Chapter 26 #2
I brush a strand of hair from Lily’s cheek. She smiles, soft and wrecked and real.
We don’t say a word, we don’t need to. It’s in the silence, in the heartbeat pressed against mine, in the way she sighs my name like a promise that’s finally found its way home.
We stay tangled long after the tremors fade, hearts tripping over each other. The air tastes like salt and forgiveness. When she finally smiles, it’s the slow kind that says she knows exactly what we just rebuilt.
I wake up to warmth. Her breath on my chest, the soft weight of her thigh over mine, her fingertips curled in the fabric of my shirt like even asleep she’s afraid I’ll disappear. I’ve never felt more whole than I do in this single, quiet second.
Then—
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The bus door shakes. A fist hammering it like the world’s ending.
“LUC! GET UP! You need to see this! NOW!” Dean. And he sounds - not cocky. Not amused. Panicked.
Lily flinches awake, bolting upright, eyes wide. Larkin stirs in the bedroom behind us, a little whimper floating through the quiet before settling again.
“What?” she whispers, voice raw with sleep and leftover tenderness.
I don’t have time to answer. Another slam. Harder.
“Luc! Open the damn door!”
I throw on sweats and open the door. Dean barrels inside holding his phone like it's a bomb. And then I see the screen. A photo. Grainy but unmistakable. Lily. With Larkin in her arms. Outside the bus yesterday.
A headline screaming across it:
ROCKSTAR LUCIFER SARRIS’ SECRET BABY & MYSTERY MOTHER EXPOSED
Comments underneath including a flood of speculation, invasiveness, poison disguised as curiosity. My stomach drops. No, it crashes.
Behind me, Lily’s breath stutters. “Oh God.”
A whisper. A prayer. A wound.
I turn just as she sees the screen glow reflecting in my face. Her expression fractures. Shock first, then terror, then something worse - resolve born from fear.
“No, no, no.” She’s whispering to herself, already standing, already looking toward the bedroom. “We can’t. We have to go. NOW.”
“Lily, wait.” I move toward her, hands out, slow, like she’s a bird about to fly into a window. “We’ll handle it. My team will bury it.”
She shakes her head, arms wrapping around herself like armor. “You can’t bury the internet, Luc. They know about her.” Her voice breaks on her.
And that’s when it hits home. This isn’t about pride, or privacy, or me. It’s a mama grizzly bear who thinks a forest fire is coming. Her only concern is Larkin.
“If we stay, she gets hurt. I won’t let strangers talk about my baby. I won’t let this world, your world-” Her mouth trembles. She stops herself, hating the way her voice edges toward panic.
I try again, softer. “We’ll protect you both. We’ll-”
“You can’t protect us from everyone.” Her voice cracks. She moves toward the bedroom, shaking. “I have to go.”
It feels like someone reaches into my chest and rips something vital out barehanded. Dean looks away with a shake of his head. This is too personal, even for him.
“Lily.” I say her name like I’m trying to stop time. “Please.”
“I have to protect my daughter first.” She pauses, and hope flares so sharp it hurts. Then she says it. “I have to leave. This isn’t just about me. It’s about keeping her safe. Not letting vultures peck away at her until there’s nothing left.”
And God, I admire her even as it destroys me. “I know,” I whisper. Because I do.
And that’s the worst part. But it doesn’t stop me from trying to get her to stay.
“Lily, it’s been two days.” I rake a hand through my hair as I plead with her. “Give me a chance to work with security, with Cherry. We can do more to make sure you and Larkin are protected.”
“I’m not risking Larkin’s well-being on a chance.” Her mouth set in a firm line as she blinks back tears threatening to fall. “No matter how much I may want to stay for me, I’m leaving for her.”
She disappears into the bedroom and thirty short minutes later comes out holding Larkin, bags half-packed and hands trembling.
I want to grab her. Beg. Promise her the world and my name and every song I’ll ever write. But she’s already breaking. I’m not going to shatter her more.
“I called Cherry. She’s booking her a plane.” Dean says quietly behind me. “Private’s faster.”
I don’t look at him. I can’t. I can only look at her.
Her eyes meet mine, devastated and determined all at once.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
“I’m not,” I say, voice barely steady. “You’re doing what a mother does.”
Her chin trembles. She nods once, like it’s the only thing holding her together. Then she walks past me. And takes my heart with her.
The bus door shuts behind her with a soft click. And I stand there barefoot on the cold floor, staring at empty space, feeling more exposed than I ever have under lights and thousands of eyes.
Dean finally exhales. “Luc.”
“Don’t.” My voice is hard as steel. But inside, I am on fire and drowning at the same time. And only one thought cuts through the chaos.
I am going to get them back.
Both of them.
Whatever it takes.