ログインNaomi’s Pov The wind at the docks tasted like rust and river water. Cold enough to sting, loud enough to hide footsteps if someone wanted to get close quietly. Cassian didn’t speak as we moved through the shadows. His pace, his posture, the angle of his head told me everything. He was on the edge. Not angry. Not panicking. Just wound tight in a way that made the air feel different around him. I followed close. Too close, maybe, but I didn’t care. The night felt fragile, the kind of fragile where anything could go wrong if you breathed too hard. Cassian raised a hand, signaling for silence. We stopped behind a stack of steel crates, the smell of oil and damp metal rising around us. I leaned in slightly. “You hear something?” He didn’t look at me. “Footsteps. Two. Maybe three. They’re pacing.” I peered through the narrow space between crates. The flashlight beams were faint, moving like slow ghosts across the dockyard. “They’re checking angles,” Cassian whispered. “Pattern l
Naomi’s Pov The ride back to the base was quiet, but not empty. The silence between Cassian and me felt warm, like something had settled in it, something neither of us was brave enough to name yet. His hand stayed close to mine on the console, not touching but not retreating either. When we pulled into the underground parking, he finally moved it. Not far. Just enough to remind me the world outside the car still existed. Rubio hopped out and muttered something about checking the perimeter. He disappeared before I could ask if he needed help. I think he left on purpose, giving space he wasn’t supposed to know we needed. Cassian stayed in his seat for a moment, one hand gripping the steering wheel, eyes closed like he was thinking too hard. “You alright?” I asked. He didn’t answer right away. Then he opened his eyes, and the look in them made my chest tighten. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. I nodded once. “Same.” We both stepped out of the car. The air inside the garage wa
Naomi’s Pov I woke up feeling heavier than usual. Not tired, just full. Full of things I couldn’t name yet. Full of everything Cassian didn’t say last night and everything he almost did. The space he left behind on the observation deck stayed with me, following me down the hall, into the bathroom, into my clothes. I felt him like an aftertaste, lingering long after he was gone. I splashed cold water on my face to clear the heat that kept rising to my skin. It didn’t work. Nothing cleared him. By the time I walked downstairs, people were already moving around: Mara scrolling through footage, Rubio checking weapons, two of Cassian’s guards discussing new intel. Everyone was busy with their roles. Everyone seemed normal. I didn’t. Rubio spotted me first. “You look like you slept on a question.” “Something like that,” I muttered. He paused, studying me. “You and the boss are… weird today.” I shot him a glare. “We’re always weird.” He gave a slow shrug. “Yeah, but now it’s the k
Naomi’s Pov; By evening, the base felt too tight. Too many people, too many whispers, too much movement. The kind of crowdedness that didn’t come from bodies but from pressure invisible, quiet, heavy. Everyone sensed a shift. They didn’t know it was personal. They didn’t know it had nothing to do with the mission and everything to do with the way Cassian had looked at me in that warehouse, like I’d just peeled open something he had spent years burying. I stayed busy. Checked inventory. Cleaned my gun twice. Helped Mara reorganize surveillance footage. I wanted to outrun my own thoughts, but they kept catching up. It didn’t help that I could feel Cassian’s presence even when he wasn’t in the room. That was new. Scary. Unavoidable. And every time I passed a doorway or rounded a corner, some part of me wondered if he might be there not because I needed him to be, but because some part of me wasn’t ready to admit I wanted him close. Rubio found me in the tech room, wires and
Naomi’s Pov The next morning came too bright. Too loud. Too… normal. I hated it. Nothing inside me felt normal after last night. My whole chest felt like someone had pulled a thread loose and left it hanging, waiting for the rest of me to unravel behind it. I dressed slowly, half-distracted, half-annoyed with myself. My hands shook a little when I buttoned my shirt. I told myself it was from the cold. It wasn’t. When I stepped into the hallway, Cassian was already there. Standing by the railing. Drinking coffee. He looked like he’d been awake for hours. He didn’t hear me at first. He looked tired in a way that made my heart do that stupid thing, squeeze and soften all at once. His hair was messy, his eyes shadowed, and the sun from the window hit the side of his face like it didn’t know he was the kind of man you shouldn’t shine on. Then he turned. Our eyes met. And something inside me… paused. He didn’t look away. He didn’t pretend last night didn’t happen. He didn’t lo
Naomi’s Pov The strange thing about distance is how close it can feel. That night, even though Cassian and I barely spoke, even though the house was quiet and nothing dramatic happened, I felt him everywhere. In the hallways, in the echo of footsteps, in the soft creak of a floorboard near my room. He didn’t come to my door, and I didn’t expect him to, but his presence moved like a shadow that kept brushing against mine. I tried to read. My eyes didn’t move. I tried to sleep. My body wouldn’t settle. Every thought drifted back to him. Not in a fantasy way, not in some dramatic romance-novel kind of picture. No. It was the small things. The way he watched me earlier, the way his voice softened when he said I didn’t have to prove anything to him, the way he stood close and breathed like he needed the world to slow down. It was all too real. I finally gave up and went downstairs for water. The base was dim and quiet, lights set to night mode. Something about the soft blue glow m







