping his hair.

Then he stood, turned her around, and bent her over the table. He thrust into her from behind in one powerful stroke. The sex was raw and claiming—his hand fisted in her hair, the other gripping her hip as he drove deep.

"Mine," he growled with every thrust. "No one touches what's mine."

Lila pushed back against him, meeting his intensity until they both came undone.

Later, curled on the couch, Eli held her close. "I'm going to fix this. All of it."

But as they drifted toward sleep, Lila's phone buzzed with yet another anonymous message.

Unknown: Reyes isn't the only one watching. Ask Eli what really happened the night he left Port Haven nine years ago. Why he really ran.

Lila deleted it, but the fear remained. How many secrets could one love survive before it started to break?

The storm was closing in, and she wasn't sure if their passion would be enough to weather it.