Chapter 21 - Grace
Grace
Luke walked beside her all the way home.
Grace slowed as her house came into view.
It wasn’t a conscious decision. Her steps just… shortened. The white siding, the porch rail, the square of concrete that marked the spot where the man had frightened her.
Luke’s pace dropped too, matching hers without comment. And his attention sharpened—not on the house, but on her. She could feel his eyes.
Grace stopped at the bottom of the steps.
For a heartbeat, she was back there again—keys fumbling, breath too loud in her ears, the sound of footsteps behind her.
Her breath came quicker.
Luke shifted closer. She liked that he was standing with her. He was big, solid.
“Grace,” he said quietly.
She forced herself to breathe. “Sorry. Just—”
She didn’t finish.
Luke followed her gaze to the porch. The steps. The door. His jaw set hard. His eyes tracked the space the way hers had—but where her memory was fear, his was calculation.
Containment.
Threat.
Luke swore under his breath. Grace watched his hands curl slowly into fists at his sides. “If he comes for you again, I’ll stop him,” he bit out.
She swallowed. “He touched my hair. Just—” She lifted her hand, demonstrating the light, awful intimacy of it. “I know I shouldn’t still be thinking about it. It was only my hair. He just wanted to scare me.”
She could see that Luke was angry. It was a controlled, coiled, furious rage.
“I won’t let him hurt you,” Luke told her.
It sounded like a promise.
Luke hesitated. His gaze flicked to the door.
“I know you’ve got someone staying with you,” he said. His voice was rough and he took a deep breath. “I don’t trust that he can keep you safe.”
The insult was unexpectedly painful.
Luke’s mouth pressed into a hard line. “I’m not trying to judge you. I just—” He stopped, breath rough. “I won’t pretend I’m okay leaving you with someone I don’t trust.”
My brother, she thought fiercely. You’re talking about my brother.
“You don’t know him,” she said aloud.
And that was true.
What she didn’t say—what she would never say to Luke—was that she knew Eli’s charm came with cracks. That love and loyalty didn’t cancel out bad judgment. That Eli had always brought trouble with him like static electricity, unintentional but real.
She would defend him anyway.
Luke nodded once, sharp and restrained. “I know.” But his eyes said he didn’t believe it mattered.
“But I should’ve been here,” he said.
That surprised her. Why was he doing this now? Because he was a cop?
Standing this close to him was a mistake. Luke’s presence pressed in on her—solid, familiar, entirely too easy to fall back into. Her body remembered him faster than her mind could shut it down, heat flaring where she didn’t want it, confusion stirring where resolve should have been.
Concern. Proximity. She was stupid to think he was offering something more.
She couldn’t let herself forget the truth: Luke wanted her physically. Privately. In ways that asked nothing of him and cost her everything. He wasn’t offering a future. He wasn’t choosing her. Whatever this was—whatever he thought he was doing—it wasn’t that.
And if she stayed here too long, she might start wanting something he’d already proven he wouldn’t give.
Grace took a breath and climbed the steps before she could overthink it. Luke followed, close enough now that she could feel his presence at her back—not crowding, but ready.
She unlocked the door. This time, her hands didn’t shake.
The door opened. Warm air spilled out. Familiar. Safe.
She turned to face him.
“This is where you stop,” she said.
Luke nodded. He didn’t argue. Didn’t try to step inside. Didn’t ask for anything.
Grace held his gaze for a long second.
She didn’t thank him.
She simply said, “Goodnight, Luke.”
“Goodnight, Grace.”
She stepped inside and closed the door.
Grace leaned her forehead against the door and closed her eyes.
She leaned back against the wood, heart racing, breath uneven. Safe. For now.
Outside, she knew Luke was still there. Watching. Guarding.
Whatever he’d been before, whatever lines he’d drawn—
Luke Bennett was not okay with danger touching her.
Grace stayed there a moment longer, forehead pressed to the door.
“Everything okay?” Eli called.
Grace found him leaning against the kitchen counter, nursing a beer.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Luke walked me home.”
Eli was quiet for a moment.
"I'm going to go back to the city," he said.
Grace's stomach dropped. "What?"
"Not forever." He met her eyes. "Just — I need to make contact. With the people looking for me."
Grace crossed her arms. “That’s not safe, Eli.”
He didn’t answer right away. He rubbed the back of his neck, pacing once toward the sink and back again.
"I brought this to your door," he said quietly.
Grace went very still.
“Eli.”
“I never meant for any of this to land on you,” he said quickly. “I didn’t think they’d bother following me here. I thought things would cool off.”
“It didn’t,” she said quietly.
“No.”
Silence settled between them.
“You can’t just call up men like that and ask nicely for them to stop,” she said.
He stepped closer. “I’ve got to try, Gracie.”
Grace sighed. “So what’s the plan?”
“I meet them. Neutral ground. Talk it out.”
“You think this is something you can talk out?” Her voice rose despite herself.
“I know how they think,” he said. “I know what they want.”
“And what do they want?”
Eli held her gaze.
“Me back in line.”
The words settled heavy between them.
Grace’s chest tightened. “Then don’t go.”
“I have to.”
He cupped the back of her head briefly, the way he used to when she’d scraped a knee as a kid. “You shouldn’t have to look over your shoulder in your own house.”
Grace pressed her lips together. She wanted to argue. She wanted to tell him to stay.
“I’ll go tonight,” he said.
Grace exhaled shakily. “Please don’t do something stupid.”
Eli smiled, crooked and familiar. “Gracie. Everything I do is a little stupid.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I’ll be back before you know it.”
She didn’t believe him.
He pulled her into a hug. It was tight, brief, almost apologetic.
“I never meant to bring danger to you,” he murmured into her hair.
“I know,” she whispered back.
That didn’t make it less real.
She didn’t know which frightened her more—
The men Eli was going to meet.
Or the fact that he believed he could handle them alone.