The tension had been building all day, quiet and suffocating, until it finally snapped.
"You're not touching Maribel," Kairo said, voice low but unyielding. "This ends here."
Naya stood across from him in the living room, arms crossed, eyes sharp with restraint. "You don't get to decide that."
"I do," he shot back. "She's my friend. My advisor. Not a target for your suspicions."
Naya exhaled slowly, the way she did when she was forcing herself to stay calm. "Kairo, I don't investigate people because I want to. I investigate because patterns don't lie. And Maribel"
"Don't," he interrupted. "Don't turn this into one of your threat assessments. This isn't a mission."
"That's exactly the problem," Naya said. "You've stopped treating it like one."
His jaw clenched. "Or maybe you're seeing enemies where there aren't any."
Her eyes flashed. "That's not fair."
"What's not fair," he snapped, "is you deciding everyone close to me is dangerous except you."
There it was.
The accusation hung heavy between them.
"Is this about security," Kairo continued bitterly, "or is this about jealousy?"
Naya stiffened. "You know better than that."
"Do I?" he pressed. "Because every time Maribel helps the campaign, every time she's around, you pull back. You watch. You shut down. And now you want to dig into her life like she's some criminal."
Naya took a step toward him. "I don't care who you work with. I care about why she showed up when she did. I care that she knows things she shouldn't. I care that people with money and power don't just help out of kindness."
"And I care," Kairo said sharply, "that you don't trust my judgment."
Silence fell.
Then she said quietly, "This isn't about trust. It's about risk."
"Funny," he scoffed. "That's what your ex said too, right? That getting close to powerful people would get you killed?"
The words landed like a slap.
Naya's face drained of color. "Don't bring him into this."
"Why not?" Kairo demanded. "You met him. You listened to him. You let him fill your head with warnings, and suddenly everyone in my life is a suspect."
"That's not true," she said, voice shaking now. "He didn't tell me to walk away from you. I chose boundaries because you were getting hurt."
"And what about me choosing who I trust?" Kairo said. "Do I get that, or do you decide for me?"
She looked at him then not as his guard, not as his lover but as a woman exhausted from carrying too much alone.
"If I ignore my instincts and something happens to you," she said softly, "I'll never forgive myself."
"And if you keep pushing people away," he replied just as quietly, "you'll end up alone."
The truth of it cut them both.
Neither spoke after that.
Naya turned and walked out of the room, her steps steady even as her chest burned. Kairo remained where he was, anger warring with doubt.
Because for the first time, he wasn't sure whether he was protecting his friends
Or protecting a lie he wasn't ready to see.