Still In My Reach

Zion POV

She thought when she ran out of my office that night that she was done with me.

She really believed that.

But the moment I saw her, I knew she would be mine, and that wasn’t something that was ever going to change.

Yeah, she’s four years younger than me, but I always knew.

Jalen always talked about this ‘my sister is off limits’ shit, but that doesn’t apply to me.

I make my own rules.

Always have.

The moment her plane lands, I get a message from my guy at the airport.

Good.

Right on time, just like I expected.

She thinks leaving the state made it hard for me to keep track of her.

That almost makes me laugh.

I knew every move she made in California—watched her grades, who she hung out with, who she dated, who stayed too long, who got too comfortable.

I had that one guy who put his hands on her handled. He won’t be touching anybody again.

Nobody touches what’s mine, and walks away from it.

I knew when she booked the flight.

I log into the airport security cameras my brother hacked and watch her at the baggage claim, looking around.

Like she feels it, like something in her already knows she’s not out of reach.

I pick up my phone and dial her number.

She looks around before answering, “hello,” her voice soft, and my heart stops.

For a second—everything else goes quiet.

I missed her voice.

More than I should have, more than I let myself admit.

“You finally decided to stop running?” I say.

I hear her gasp before the line goes dead.

I stare at the phone for a second.

Then I smirk.

Still the same, still reacting to me exactly how I remember.

I pick up my burner phone and dial Ghost.

“You still got eyes on her?” I ask.

“Yeah, boss. She’s walking toward the pickup lot,” he says.

“Good. Trail her. Don’t get too close—fall back when she gets closer to her house,” I say, ending the call.

No mistakes, not with her.

“You know Jalen’s there,” Nasir says.

I lean back in my chair.

Unbothered.

I nod once. That's Enough.

“He won’t tell her anything. He knows better,” I reply.

They all do, or they learn.

“You know all you’re going to do is scare her away again,” King says, leaning against the window with his hands in his pockets.

I turn my whole body to face him.

Slow. Controlled, the kind of movement that makes people think before they speak again.

“She’s not leaving again,” I say, jaw clenched, my chest tightening at the thought. She left once-but i never let her go, not really. Not where it matters.

The room goes quiet for a second.

Not this time.

“What do you think she’s going to do when she finds out everything you’ve done?” he continues.

“King, drop it,” Nasir says.

King shakes his head and pushes off the wall.

Not backing down.

“Look you had me pretending to be her friend all those years ago for your bullshit obsession,” he says, pausing.

Letting that sit.

“Now I actually care about her, and this life isn’t for her—Zion—and what do you think is going to happen when people start seeing that Zion Carter got eyes on her?” he says, walking toward the door.

“Call her in a little while, find out what she’s doing tonight. She trusts you,” I say.

My tone leaves no room to argue, no space for him to say no.

He snorts loudly.

“That girl hasn’t trusted me since that night you scared her off,” he says.

“I’ll be back,” he adds before walking out.

I watch the door close.

Then look away like it doesn’t matter.

I’m glad I didn’t have to repeat myself about that call.

He knows better than to make me.

She thought leaving for school was going to change something, keep her off my radar.

Like distance meant anything.

If anything, it made me want her more, made it easier to watch without her realizing it.

If she didn’t know she was mine…

she’s going to learn.

She came back on her own.

Walked right back into it.

I didn’t even need to go get her.

She’s never been too far out of my reach, not with the way I move.

She just didn’t realize it.

And anybody who thinks they can change that… is going to regret it.

The best part is when people think they’re safe.

That’s when they get careless.

Imani thinks she escaped me four years ago.

All she did…

was give me time.

All she did was make the game more fun, and this time...I’m not letting her run long enough to think she has a choice.