Page 85 of His Son's Brid
"Axel…"
"I can't lose you." The confession spills out, raw and true. "I can't lose you or the baby. The thought of it makes me insane. Makes me want to lock you in that safe room and never let you out."
She's quiet for a long moment, her hand never stopping its gentle movement through my hair. Then: "We're okay. We're both okay. We're here, we're safe, and that's what matters."
But are we safe? With the Volkovs testing our defenses, with Leo spiraling further into drunken rage, with Luca asking questions I can't answer?
I press my face harder into her stomach, breathing in her scent. Feel her warmth, her reality, the solid proof that she's alive and here.
"Stay," I whisper against her skin. "Just a little longer."
"Okay," she breathes.
We stay like that for minutes that feel like hours and seconds at the same time. Her standing between my legs, me sitting with my arms wrapped around her waist and my face pressed into her body like I'm trying to memorize the feel of her. Her fingers in my hair, gentle and soothing, giving me something I didn't know I needed.
It's the most peace I've felt in weeks. Maybe months.
Finally, reluctantly, she steps back. My arms fall away, suddenly empty.
"I… I’m going to go now," she says, but she doesn't move yet.
"Okay..."
But neither of us moves toward the door. We just stand there, looking at each other, drowning in everything we can't say.
"Thank you," she says finally, her voice soft. "For tonight. For protecting me. For-for this."
"Always."
The word is a promise I have no right to make.
She leaves, slipping out the door like a ghost. The room feels emptier without her, colder, like she took all the warmth with her.
I lie back on the bed, stare at the ceiling, and try to figure out how to keep her safe while the world falls apart around us.
The next morning, I'm up at dawn. Couldn't sleep anyway, my mind too full of bullets and blood and Aurora's fingers in my hair.
I find Viktor in the security office, already reviewing overnight footage with bleary eyes and a coffee cup that's probably his third.
"I want additional guards on Aurora," I say without preamble. "Discreet. She shouldn't notice them, but I want her covered at all times."
Viktor raises an eyebrow, not bothering to hide his skepticism. "Boss, Luca's already got security on her. His best men."
"Then add ours. I want our people watching her. People I trust absolutely, people who answer to me."
"You're being irrational about this."
"I don't care."
He studies me with the careful gaze of someone who's known me too long. "You care about her."
I don't deny it. Can't deny it. Not to Viktor, who's seen me at my worst and stayed anyway.
"Yeah," I say quietly. "I do."
"That's going to be a problem."
"I know."
