The night tasted like cold air and sadness.
Ariella stopped behind the thin curtain in her apartment window and watched the tall shadow lean against the streetlamp below. Her fingers were shaking on the fabric. With arms crossed. Drooping head. His chest rose and fell softly, but he didn't move at all.
Killian Drake.
He wasn't going anywhere.
He hadn't moved in hours.
Ariella's throat tightened. She put her hand over her mouth so Luna wouldn't hear her stop breathing. Her daughter slept soundly in the small bedroom, unaware that the man who had already broken Ariella was about to destroy the safe little world she knew.
Why is he still here? Why didn't he leave when I told him to? When did Ditell told him to?
But she knew deep down.
Killian has never lost two times.
This time, he didn't lose a woman.
He was losing something much more dangerous for him.
He had made a family without even knowing it.
Ariella stepped back from the window, shaking. She hugged herself and tried to breathe, not letting old memories bring her down:
Killian gently held her face that night when he told her he loved her.
Killian said he would always keep her safe.
As soon as his father talked to him, Killian got cold.
"I can't do this," Killian said.
Killian leaves.
She leaned against the wall and blinked the pictures away.
"No," she said softly in the empty apartment. "I will not let him do this again."
But it felt like he was sneaking back into her life without being invited and couldn't be stopped.
There was a soft knock on her door.
Ariella jumped, and her heart pounded against her ribs.
Not from down there.
From the hallway.
The person next door to her.
Noah's voice, which was calm, came through the door. "Ari? Are you awake?
She thought about it for a moment before opening the door.
Noah was standing there in pajamas and a hoodie, with his hair all messed up and a worried look on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked in a calm voice. "I saw him outside." He hasn't gone since I got home.
Ariella swallowed. "I know."
Noah rested his back against doorframe.ame. "Do you want me to tell him to go?"
The offer was gentle but firm, just like the way Noah always protected her.
But it made her chest hurt more.
"No," she said in a soft voice. "It will only make things worse."
Noah's jaws got tighter. "He can't just show up in your life like this."
Ariella looked down. "Yes, he has."
Noah sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Get some sleep. Please tell me if you need anything. "Anything, Ari."
She nodded and tried to smile as little as possible. She locked the door when he got back to his apartment, put her forehead against the wood, whispered,red:
"What am I going to do?"
She didn't get any sleep.
Not until the sky slowly started to move toward dawn.
Fear still broke her dreams, though.
Luna came into the living room in her pajamas at about seven in the morning, wiping her eyes and bouncing her hair with each tiny step.
She said, "Mamaaa... hungry," and stretched her arms up.
Ariella held her baby close to her heart, which hurt because it was so warm and innocent. The idea of Killian ever stepping into the softness she had made on her own.
"Okay, sweet g" l. "Do you want pancakes?"
"Pan kiss!" Luna chirped and woke up suddenly.
Ariella kissed her forehead and went into the kitchen, but something moving outside the window caught her eye.
Her stomach dropped.
He was still there.
Killian was now sitting on the sidewalk with his elbows on his knees and his suit jacket folded next to him. The wind had messed up his hair, which was usually perfectly styled. His shirt got wrinkled. His eyes were sharp from being tired, even though they were far away.
He had stayed.
All night long.
Ariella's breath caught when she held Luna tighter.
She wanted to be mad.
She wanted to yell.
She wanted him to pay for every tear he made her cry three years ago.
But something colder cut through her:
He won't go until he gets answers.
Luna was one of the answers.
Ariella turned her head away and put her child in the booster seat. She tried to act like everything was normal. I tried to grin. Tried to get Luna to laugh.
When she mixed the batter, her hands kept shaking.
"Mom? "Are you okay?" Luna asked, tilting her head to the side.
Ariella made herself smile. "I'm okay, baby." "I'm just tired."
Luna nodded in a way that only little kids can, as if she were saving the information for later.
Ariella swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Okay," she said quietly to herself. "Okay. You can do it."
She needed a way to get things done.
She had to get Luna to daycare without making a scene.
She had to protect her daughter from the fiery threat that looked like a billionaire.
She had to—
Another knock.
This time, harder. More important.
Ariella stopped moving.
Luna looked up from her fork made of plastic. "Mama? Someone is knocking."
Ariella's heart was pounding in her ears.
She knew who it was.
She walked slowly to the door, and with each step, memories came back to her like weights. When she finally opened it—
Killian was standing there.
Very tall. Worn out. He had his palms on either side of the doorframe, as if he needed something to hold onto to keep from falling.
But in his mind...
Those sharp, storey eyes softened when they met hers.
"Ariella."
Her breathing got short and shallow. Hearing her name on his tongue again was like opening a wound.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in a soft but firm voice.
"You know why." His voice was low and rough from being outside in the cold.
"Killian, please—"
"How long have you been avoiding me?" He came over and asked.
Ariella stepped back without thinking.
"Don't," she said softly. "Don't come any closer."
He stopped right away, and his jaw stiffened. He straightened up and got back in charge of himself.
"Ariella—" His voice got lower. "You're gone. You left without saying anything. I thought something had happened to you. "To us."
"You and I weren't together, Killian."
For a brief moment, his face lit up. "There was," he said in a calm voice. "You know there was."
Ariella turned her head. "It doesn't matter anymore."
He looked behind her, toward the small voice that was humming in the kitchen.
Luna.
Ariella's heart raced.
Killian's eyes hardened. "Who's here?"
"No one," Ariella said suddenly.
He didn't trust her. She could tell by the way his jaw tightened and his shoulders tensed.
"Ariella." His voice got deeper. "Let me in."
"No."
"Then go outside. I— He looked down at his wrinkled clothes. "I'm not going until we talk."
"You stayed the whole night." "I understand."
"I'll stay all week if I have to."
Her breath was shaky.
"Killian, please. You're making things worse."
"I can't leave." His voice broke, which was a small crack in the armor armor he always wore. "This isn't from you. Not again."
Ariella could feel the floor shake beneath her.
She wanted him to leave.
She needed some room.
She needed some time.
But Luna's breakfast timer went off loudly behind her, and Killian's chest rose up quickly in response.
He turned his head to look at the kitchen.
He asked, "What was that?"
"Nothing," she said in a low voice.
"Ariella." His voice got tighter. "Who's at your house?"
Her heart rate sped up.
Then—
"Maamaa! The pancakes are ready!"
Killian's body went completely stiff.
Ariella shut her eyes.
No. No, no—
Killian stepped forward, and his voice was barely heard. "Who was that, Ariella?"
She looked up at him, and her heart broke and rebuilt at the same time.
Her voice shook.
"You have to go."
Killian didn't blink. Did not take a breath.
"Ariella," he said softly, and for the first time she heard his voice shake.
"Is there a kid in there?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
He couldn't breathe.
He said, "Oh my God," in a low voice and stepped back half an inch, as if the ground beneath him had moved.
"Is she—?"
Ariella cried a lot.
She shook her head angrily and slammed the door in his face before he could finish asking the question.
Killian stood outside, shocked, out of breath, and shaking.
Ariella slid down the door and covered her mouth so Luna wouldn't hear her cry.
For the first time since she died—
Killian Drake seemed scared of the truth. Uth