Chapter Thirty-Seven: When the Fire Chooses You

The scratching at the balcony door stopped suddenly

Silence followed thick, oppressive, unnatural.

I realized then that silence was worse than noise. Noise meant movement. Noise meant intention. Silence meant calculation.

My breath came shallow as I stared at the dark glass doors, my reflection faintly visible, pale and shaken, caught between three men who felt like both my shield and my undoing.

Elliot moved first.

Not fast. Not aggressive.

Careful.

He positioned himself slightly in front of me, one hand subtly outstretched behind him so he could touch me without looking. His fingers brushed my wrist, grounding me instantly.

“Whatever happens,” he murmured, low enough that only I could hear, “you stay exactly where you are.”

Liam scoffed under his breath, tension radiating off him like heat from an open flame. “You keep saying that like she’s not already in the middle of it.”

“I know exactly where she is,” Elliot replied calmly. “That’s why I’m here.”

Marcus didn’t speak.

That alone made my stomach tighten.

When Marcus went quiet, it meant his mind was working several steps ahead of the present moment. His eyes tracked the balcony, the hallway, the reflections in the glass, the faint shadows clinging to the ceiling corners.

“Lights,” he said finally. “Turn them all on. Every single one.”

Liam moved immediately, flipping switches as he went. The apartment flooded with light too bright, too sudden, exposing every corner, every flaw, every place someone could hide.

The balcony was empty.

No shadow. No movement. No intruder.

But my skin prickled anyway.

“He’s still here,” I whispered, surprising myself.

All three of them turned to look at me.

Elliot’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest. “I can feel it. Like… like he hasn’t left. Like he wants us to think he has.”

Marcus studied me closely now, something sharp and unreadable in his gaze. “Fear sharpens perception,” he said slowly. “But sometimes… it reveals things logic misses.”

Liam exhaled harshly. “Great. So now the psycho’s playing mind games.”

“No,” Marcus said. “He’s escalating.”

A chill slid down my spine.

Escalating.

Elliot squeezed my wrist gently. “We’re not letting him dictate anything.”

But even as he said it, I felt it the truth none of us wanted to admit.

He already had.

Because we were reacting.

Because we were tense.

Because the fire between us, the thing we’d been pretending didn’t exist, was burning hotter under pressure.

I shifted slightly, suddenly too aware of Liam’s closeness, of Marcus’s gaze lingering a second too long, of Elliot’s steady touch anchoring me.

The intruder had been right about one thing.

Desire was dangerous.

And right now, it was everywhere.

“We should move her,” Liam said abruptly. “Get her out of here.”

“No,” Marcus countered instantly. “That’s exactly what he wants

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because movement creates vulnerability,” Marcus explained. “Controlled spaces are safer than unknown ones. He knows this apartment. He’s already mapped it.”

My stomach twisted. “So what… we just wait?”

Elliot’s jaw tightened. “No. We prepare.”

He turned to Marcus. “You handle the perimeter. Liam windows, secondary exits. I’ll stay with her.”

Liam hesitated for half a second before nodding. “Don’t let him near you,” he said to me, voice rough. “If anything happens anything you scream.”

“I won’t let it come to that,” Elliot said quietly.

Liam met his gaze, something sharp and unspoken passing between them. Then he moved.

Marcus followed, silent as a shadow.

And suddenly, it was just Elliot and me.

The apartment felt too big without the others. Too quiet. Too intimate.

Elliot turned to face me fully now, his expression softer but no less intense. “Are you okay?”

I let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know anymore.”

He nodded as if that was the only honest answer. “That’s fair.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he reached up, slowly, giving me time to pull away, and brushed his thumb beneath my eye.

“You’re shaking,” he murmured.

“So are you,” I pointed out.

He huffed a quiet laugh. “Guess I don’t hide it as well as I thought.”

My heart thudded painfully. Standing this close to him this man who was not mine, who should never have been an option felt like standing too close to an open flame.

Dangerous.

Addictive.

“I keep thinking,” I whispered, “that if I’d just stayed away… if I hadn’t let any of this start…”

He lowered his hand but didn’t step back. “This didn’t start with you,” he said firmly. “And it doesn’t end with you carrying the blame.”

I swallowed. “But I’m the center of it.”

“Yes,” he said. “And that’s exactly why we won’t let it destroy you.”

His words settled into me, heavy and warm.

Then footsteps echoed faintly from the hallway.

Liam returned first, jaw tight. “Windows are clear. No sign of him.”

Marcus followed moments later. “Balcony’s secure. For now.”

For now.

That phrase echoed ominously in my mind.

Marcus looked at me. “We need to talk.”

The seriousness in his tone made my pulse spike. “About what?”

“About you,” he said bluntly. “And about us.”

Liam shot him a sharp look. “Now?”

“Yes,” Marcus replied without hesitation. “Because the intruder isn’t the only threat here. The tension between us is becoming a liability.”

My breath caught.

Elliot stiffened slightly. “Marcus”

“He’s right,” Liam interrupted, voice rough. “We’re walking on a line that’s already burning.”

All three of them were looking at me now.

Not as something fragile.

But as something powerful.

Dangerous.

Desired.

I wrapped my arms around myself. “Then say it,” I said quietly. “Whatever it is.”

Marcus spoke first. “You are not unaware of what’s happening between us.”

It wasn’t a question.

“No,” I admitted.

Liam exhaled slowly. “Good. Because pretending otherwise is getting us nowhere.”

Elliot’s voice was steady but strained. “This is complicated.”

“Everything worth wanting is,” Marcus replied coolly.

The air felt thick, charged, like the moment before a storm breaks.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I whispered. “I didn’t plan this. I didn’t ask for it.”

“But you feel it,” Liam said. “All of it.”

I closed my eyes briefly.

Yes.

I felt Elliot’s quiet strength, his steady presence that made me feel safe even when I shouldn’t.

I felt Liam’s raw intensity, his fire mirroring my own, daring me to burn.

I felt Marcus’s control, his sharp intelligence, the way his attention made me feel seen and exposed all at once.

“I do,” I admitted.

Silence followed.

Not awkward.

Not angry.

Heavy with truth.

Marcus nodded once. “Then we acknowledge it. We don’t act recklessly. We don’t let it fracture us.”

“And if the intruder uses it against us?” I asked.

Elliot met my gaze. “Then we make sure our fire is stronger than his.”

A sudden noise cut through the moment.

A loud bang from the front door.

We all spun toward it.

Another bang.

Harder.

Deliberate.

“He’s done hiding,” Liam said darkly.

Elliot moved instinctively, pulling me behind him.

Marcus’s voice was calm, lethal. “Positions.”

The third bang rattled the doorframe.

Then a voice echoed through the apartment, muffled but unmistakable.

“You’ve had your talk,” the intruder called. “Now it’s time to see what you’re willing to lose.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

This wasn’t just a game anymore.

This was a reckoning.

And as I stood there, surrounded by fire, shadows, and three men who wou

ld burn the world down to protect me, I knew one thing with terrifying clarity,

The line had already been crossed.

And there was no going back.

The door handle began to turn slowly, deliberately.

And the intruder laughed.