Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Sydney
The office smelled faintly of leather and cedar, a comforting, steady scent that didn’t match the storm inside Sydney’s chest. She sat in one of the big chairs in front of Master Derek’s desk, trying to look calm, though she could feel the nervous energy thrumming in her limbs.
Levi stood nearby, one boot crossed over the other at the ankle, arms folded, gaze fixed on her.
It wasn’t hard, nor demanding. He was just watching.
Somehow conveying with one look that he was there for her.
Ironically, that only made it harder to breathe.
Master Derek’s smile was soft, but the seriousness in his eyes made her stomach clench. “Thank you for coming, Ms. du Preez. We wanted to talk to you about Greg.”
Even hearing his name felt like a slap. Sydney’s fingers twisted together in her lap, knuckles going white. But she nodded, because what else could she do? She’d already figured it would be about Greg when Erika had sought her out and asked her to make her way to Master Derek’s office.
Master Derek kept his voice low, gentle.
“We’ve done everything we can on our end.
Checked with local contacts, watched the Ranch perimeter, even checked if he’d been seen in town.
There’s no sign of him. No new information.
We can’t even trace the cell he’s using to contact you daily, as he keeps switching out burners. ”
She swallowed hard. This was in no way, shape or form comforting.
What the heck was she supposed to do with this information?
The creepy guy who’d catfished her into going to another country was sending her daily threatening messages.
.. and he was a ghost in the wind! She felt the fear she’d been working so hard to push down creep back in.
It was cold, sharp and doing a bang-up job of breaking down the careful shell of safety Levi and Roland, and pretty much everyone at the Ranch had been carefully constructing around her.
Master Derek went on, his tone careful. “We’d like your permission to take what we know to the sheriff. We have many contacts in the department, including Detective Dan Forrester. Let them help us. It might be time, Sydney.”
Her breath caught. The sheriff. The law. Everything laid bare, no more hiding in shadows, no more pretending it wasn’t as bad as it was. She wanted to say yes—she really, really did—but her throat closed up around the word.
“I—I need to think about it,” she said, the words rushed and small. “Please. Just a little more time.”
Levi shifted, coming to stand beside her chair. His presence wrapped around her like a blanket, his voice quiet but firm. “Of course, baby. We won’t push. It’s just to help keep you safe.”
Sydney nodded, but her mind raced. Safe. What did that even mean anymore?
Levi cleared his throat gently. “There’s one more thing we wanted to ask you.
Me and Ro… we talked some last night.” He rubbed the back of his neck, as if searching for the right words.
“We know it might be too soon. And we don’t want you to feel pressured.
But we’d really like you to stay at the Ranch.
A little longer. Maybe a few months. Just to give this—give us—a real chance. ”
Her heart squeezed. The offer was everything she wanted. And everything she was terrified of.
“I... I can’t,” she whispered before she could stop herself.
As much as his request had her heart leaping for joy, there were practicalities to think of.
“I mean… I don’t think I can. I need to get back to work.
I didn’t plan for this, I didn’t budget for…
for any of this. I can’t afford to stay here that long, not without messing up everything I’ve worked for. ”
She hated the way her voice cracked at the end, hated the way her chest burned with unshed tears. Because, oh, how she wanted to say yes.
Before she could fall apart, Master Derek leaned forward, his expression so kind it made her throat ache.
“Ms. du Preez, we would never ask you to put yourself in a bad position. And you wouldn’t be asked to leave, not when you’re in danger.
Not ever. We can make this work for you.
We’ve done it before for others who needed to work remotely.
We’ll set up a space, make sure you have everything you need.
Internet, privacy when you want it, safety when you need it. ”
Levi added softly, “And if you don’t want to stay in the Littles’ Wing, I offered that you could stay with me and Roland. No pressure, little miss. Just options. Just… what feels right to you.”
Sydney stared at him, her heart pounding so hard she was sure they could hear it. She felt as if she was standing on the edge of something huge, something that could change everything. A choice. A real one.
Not like with Greg.
Greg hadn’t given her choices. Greg had offered promises, then twisted them into chains. But Levi and Roland… they weren’t doing that. They were offering her safety. A future. Love, maybe, if she was brave enough to reach for it.
But what if she wasn’t? What if the thing she’d been hiding all along—the thing she hadn’t dared tell them—made them take back this offer? What if the weight of that truth was too much for them, and they realized they didn’t want her after all?
She felt the tears threaten again and blinked them back, forcing herself to meet their eyes. Master Derek’s steady and warm, Levi’s fierce but gentle.
“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted in a whisper. “I want to stay. I do. But I’m scared. And I don’t want to be a burden. And there’s things you don’t know about me, and maybe if you did—” She broke off, breath hitching.
Levi crouched beside her chair, his hand resting lightly on hers. “Sydney. Babygirl. We want you. All of you. Even the parts you’re scared to show us. Especially those. Nothing you could tell us would make us stop caring.”
Master Derek nodded, his voice just as gentle. “You don’t have to decide right now. And you don’t have to tell anyone anything before you’re ready. Or at all. As long as your secrets don’t put anyone at the Ranch in danger, they’re yours to keep.”
Sydney let out a shaky breath, overwhelmed by the tenderness in both their faces. And for the first time, she wondered if she could be that brave woman. The one who bared it all and took the risk.
“Can I… can I think about it?” she asked, voice small but hopeful. “All of it? The detective. Where I stay. And… telling you the rest?”
“Of course you can, little miss,” Levi said, his thumb brushing the back of her hand, grounding her. “Take all the time you need. We’re not going anywhere.”
And as she left the office, the afternoon sun shining through the windows, its warmth on her face , Sydney felt the weight of her choice pressing down—but also, for the first time in so long, a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t alone anymore.