Chapter 12 #3
“Can you shut your phone off for a few days?”
“Can you?”
“It’s already done.”
I power my phone down and slide it into my purse.
“Aye, Rhy,” he says quietly, “let me cater to you for a few days.”
“Yes.”
“Cool. Give me a few minutes—I’m making brunch.”
Morning light pours through the penthouse windows when I drift out of the bedroom. Kosh is already up. Bare chest. Soft sweats. Barefoot on the marble floor.
Moving through the kitchen like he was born there. The smell of fresh espresso curls through the air, rich and dark. Something buttery sizzles on the stove. He glances over his shoulder, and that devastating smile spreads across his face.
“I forgot to say good morning, trouble.”
I try not to melt.
“You cook now?”
“I do everything now since you left my ass a few weeks ago.”
He slides a plate onto the counter.
Croissants.
Fresh fruit.
Perfect scrambled eggs.
Like he’s trying to rewrite every version of love I’ve known.
“Sit,” he says gently.
And I do.
Because it feels good to obey when it’s not about control.
Just care.
He places my coffee in front of me—exactly how I like it.
Without asking.
“Eat first,” he says. “Then I’m running you a bath.”
“A bath?”
“Mmmhmm.”
He kisses my shoulder.
“You’ve been carrying the world on your back. Let me carry you for a change.”
Something deep inside my chest cracks. And I eat. Not because I’m hungry. But because I finally feel safe enough to.
Later, just like he promised, Kosh runs the bath. Steam curls through the room. Rose petals drift across the water. Soft music hums through the speakers. He kneels beside the tub, sleeves pushed back, washing my legs slowly—almost reverently.
“You don’t have to fight to be loved, Rhy,” he murmurs.
“You just have to be.”
My throat tightens.
“I forgot what that felt like.”
“That’s okay,” he says softly.
He kisses my knee.
“I came to remind you.”
And for the rest of the day—he does.
No drama.
No demands.
Just peace.
Wrapped in his voice.
His hands.
He's quiet.
And for once in my life, I let someone feed my soul without asking me to bleed for it.
Evening drifts in softly.
The skyline glows molten—orange melting into rose across the city.
For the first time in what feels like years…
I’m not tense.
I’m curled in Kosh’s lap on the balcony; legs draped over his.
My cheek rests against his bare chest.
His heartbeat is slow.
Steady.
Grounding.
His arms wrap around me like a fortress.
One hand cradles the back of my head.
The other traces lazy circles along my hip.
“You’re beautiful when you stop bracing for war,” he murmurs.
My eyes flutter shut.
“I don’t know how to stop.”
“You don’t have to know,” he whispers.
“Just let me hold you until you remember.”
I exhale slowly.
Long.
Trembling.
“Rhy,” he whispers, voice low and rich, “you don’t need to prove anything. Not to them. Not to him. You’re already enough. Always been.”
My throat tightens.
“I don’t feel like it.”
“That’s because you’ve been giving pieces of yourself to people who never deserved the whole.”
His thumb brushes along my jaw, slow and careful.
“You ain’t broken, baby. You’re just exhausted from trying to be bulletproof.”
A tear slips free before I can stop it.
Kosh kisses it away as if it’s sacred.
“Let me be your soft place,” he murmurs. “Just for tonight. Let the world spin without you.”
I melt against him, the noise in my head draining away like water down a quiet drain.
The sunset fades.
City lights blink awake one by one.
And for a stolen moment…
I’m weightless.
Just Rhy.
Just loved.
Wrapped in every word he’s never said to anyone else.
**
The city below us looks like scattered diamonds now, flickering beneath the balcony.
Inside the suite, the lights are low. Candle flames sway gently against the walls, music humming softly in the background like a heartbeat.
We’re curled together on the couch beneath a thick blanket.
My back presses against Kosh’s chest, his arms wrapped around me as they belong there.
His fingertips trace slow patterns along my arm.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
“Say it,” I murmur.
He exhales against my neck, long and steady. Like he’s been holding something in for years.
“I tried to forget you,” he says softly.
“Every city I touched… every deal I made… every bed I slept in without you… I told myself I was over it.”
His voice roughens. “But the truth is, Rhy… I ain’t been right since you left.”
My breath catches.
“You haunted me,” he continues quietly. “Every time I saw something beautiful, I wished you were standing next to me, seeing it too. Every time life felt good… it still felt half-empty.”
The words land heavily.
Thunder and balm all at once.
“I thought leaving would protect me,” I whisper.
“I know,” he says gently. “And I ain’t mad at you for that. You were trying to save yourself.”
His hand slips over mine, grounding me. “I just wish you knew I would’ve saved you too… if you let me.”
Silence settles around us.
Warm.
Heavy.
Golden.
“I didn’t come here to stir chaos,” he murmurs. “I came because you’ve been carrying the whole world by yourself.”
His thumb presses lightly against my hand. “And I want you to know… You don’t have to do that anymore.”
My eyes sting.
“Kosh…”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know if I could survive losing you again.”
He kisses my shoulder, slow and lingering.“Then don’t,” he whispers.
“Stay lost in me for as long as you need.”
I close my eyes and let his words wrap around me like silk.
Like armor.
Like home. And for tonight—just tonight—I stop fighting how peaceful his love feels.