Sunlight filtered through lace curtains, painting patterns across the hardwood floor. I woke slowly, wrapped in warmth and the scent of coffee brewing downstairs. For the first ti in weeks, my body didn’t jolt awake expecting danger.
The bedroom was everything Tony’s grandmother must have been - warm, lived-in, and loved. Pictures lined the dresser showing a woman smiling with Tony’s green eyes. I could see where he got his sharp jaw, the way he held himself like he owned whatever space he occupied.
Voices drifted up from the kitchen. Tony’s low rumble and soone else -Thomas, maybe. I pulled on one of Tony’s shirts, the soft cotton falling to my mid-thigh, and padded downstairs barefoot.
Tony stood at the stove flipping pancakes, his t-shirt stretched across his shoulders in a way that made my mouth dry. The tattoos on his forearms flexed as he worked - that compass rose his grandmother gave him, the Roman nurals marking violence he’d never wanted.
"Morning." His voice was rough with sleep and sothing warr. "Thought you’d sleep longer."
"I slled coffee." I moved to the counter, where his phone sat face up, an encrypted ssage notification glowing on the screen. "Everything okay?"
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Family business. Nothing urgent."
But the way his fingers gripped the spatula told a different story. The Marvin empire didn’t let go easily, even when you were trying to walk away.
"You don’t have to hide that from ." I poured coffee into mismatched mugs - another grandmother touch. "We promised honesty, rember?"
"It’s my dad wanting to discuss transition logistics. Financial holdings, shell companies, legit versus..." He flipped a pancake with more force than necessary. "The parts I’m trying to untangle myself from."
I understood that tension. Wanting out but being tied by a thousand threads you didn’t even know existed.
"How long will it take? The untangling."
"Months. Maybe years." He plated pancakes with surprising dosticity, even though so were slightly burnt. "So accounts have my na attached going back a decade. Legally separating myself from family business ans audits, investigations, exposing operations I’m trying to protect people from."
The weight of what he was attempting settled over breakfast. This wasn’t just deciding to quit a job. This was dismantling his entire identity while trying not to burn down everything his family had built.
"We’ll figure it out." I squeezed his hand across the small kitchen table. "Together."
"About that." Tony’s thumb traced circles on my wrist, right over the fading bruises from the zip ties. "Where are you going to live? You can’t go back to your apartnt - it’s a cri scene and under investigation. And I know you have plans, but until you’re settled-"
"I can stay here?" The presumption felt too big, too fast. "Tony, this is your space-"
"It’s my grandmother’s space. And she’d have loved you." His green eyes held mine. "But I also know you need independence, your own space. So while you’re figuring things out, this is yours too. No strings. No expectations."
"That’s not how it works."
"How does what work?"
"Living together. Because that’s what this is." I gestured at the intimate breakfast, the wearing of his clothes, the way we moved around each other in the kitchen like choreographed dancers. "We’re not roommates, Tony. We’re... what are we?"
He set down his fork, the muscle in his jaw working. "What do you want us to be?"
"Partners. Equals. Not you taking care of like I’m sothing fragile you’re responsible for."
"I don’t think you’re fragile. I’ve watched you break free from trained killers and shoot soone to save us both. But Katherine, letting help doesn’t make you weak-"
"And accepting help doesn’t an accepting control." The old argunt, finding new ground. "I need to rebuild my career. On my own. With my own skills and reputation."
"I can make calls-"
"No." The word ca out sharper than I intended. "Tony, I appreciate it. But I spent six years building a career that got destroyed because of our relationship. If I’m going to rebuild, it has to be my efforts. Not yours. Not sothing given to because of who I’m with."
His hands clenched on the table, knuckles still scabbed from when he’d destroyed his office. "So what, you won’t take any help? You’ll struggle when I could make things easier?"
"I’ll struggle because that’s how I know I earned it." I reached across to uncurl his fist, interlacing our fingers. "You want to help? Support . Believe in . But don’t fix things for . I need to know I’m capable of standing on my own."
"Even if it takes longer? Even if it’s harder?"
"Especially then."
He exhaled slowly, fighting instincts I could see warring across his face. The urge to provide, to protect, to smooth every obstacle from my path. But also the growing understanding that doing so would cage as surely as any enemy.
"Okay." The word cost him. "You rebuild your career your way. But you live here while you do it. No rent, no obligations. Just... let give you that much. A safe space to operate from."
It was a compromise. Imperfect but honest. "Okay."
We finished breakfast in easier silence, the argunt settled if not resolved. My phone buzzed from Susan’s number.
"Oh my God." I grabbed it. "Susan! Are you-"
"Alive? Mostly. Pissed off? Definitely." Her voice was steady but strained. "Katherine, we need to talk. Like, imdiately. Coffee shop on Fifth? The one where we used to study for finals?"
"I can be there in thirty minutes."
"Make it twenty. And Kat?" She paused. "I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. When those n ca in"
"Hey, you got tranquilized trying to defend with a wine bottle. You’re basically my superhero." I tried for levity despite the lump in my throat. "We’re terrible at adulting. You know that?"
"The worst." Her laugh cracked slightly. "Get here soon. I need to see for myself that you’re okay."
After I hung up, Tony was already pulling out his keys. "I’ll drive you."
"I can take a cab-"
"Katherine." His voice held a warning. "Soone tried to kill you three days ago. You’re not taking a cab alone."
He had a point. "Fine. But you’re not coming into the coffee shop and lurking in corners looking nacing."
"I would never lurk." His smirk was pure arrogance. "I command presence. There’s a difference."
"Don’t get cocky." I winked and threw a dish towel at him. He caught it with reflexes too quick for soone who claid to be leaving violence behind.
Twenty minutes later, I was dressed in borrowed jeans that hung loose on my hips and a sweater that slled like Tony’s cologne. He drove us through Brooklyn in his SUV, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on my thigh in casual possession.
"After you’re done with Susan, we need to talk about security." His fingers tightened slightly. "Just basic precautions. Nothing invasive."
"Define basic."
"Phone tracker app. Check-ins when you’re out. Maybe one guy following at a distance-"
"Tony."
"-just until we’re sure there are no residual threats from the Victoria situation-"
"Tony."
He pulled up outside the coffee shop, jaw set in that stubborn line. "I can’t lose you. Don’t ask to just let you wander around unprotected when we don’t know who else might-"
I kissed him, cutting off the spiral of protective instinct. "One security guy. Discreet. And I get veto power if he’s too obvious or controlling. Deal?"
"Deal." He cupped my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone. "Be safe. Call if anything feels off."
"I will."
I climbed out of the SUV, adjusting my purse so that my fully charged phone was within easy reach. The coffee shop was exactly as I rembered - cozy, warm, slling of espresso and mories of simpler tis when my biggest concern was organic chemistry exams.
Susan waved from a corner booth, her red curls wild and her smile watery with relief. I was halfway across the shop when movent outside caught my eye.
A black SUV with governnt plates. Sa model that had grabbed from my apartnt.
It idled at the curb directly across the street, windows tinted so dark I couldn’t see inside. My heart kicked into overdrive as I looked back toward Tony’s vehicle, but he’d already pulled away into traffic.
The SUV’s engine rumbled. Waiting. Watching.
I should call Tony and tell him what I saw. Should activate whatever security protocol he’d undoubtedly established.
But as I watched, the SUV pulled away, disappearing into mid-morning traffic like it had never been there at all.
Maybe I was paranoid. Perhaps it was nothing. Possibly, I was seeing threats where there were none, because the previous week had trained to expect danger everywhere.
Or maybe it was sothing, and I was about to make my first mistake.
I slipped my phone back into my purse without dialing and headed toward Susan’s booth.
So things I could handle myself.
I was almost sure of it.
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