CHAPTER 27

Adam’s POV

I’d been quiet for most of the drive, letting Amanda talk, letting her vent. It wasn’t that I didn’t have thoughts God knows I had plenty but I understood her enough to know when silence worked better than advice.

But the second Selene pulled up beside us, it was like tossing gasoline onto an open flame.

Amanda went rigid the moment that sugary, venom-laced voice slipped through the open window. I didn’t even have to look to know who it belonged to. Selene had that kind of presence sharp, invasive, like the smell of bleach in a closed room.

“Well, well. Isn’t this cozy?” she drawled, her words slicing through the hum of traffic like a blade.

Amanda turned slowly, and I could feel the temperature in the car spike. Her jaw tightened, eyes flashing with the kind of fury that didn’t just burn it scorched.

And Selene… God, Selene was enjoying every second of it.

“Shameless,” she taunted, her smile stretching like a cat’s. “Flirting in public while your custody case hangs by a thread. Classy, Amanda.”

I kept my gaze forward, watching the light glow red, counting the seconds. My instinct was to let Amanda handle it. She wasn’t weak far from it. I’d seen her stand toe-to-toe with worse than Selene. But as I listened to the sharp inhale of her breath, the tremor lacing her voice when she bit out, “My personal life isn’t your problem, Selene,” something inside me shifted.

Selene laughed softly. “Oh, darling, your entire life is my problem. And when Ryan takes Levi from you, maybe you can run off with your little bodyguard here. Though honestly—” Her eyes slid to me, cold and assessing. “Not a bad upgrade.”

I saw Amanda stiffen like a bowstring, her fury snapping taut.

“You think—”

That was it. That was the edge she wasn’t supposed to cross.

Before she could launch into the kind of tirade that would play right into Selene’s hands, I moved.

My arm shot out, curling around her shoulders as I pulled her against me hard enough to shock her, gentle enough not to hurt.

Her body pressed against mine, tense and vibrating with rage. And God help me, even in that moment, it felt… right. Like anchoring a storm before it ripped the world apart.

Her scent—soft, warm, threaded with the faint tang of hospital antiseptic—hit me in a wave, and for a second, I forgot why I’d done it. I just held her, felt her heartbeat jackhammer against her ribs, felt my own calm settle in response.

“Don’t,” I murmured, my lips near her ear, my voice low enough that only she could hear.

Outside, Selene’s smirk faltered for a split second before snapping back into place. “Cute,” she said, that false sweetness coating her words like poison. “Enjoy your little moment. It won’t last.”

The light turned green, and she sped off, her tires spitting gravel as she disappeared down the street.

Amanda yanked away from me almost immediately, twisting in her seat to glare at me. “What the hell was that?”

I kept my eyes on the road, pulling forward slowly, like I hadn’t just broken every unspoken rule between us.

“You were about to blow up your amazing plan,” I said evenly. “The one you’ve spent weeks building. The one that could keep Levi with you. Remember that?”

Her mouth opened, closed. Then she let out a sharp breath, slumping back against the seat.

“God, I hate her,” she muttered, the words dripping with venom. “I swear, Adam, there’s something about that woman that makes me want to—”

“Yeah,” I cut in before she could finish that sentence. “That’s exactly the problem.”

She turned her head, frowning. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” I said calmly, easing us into the next lane, “that if you can’t control your temper around Selene, she wins. Every glare, every sharp word it’s fuel for her. She wants you to snap. She wants you to look unhinged because that’s the only way she can justify the garbage she’s been spreading about you.”

Amanda stared at me for a long moment, her lips pressed tight. Then, slowly, she exhaled.

“You’re right,” she admitted, her voice softer now. “I just… I don’t know what it is about her. I feel like I’m back in high school every time she opens her mouth like I want to rip out her perfect hair and make her eat it.”

A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it. I shook my head, a grin tugging at my mouth. “That’s… vivid.”

Her lips curved despite herself, the smallest smile flickering there. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” I said, my tone gentling. “I do. But Amanda?”

“What?”

I glanced at her briefly, letting the weight of my words settle. “You can’t afford to lose control now. Not when you’re this close. Levi needs you calm, focused, and ten steps ahead not throwing verbal punches out the window.”

She held my gaze for a beat before nodding. “You’re right,” she said again, quieter this time. Then, through clenched teeth: “God, I hate admitting that.”

I chuckled. “Get used to it.”

That earned me a side-eye glare, but I caught the twitch of her lips—the kind that said she wasn’t as mad as she pretended to be.

The rest of the drive passed in relative silence, the tension bleeding out in slow waves. I kept one hand steady on the wheel, the other resting loosely on my thigh, but my mind… my mind was still back at that stoplight.

The feel of her pressed against me. The warmth of her skin. The way her breath had hitched just slightly before she realized what I was doing.

God help me, I hadn’t planned on that. I’d done it to keep her from self-destructing, to keep Levi safe, to keep the plan intact. That was all.

At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

But the truth? For those few seconds, I hadn’t just wanted to calm her down. I’d wanted to keep her there.

Focus, Cole.

We turned onto her street, the familiar row of houses sliding into view. I slowed as we approached her driveway, my mind already spinning through what we needed to do next—tighten security, keep the nurse under watch, prep for court when a sharp sound snapped me out of it.

Shouting.

I killed the engine in an instant. The front door was wide open, and a woman’s voice high, panicked rang out across the quiet street.

“Levi! Levi!”

Amanda’s head whipped toward the house, her face draining of color.