"So," he murmurs sleepily. "You finally admitted you love me."

A watery laugh escapes me instantly.

"You almost died. It slipped out."

His chest moves slightly with a weak laugh before he winces again.

"Worth it."

I pull back immediately to glare at him through teary eyes.

"Don’t joke about dying."

His gaze softens as he looks at me and for a second neither of us says anything.

Then quietly...almost too quietly to hear...

"I love you too, little spit fire."

——

The room is quiet, the only sounds are the soft beeping of the machines beside Zane’s bed and the occasional footsteps passing outside the hallway. I lie curled carefully against his side, listening to his breathin, every now and then I still glance up just to make sure his chest is rising. It scares me how relieved that simple movement makes me feel.

Zane’s fingers move lazily against my arm, jn a weak sickly weay but alive.

I close my eyes for a second, I should feel calmer now that he’s okay and out of danger.

But I don’t, bcause Margaret isn’t. The thought slides back into my chest like a knife all over again, Immediately my throat tightens.

I try swallowing it down, they holding it inside a little longer. But maybe Zane feels the shift in me because his hand stills against my waist.

"What is it?" he murmurs.

I shake my head quickly against his shoulder.

"It’s Nothing."

"Liar."

Usually that would almost make me smile, not tonight,

He shifts slightly beside me with a quiet hiss of pain before tilting his head enough to look down at me properly. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"Elaine."

The way he says my name softly like that almost destroys my resolve instantly.

I stare at the blanket instead, my finge twist tightly in the sheets and suddenly I don’t know how to say it. How do you tell someone a person they love is gone forever? How do you say those words out loud and survive hearing them? I know Zane acts all tough and all but I know for sure that he loves Margaret and probably sees her as a mother figure.

"She..." My voice breaks immediately and I stop breathe in a shakily breath and try agai.

"Margaret.....Uhmm margaret didn’t make it."

The words leave my mouth barely above a whisper.

Then heavy terrible silence fills the spac.

Zane doesn’t move beside me and at fir I think maybe he didn’t hear me. Then slowly...his arm slips away from around my wais, not pushing me away but falling like lyk suddenly he doesn’t have strength for anything anymore.

I finally look up at him and I wish I hadn’t.

Because I’ve never seen that expression on his face before.

It’s shock....reall shock.

His eyes stay fixed ahead for a long second like his brain genuinely can’t process what I just said.

"No," he says quietly in disbelief.

My eyes burn instantly again.

"I’m so so sorry."

His jaw tightens hard.

"She was fine when I left downstairs...I saw her and I told her to stay put...I...I saw her down but I didn’t think it was that bad...I thought much like me she would make it..I..fuck!."

"She got hit after," I whisper shakily. "Aaron shot at her."

Zane closes his eyes and I watch his throat move roughly. Then he turns his face away from me completely and somehow that hurts worse than if he’d yelled. Because this man never turns away from anything. Ever. But grief? Grieff hits different.

I slowly sit up beside him.

"I tried," I whisper brokenly. "I swear I tried to stop the bleeding. Noah took over after and they rushed her into surgery but..."

My voice crumbles apart again and Zane drags a hand weakly over his face, for the first time since I’ve known him...He looks tired, not physically..mmre like Soul tired.

"She practically raised me," he says quietly after a while. I nod instantly because I know Margaret wasn’t just staff, Wasn’t just family.

She was home to all of us in one way or another.

"When my sister died..." His voice roughens slightly. "Margaret was the only person in that house who still treated me like a human being after."

I stare at him quietly, bhe never talks about his sister. Ever.

"I used to come home angry all the time," he continues quietly. "Breaking shit. Picking fights. She’d still force food into my hands anyway and treat my wounds after.

A weak broken laugh escapes him.

"She used to threaten me with slippers too."

Despite everything, a tiny laugh breaks through my tears.

Silence settles again.

Then suddenly his expression changes...it hardens, like something cold slides back into place.

"Aaron."

Just hearing the name makes my stomach twist.

"He’s alive," I say carefully.

That gets his full attention instantly as his eyes snap to mine.

"He survived?"

"Barely."

For a second something dangerous flashes across Zane’s face. Pure rage. And just like that, I know exactly where this is going.

He starts pushing himself upright immediately but paint hits him fast.

I see it in the way his face tightens sharply but he keeps moving anyway.

"Zane....."

"Where is he?"

"My brother s security has him."

He swings his legs slightly toward the side of the bed and my eyes widen instantly.

"What the fucvk are you doing?!"

"What does it look like?"

"You literally just got out of surgery!"

"I don’t give a fuck."

His voice comes out low and lethal.

I immediately move in front of him before he can try standing.

"You’re not going anywhere Zane.!"

His gaze lifts to mine slowly.

"Aaron walked into my house," he says dangerously calm. "He shot Margaret, he almost killed you."

My chest tightens.

"Well technically he didn’t walk into your house, he was there already in your cellar.... And he almost killed you too!"

"I’m still alive."

"Barely!"

That finally snaps something in him.

"Exactly," he growls. "Which means I should finish this before someone else has another chance."

I stare at him in disbelief.

"You can barely even sit up right now!"

"I’ve operated with worse injuries."

"You are not operating anything!"

He tries moving again and immediately winces hard enough that even he can’t hide it.

I point at him instantly.

"That. That right there is exactly why your psychotic, very stubborn ass is staying in this bed."

For a second he actually looks offended, then annoyed, then exhausted.

He leans back slowly against the pillows with a quiet curse and I le out a breath of relief.

"You’re impossible," I mutter.

"You love me anyway."

I glare at him.

Unfortunately he looks far too satisfied with himself for someone attached to hospital machines.

Then...I hear movement outside the room but enough to catch my attention instantly and I freeze.

Zane notices immediately

"What?"

I slowly turn my head toward the door, the small glass panel shows movement outsid like a shadow passing. Then stopping and my stomach tightens immediately.

"That’s weird."

Zane’s expression sharpens instantly.

"Who’s outside?"

"I don’t know."

The figure moves again, slowly this time lyk they’re lingering and watching, every hair on my arms stands up instantly.

Zane notices too because his entire posture changes subtly despite the pain..cold and alertp.

"Get behind me," he says quietly.

I almost laugh from disbelief.

"You’re literally connected to machines Zane."

"And I’ll still kill someone if I need to."

Before I can answer, the door handle moves slightly, not fully opening and my heart leaps straight into my throat.

Zane reaches beside him immediately, hand disappearing beneath the pillow.

Gun. Of course there’s a gun there.

Jesus freaking Christ.

The handle moves again, then suddenly the door pushes open slightly....Only for two armed security men to grab someone outside immediately.

"Hands where we can see them!"

A startled shout echoes down the hallway and everything erupts fast after that, as more footsteps approach and More security with voices overlapping.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I was told to...."

"By who?!"

I stare at the doorway in shock while my pulse pounds violently. Zane’s face goes terrifyingly blank beside me, which somehow scares me more than anger. A few seconds later Lucas appears in the doorway, his expression is dark

"What happened?" I ask immediately.

"One of the night staff tried accessing this floor using fake clearance."

Cold spreads through my chest.

"What?"

Lucas steps inside slowly.

"He had a copied access card."

The room goes silent. Because we all understand what that means immediately.

Inside help. Again.

Lucas looks directly at Zane.

"This isn’t over."

Zane’s jaw tightens dangerously.

"No," he says quietly. "It’s really fucking not."

Lucas drags a hand down his face before looking directly at me.

"You’ll need to go home tonight, El."

I blink at him, then immediately shake my head.

"Oh hell no."

Lucas sighs like he already expected that response.

"Elaine...."

"No." I sit up straighter beside Zane instantly. "Absolutely not."