Page 213 of The Owner's Temptation

I can feel it coming.

And I can’t even blame him.

I took a contract to get back at him. Stepped blindly into a war I didn’t even know existed. Got myself captured, held hostage, turned into bait in some sick fucking revenge plot—and now here I am, waiting for him to do the inevitable.

To cut ties.

To protect The Ledger.

He’s going to end it all for good.

The aircraft touches down with the softest jolt, the wheels kissing the ground like the quiet before a final goodbye. The doors open and his men file out in practiced formation. Killian moves first, already barking orders into his comm.

Lucian doesn’t move.

Not until everyone else is gone.

Then he stands on the rooftop just outside the helicopter.

And I prepare myself for it—that last flicker of connection severed like a thread snapped under too much tension.

I shift to the seat near the door, ready to follow, but his arm shoots out, bracing against the frame of the craft.

Blocking me in.

“Wait.”

His voice is low. Strained. But not cold.

He’s still not looking at me, and I can feel my breath catch in my throat.

Don’t do this. Please don’t do this.

I can’t make myself say it. I can't even look at him when he finally speaks again.

“I sent you away.”

There it is. The words I’ve been bracing for.

“It should have kept you safe.”

His arm drops, but he still doesn’t step away. He just stands there, head bowed, like he's not sure what to do with the weight of his own thoughts.

“I should’ve told you everything. About the war. About Lorenzo. About how close it was getting.”

He breathes in sharply through his nose.

“I kept you too close to it. To me.”

I glance at him then, just enough to see the side of his face—and the way his expression cracks at the edges.

His voice dips, guttural now.

“When that video came through… when I saw you—tied to that fucking chair, your head hanging like—” He chokes on the words and grips the back of the seat in front of him like he’s anchoring himself to the earth.

“I thought I was going to lose you.”

His head finally turns. Slowly. Eyes meeting mine.

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