Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
SILAS
Gideon’s place is too quiet without Penelope and Talon in it.
Gideon’s typing like a demon at the table—sharp, efficient, annoyed that the world can’t keep up with his brain. Fake credentials spread out across the hardwood: forged clinic badges, laminated staff IDs, employee clearance stickers that look authentic enough to pass a TSA check.
He pushes one toward me. “Try to look less like you strangle people for a living.”
“I don’t strangle people,” I mutter, taking the badge.
He raises a brow. “Not anymore, no.”
I ignore him and clip the lanyard to my shirt.
“Penelope get him to class?” Gideon asks, eyes still on the screen.
“Yeah,” I say. “They’re fine.”
But Talon’s not fine.
And I am absolutely not fine.
Not after watching them leave together this morning. He just slid into her world like it was easy, like he belonged there. And I’m stuck here with spreadsheets and forged IDs while she’s across town. I’m almost a decade her senior, and I’m pouting over missing her like a boy, not a man.
It shouldn’t bother me.
But it does.
Gideon snaps his fingers once. “Earth to Silas. Eyes on the screen.”
I blink, drag myself back from the useless spiral, and he spins the laptop toward me—the clinic map open, emergency exit outlined in red.
“Two turns,” Gideon says, tracing the map with his finger. “If they take her to Room 203 like the schedule says, it’s down this hall, left, then straight through the staff corridor.”
“How long?” I ask.
“Maybe a minute or two if we’re moving slow and blending in,” he says.
I shake my head. “We’re not making noise. We’re ghosts.”
“Exactly,” Gideon says. “We blend, we walk, we don’t exist. Anyone looks at us too long, we’re staff doing staff shit.”
He scrolls to another file. “Look at this.”
Observation notes - Student said she was present during home altercation. Details withheld. Family informed. Necessary measures pending.
My shoulders go rigid. “Altercation? With who?”
“Doesn’t say,” Gideon replies. “But Minxy witnessed something. And whatever she saw scared Abi enough to keep her daughter from the world, and God knows what’s happening to her there or what will happen if she stays.”
“What kind of school does shit like this?”
“The kind with donors who don’t like complications,” he mutters.
A chill crawls up my spine.
Whatever Minxy saw—Abi wants it erased.
“Tomorrow,” Gideon says, “I’m running recon on the exterior cameras. Today, you need to rest.”
“Not a chance.”
He gives me a look that says you’re being stupid again.
“You’re pacing like a caged animal, Silas. Go burn off the energy. Take the truck.”
I grab the keys.
He’s right.
Two days.
TALON
I walk into class and forget how to breathe.
Because she’s already there. Penelope sits behind her desk, hair falling over her shoulder, sunlight catching on her cheekbones like she’s been carved out of the kind of trouble I’ll never be able to resist.
She glances back—just one look—and my pulse jumps like I grabbed a live wire.
Jesus Christ. I just saw her hours ago.
How does she still have the power to rip me open without trying?
“Mr. Grant,” Brose says, monotone, “take a seat.”
Right. Seat. Sure.
I drop into the seat in the first row, and closest to her desk because I have absolutely no self-preservation left. She shifts slightly when I sit, like she can feel me. Heat crawls up my neck.
The lecture blurs into background static.
My mind’s still back in the car, replaying the way her voice rolled over me, the way her honesty short-circuited every rational thought I had left.
She forgave me. Actually forgave me. My knee starts bouncing, jittery and traitorous, until I clamp a hand on it and force it still.
I slip my phone out, thumb hovering over a new text before I can talk myself out of it.
Me: Everything okay?
He replies instantly.
Silas: Fine. Focus on class… tell Penelope to eat.
I glance at her.
Her notebook’s open, and her lips are pursed in concentration.
I text her instead.
Me: Eat something after this. Or I’ll call Silas and Gideon. I know you have snacks.
Her phone buzzes, she looks down, and a slow smile spreads across her mouth.
And I nearly drop the damn device.
Penelope: Bossy today. I’ll eat, relax. And tell the other two we’re not using you as my babysitter during the day.
Relax? She really doesn’t know what she does to me.
Me: Not possible.
She turns her head just enough to meet my eyes.
Yeah… No. I’m not surviving this class.
But then my stomach drops.
Minxy.
The thought hits out of nowhere.
Two days.
My breath stutters, and the room tilts. I grip the edge of the chair until my knuckles pop.
I’m going to get her out.
I don’t care what I have to do, or who gets in my way.
She must sense the spiral because her head tilts just slightly, enough for her eyes to find mine. No words. Just a slow inhale as her chest lifts and she mouths breathe with me.
I do.
And the panic uncoils as though she pressed a hand to my sternum.
PENELOPE
By the time class ends, my brain is buzzing from too much Talon, too much stress, too much everything. He waits for me by the door, pretending he isn’t watching every step I take.
He falls into step beside me as we leave the building, backpack slung over one shoulder like he’s trying very hard to look normal. He’s not pulling it off. His fingers keep twitching, like he’s fighting some leftover current from this morning.
“You want me to ride with you or find my own way back?”
“Ride,” I say before I can stop myself. “It’s fine.”
That earns a tiny smile.
We walk across the lot together, and instead of silence, he clears his throat.
“Okay, serious question. Favorite movie?”
I arch a brow. “You’re doing small talk now?”
“Yeah, well.” His ears go pink. “I figured I should learn something about you besides how easily you can break my brain.”
I snort. “The Mummy.”
He blinks. “Yeah. That tracks.”
And somehow the walk feels… lighter.
We get to Gideon’s car, and I slide in, buckle up, then check my phone before starting the engine.
One new voicemail… from Abi.
My stomach drops.
I hit play and hold the phone to my ear.
Her voice spills through the speaker, syrupy and sharp at the same time.
“Penelope, darling! We have your dress fitting tonight; don’t forget. It’s at Gilbert’s at six. Don’t be late. And don’t worry about your father. I’ve already told him we’ll handle everything.”
Talon stiffens beside me. “Everything alright?”
I lock the screen fast. “Yeah. Just—schedule stuff.”
He knows I’m lying, but he also knows I won’t give him more.
I grip the wheel and force a steady breath. “I’ll drop you at Gideon’s,” I say. “I have tutoring after.”
He frowns. “Tutoring? With who?”
“My bad, not tutoring,” I correct quickly. “Study group.”
He doesn’t buy it, not even a little, but he lets it go. “Okay. Can we hang out when you get home?”
Home.
Such a ridiculous word for a place with three men carrying the emotional weight of a small war.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “We can.”
The drive is quiet but not uncomfortable. He keeps glancing at me like he wants to ask more, but for once he respects the boundary. When I pull into Gideon’s, he unbuckles slowly, like he’s trying to read everything I’m not saying.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” he asks.
“I’m sure,” I lie.
He hesitates, then nods and gets out. Halfway up the walk, he turns back, checking if I’m still watching.
I lift my hand in a small wave, and he disappears inside.
I look at the dark screen of my phone, the voicemail still burning in my mind.
Tonight, I’ll be alone with Abi. And I’m going to use it as a way to try to get her to slip up on what’s going on with Minxy and what she saw or even what Abi did.
Silas and Gideon are going to be pissed when they find out.
I put the car in drive.
“I’m screwed,” I whisper.
Then, I start toward the fitting.
Alone.