MasukLena’s POVEli laughs it’s not loud not one of those big, dramatic baby laughs you see in videos it’s small andoft like he’s still figuring out how to do it but it’s real.And it hits me harder than anything else ever has.I freeze in the doorway, one hand still resting against the frame, just watching.Ethan is on the floor on the floor aman who used to run billion-dollar meetings without blinking is currently lying on his back on a blanket, making the most ridiculous sounds I have ever heard in my life.“And then,” he says in a deep, dramatic voice, lifting Eli slightly into the air, “the giant monster decided… to eat the tiny baby.”Eli kicks his legs, his little arms flailing as that soft, breathy laugh escapes him again.My chest tightens.God I’ve never seen anything like this.Ethan lowers him slowly, bringing him back down toward his chest. “Or maybe not,” he adds, his voice softer now. “Maybe the monster likes the baby too much.”Eli coos, his tiny fingers grabbing onto Ethan
Victor’s POVI don’t go through the front door not because I can’t because I don’t need to.There are habits you don’t lose, no matter how many years pass. Moving quietly. Watching before stepping in. Knowing what’s happening before anyone realizes you’re there.I stand across the street, just far enough not to draw attention, close enough to see everything.The house, movement, the guards Ethan’s doing a good job netter than I expected.There are cameras placed at the right angles, not obvious but effective. The kind of setup that doesn’t just look secure it is. Rotating patrols, not predictable. That tells me he’s not relying on standard systems.He’s thinking. Good because the people we’re dealing with don’t make obvious moves.They wait, adapt, they strike when you think you’re safe and right now Lena is the most valuable target in a game most people don’t even understand.I exhale slowly, adjusting the file in my hand.Everything I’ve built over the years comes down to this.I tu
Lena’s POVI wake up slowly not because something startled me not because my body is already tense before I even open my eyes just naturally the kind of waking that feels soft instead of sharp for a second, I stay still, my mind not fully catching up yet my body still wrapped in that warm, quiet space between sleep and being awake then I feel it warmth.My breath catches slightly as my eyes open and there he is Ethan, right beside me.His arm draped loosely around my waist, his chest rising and falling steadily against my back, his face relaxed in sleep in a way I haven’t seen in a long time.I don’t move, I don’t pull away, I don’t panic I just look at him and wait for that familiar rush of fear.That instinct to create distance.That voice in my head telling me this is too much, too fast, too dangerous but it doesn’t come not this time instead there’s something else something softer and quieter.My eyes trace over his face slowly, taking in the small details I used to know by heart.
Ethan’s POVThe house is quiet again.But this time… it doesn’t feel heavy.It feels lived in.I step into the bedroom slowly, closing the door behind me as my eyes adjust to the soft light coming from the lamp on Lena’s side.She’s already in bed.Sitting up against the headboard, a loose shirt slipping slightly off her shoulder, her hair falling around her face in that effortless way that always makes it hard to look anywhere else.She glances up when I walk in.There’s no tension in her expression.No guarded distance.Just awareness.Of me.“You took long,” she says softly.“I was making sure Eli was settled,” I reply, loosening the shirt at my collar.“He’s asleep?” she asks.“Out,” I say. “Didn’t even fight it tonight.”She smiles faintly at that, then shifts slightly, pulling the blanket down just enough to make space beside her.Not awkward.Not hesitant.Just… an invitation.My chest tightens in a way I haven’t felt in a long time.I move toward the bed slowly, not rushing it
Keenan’s POVI never thought I’d be the kind of guy who noticed things like curtains or kitchen counters or whether a couch felt like home or just something to sit on but here I am standing in the middle of my living room staring at a throw pillow like it personally offended me.“That pillow has done nothing to you,” James says from behind me.I glance over my shoulder.He’s leaning against the doorway arms crossed watching me with that calm, amused expression he always has when he thinks I’m being dramatic.Which is often.“It’s the color,” I reply, frowning slightly. “It doesn’t match anything.”“It’s gray,” he says.“Exactly.”He lets out a quiet laugh and pushes himself off the wall, walking into the room like he owns it which he kind of does now or at least half of it that thought should feel weird it doesn’t it feels right.“You bought this place,” he says, picking up the pillow and tossing it casually onto the couch. “You don’t get to complain about the furniture you chose.”“I
Lena’s POVThe sound of construction wakes me before my alarm does not loud enough to be annoying just constant.A low hum of movement that wasn’t here before for a second I lie still, staring at the ceiling trying to place it then it hits me.The island it’s changing again.I push the blanket back slowly and sit up, stretching carefully before glancing toward Eli’s crib. He’s still asleep, his tiny chest rising and falling in that steady rhythm that somehow makes everything feel okay, even when it isn’t.I smile softly and stand walking over to him. “Good morning, baby,” I whisper brushing my fingers lightly over his cheek.He stirs but doesn’t wake luckily. I slip out of the room quietly grabbing a loose sweater before stepping outside.The air smells different, cleaner and fresh there is movement down the road already workers walking, trucks passing slowly, people talking in low voices as they start their day.I lean against the porch railing watching it all when Ethan first came h
Lena’s POVFour weeks have passed since the storm rolled across Achwick like it wanted to erase everything in its path and yet the town is still standing, breathing and somehow growing instead of breaking.From the front window of the café I watch it every morning the slow reshaping of a place that
Ethan’s POVI don’t sleep much anymore. I lie in that guesthouse by the beach staring at a ceiling thinking about the Millers.That is what sits in my head when I close my eyes. Samuel and Chanel Miller.Names that look perfect on paper too perfect.I sit at the small desk in the guesthouse with my
Lena’s POVThe morning starts like most mornings do now with the sound of waves, the smell of coffee and the low murmur of Keenan talking to his grandmother on the phone somewhere down the hall.I wake before him I usually do yes he is staying with me. His parents are going to sell their house and
Lena’s POVI din’t hear them arrive that is the part that still messes with me when I think about it later it was judta knock three soft taps on the front door like they are asking to borrow sugar. I’m in the kitchen with Keenan, chopping tomatoes badly because my hands won’t stop shaking and I kee







