Chapter 26 : We should talk.

Rayna's POV

I couldn't sleep.

Security had arrived, four large, intimidating men who now stood guard outside Oliver's room. The doctor had sedated Oliver after the last text, saying he needed rest and the stress wasn't helping his recovery.

Denzel had pulled strings and gotten me a private room next to Oliver's so I could stay close. But lying in the uncomfortable hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, all I could think about was:

See you soon, Mrs. Adams.

They knew my name. They'd watched us arrive. They could get to me whenever they wanted.

And I had no idea who "they" were.

Was it someone from Denzel's business? A competitor? An enemy?

Or was it connected to something else entirely?

There was a soft knock on my door.

"Come in," I called.

Denzel entered, two cups of coffee in his hands. He looked exhausted, his hair disheveled, his tie long gone, his shirt wrinkled.

"Thought you might need this," he said, handing me a cup.

"Thanks."

He sat in the chair beside my bed, and we sipped our coffee in silence.

"We should talk," he finally said.

"About?"

"About tonight. About what happened between us. Before all of this."

My face flushed. "I don't think now is the time…."

"When will be the time? We can't just pretend it didn't happen."

"I'm not pretending. I just... Denzel, my brother is lying in a hospital bed. Someone is threatening to kill me. I can't process what happened between us when I'm trying not to fall apart."

"Then let me help you. Let me be there for you."

"You are here."

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

I looked at him, really looked at him. At the concern in his eyes. The tension in his shoulders. The way he was holding himself back from reaching for me.

"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly.

"I want..." He stopped. Seemed to struggle with the words. "I want you to trust me. To let me protect you. To stop pushing me away every time things get real."

"I'm not pushing you away."

"Aren't you? Every time we get close, you panic. You throw the contract in my face. You run."

"Because I'm scared!"

The words burst out before I could stop them.

"Scared of what?" he asked.

"Of this. Of you. Of what I'm starting to feel." I set down my coffee cup with shaking hands. "Tonight was... it was everything. And I don't know how to handle that. I don't know how to be the girl who just had sex with her husband while also being the girl whose brother is in danger. I don't know how to reconcile those two things."

"You don't have to reconcile them. You just have to let me in."

"I did let you in. Literally."

A ghost of a smile. "You know what I mean."

"Do I? Because you won't tell me what you want either. You won't say what tonight meant to you. You're holding back just as much as I am."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then, "You're right. I am holding back. Because I'm terrified of scaring you off. Of saying too much too soon and watching you run."

"I'm not going to run."

"You always run."

"Not this time."

We looked at each other, the air thick with everything we weren't saying.

His phone buzzed, shattering the moment.

Marcus.

Just got word, cameras at the hospital parking lot caught a black SUV. Tinted windows. No plates. It was parked across the street when you arrived, left five minutes after the photo was sent. Running facial recognition on anyone who entered or exited the vehicle. Will update when I have more.

"They were watching us," I said, reading over his shoulder.

"Not anymore. Security's doing sweeps every fifteen minutes. If they come back, we'll know."

"And then what?"

"Then I make sure they never threaten you again."

The coldness in his voice should have scared me. Instead, it made me feel... safe. Protected.

"Stay with me tonight," I said suddenly.

He looked surprised. "Amelia…"

"Not like that. Just... stay. I don't want to be alone."

He didn't hesitate. "Okay."

He kicked off his shoes and lay down beside me on the narrow hospital bed. It was a tight fit, our bodies pressed together, but I didn't care.

I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and for the first time since Oliver's call, I felt like I could breathe.

"We're going to figure this out," he murmured into my hair. "I promise."

"Okay."

"And after we do... we're going to talk. Really talk. About everything."

"Okay."

I closed my eyes, exhausted emotionally and physically.

And just before I drifted off, I heard him whisper: "I've got you, Amelia. Always.”