Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
EMILIA
I folded another T-shirt and pressed it into the corner of my duffle, trying to ignore the way my heart was thudding against my ribs.
The room was quiet except for the faint sound of music coming from someone’s dorm down the hall and the occasional zip of a pocket or tug of a strap. I kept my head down.
The moment felt heavy, like something was coming.
Then the door opened.
I didn’t look up.
“You going somewhere?” Bastion’s voice came first—rough, low, laced with something that made the air feel warmer than it should’ve.
I glanced up from my suitcase.
He was standing just inside the room, his brows slightly drawn together like he hadn’t expected this. His hoodie sleeves were pushed up, revealing bruised knuckles and a faint red mark along his wrist. Football. Or maybe something else.
“Yeah,” I said, casual. Dismissive. “The out-of-state game. ”
He didn’t answer.
Luca stepped in behind him. His eyes went straight to the suitcase. Then to me. Then back to the suitcase.
That look.
The same one he’d given me last night—when my skin was flushed, when his hand had trailed down my ribs like it was instinct, not decision.
That heat in his stare didn’t mean anything. Couldn’t.
Bastion’s jaw flexed. “You’re flying out tonight?”
I nodded and zipped the main compartment closed. “Leaving in an hour. Griffin’s got the Caplan jet on standby.”
Luca raised a brow. “Griffin?”
I didn’t answer right away.
My phone buzzed on the bedside table. I reached for it, reading the name before sighing.
“Hold on,” I said, lifting the phone to my ear. “Hey.”
Griffin’s voice came through, loud and bored. “You almost ready?”
“Packing now.”
“You packed something to sleep in?” he asked, and I rolled my eyes so hard my neck almost cracked.
“What I sleep in is none of your business, Griffin.”
“Sure, sure. Just don’t be late.”
“I know,” I muttered, dragging a hand through my hair. “Griffin Standard Time: one hour early, as usual.”
“Damn right.”
“I’ll meet you at the airfield.”
“You’re staying at our hotel, right?”
“No,” I snapped. “Again, no.”
“You say that now…”
“Bye, Griffin.”
I ended the call before he could say anything else and tossed the phone onto the pillow. When I looked up, both twins were staring at me.
Their eyes didn’t move.
It took me a second to find my voice. “When are you guys leaving?”
Bastion looked at Luca.
That glance told me everything and nothing.
“You are going, right?” I asked, my tone a little too casual. “They said starters are flying in a day early.”
Luca’s jaw ticked.
For a moment, I had this sharp, ridiculous thought—they were going to blow it off. The out-of-state game. The one dynasty scouts actually showed up for. They were the star players. Faces on banners. Half the damn school only bought tickets to watch them.
“You’re not skipping,” I added, pushing a hoodie into my bag and zipping the side pocket. “Right?”
Bastion didn’t answer. His arms were still crossed, his biceps tensed against the fabric of his shirt like he was fighting the urge to say something that would break the air in two.
I kept my gaze down, tried to keep the mood light—normal. Friendly. Pretended I didn’t feel the heat curling in my belly every time their eyes flicked over me.
But I wasn’t stupid.
They weren’t looking at my suitcase.
They weren’t looking at the door.
They were looking at me —and more specifically, at the neckline of my top, which I hadn’t realized was that low until now. I felt it then. The dip of the fabric, the slight cling of the material over my chest, the way my sports bra had slipped lower after I tugged it down earlier.
I crossed my arms on instinct .
Luca’s voice broke the silence. “Why are you flying with them?”
I shrugged, trying not to sound like I cared that he cared. “It’s just routine. Griffin books the plane, the squad goes together, Caplan family foots the bill.”
Bastion stepped closer, slow. “You could’ve flown with anyone.”
“It’s not that deep,” I said. “We’ve done it every year.”
One of them—Luca, maybe—cut in, voice quieter, but no less sharp. “Yeah, but this is the first year you aren’t his golden girlfriend. Betrothed. Soon-to-be fiancée.”
I froze.
The room went still around me.
My hand hovered over the zipper of my bag, the silence stretching so tight I thought it might split me open.
Then I straightened.
“Why not take one of your planes?” Bastion asked, his tone soft but pointed. “Or fly commercial. Something neutral.”
“Because then it makes me look bothered,” I snapped, meeting their eyes one at a time. “And I’m not. Griffin and I are over. The family merger is over. And I refuse to look like the pity ex-girlfriend trying to scramble for dignity.”
Luca’s brow twitched, but he said nothing.
I kept going, heat rising in my chest now. “You think I want to sit on a jet with Griffin and his cousins pretending like nothing happened? Like they didn’t already replace me with someone else who looks good in Caplan blue?”
Bastion’s eyes narrowed. “You think we’re judging you?”
“No,” I said. “I think you’re used to seeing me as someone who gets moved around like a pawn. But not this time. I’m not going to beg for space I already earned.”
They didn’t speak .
Didn’t move.
Just watched me like I’d cracked in half—and maybe I had.
I turned away first, reached for my charger, shoved it into the bag like I wasn’t unraveling under their stares.
But then I felt it.
The bed shifted beside me—weight sinking the mattress gently as Bastion sat down, close enough that the heat from his body brushed against mine.
I kept my head turned, but he didn’t let me stay there.
His fingers reached up, slow and deliberate, brushing my hair off my shoulder like it was second nature. Like he had every right to touch me like that.
“Come with us,” he said, voice low, almost coaxing. His fingers threaded through the ends of my hair, lightly, like he was memorizing the strands. “Fly with us.”
I swallowed. The scent of him—cedar, something darker.
“You two don’t even seem like you’re going,” I whispered, blinking at the wall in front of me.
There was a pause. A long one.
Then Luca’s voice from behind, steady. “We weren’t.”
I turned slightly, eyes narrowing. “What?”
Bastion’s thumb brushed the back of my neck, featherlight. “Doesn’t matter now.”
I pulled back just enough to look at him, confused. “Wait. You were going to blow off the game? Why?”
Neither of them answered.
But they didn’t have to.
The silence said it.
They would’ve stayed behind—for me.
The realization hit harder than I wanted it to. Hard enough that my next breath came shaky.
“You guys can’t do that,” I muttered. “It’s your game.”
My chest rose too fast .
Luca stepped closer, his arms crossing casually, but his gaze wasn’t casual at all. “So… will you come with us?”
I blinked. Forced myself to breathe. Focused on the feel of Bastion’s fingers still in my hair—gentle, slow, pulling me apart without trying.
I couldn’t speak.
Because saying yes would mean letting that guard fall again.
Saying no would feel like a lie.
I couldn’t speak.
So I nodded.
Barely.
And that was all it took.
Luca’s eyes flicked to my phone. “Good. Now tell that fucker you’re not coming.”
I blinked. “What?”
He pointed. “Griffin. Call him. Tell him you’re out.”
I stared at him.
It wasn’t the request that surprised me—it was the way he said it. There was none of his usual smoothness. None of the quiet, careful restraint Luca usually wrapped around his words like silk.
This was sharp. Possessive. Almost… unhinged. He sounded liked Bastion.
“Luca—”
“Better yet,” he added, voice low, “put it on loudspeaker.”
My mouth parted. “You’re serious.”
Bastion’s hand, still at my side, flexed—just once. Like he was stopping himself from grabbing the phone and doing it for me.
“We could call them,” Bastion said. Calm. But not really. His fingers brushed my hip as he shifted. “Wouldn’t take long. ”
“No.” The word came out fast, breathy. “I—I’ll do it.”
Neither of them moved.
Luca tilted his head. “ Now , Emilia.”
There was something dangerous in the way he said my name. Not loud. Not cruel. Just… final. Like a line had been drawn and I was the only one standing on the edge of it.
I reached for the phone.
My fingers hovered over Griffin’s name before I tapped call . The screen lit up.
Bastion’s hand was still at my side, the heat of it seeping through my leggings like a brand. Luca stood at the foot of the bed, still and coiled.
The phone rang once.
Twice.
“You better not be calling to say you’re late,” Griffin barked, his tone already impatient.
I swallowed. “I’m not coming.”
Silence. One long, incredulous beat.
Then his voice cracked like a whip through the speaker. “Excuse me?”
“I changed my plans,” I said, forcing my voice steady. “I’m flying out with someone else.”
His laugh was sharp. “With who? Don’t tell me?—”
He cut himself off, but only long enough to reload. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Em. You’re ditching the Caplan jet to fly with those psychopaths?”
My jaw clenched.
“This is what you’re doing now? Throwing tantrums to get attention? Acting like you’re available because your brother has paused the merger?”
I felt the shift in the room before I saw it .
Luca moved first. One step forward. Quiet. Dangerous. His jaw locked.
Then Bastion’s hand moved from my thigh to my phone. Not to take it. Just… there. Hovering.
Griffin kept going.
“I mean, God, Emilia. Do you even hear yourself?”
His voice was louder now—mocking. Cruel in that familiar way Griffin always used when he didn’t get what he wanted.
“You really think they give a shit about you? You think they’re different?” he sneered. “Please. Everyone knows how easy it is to get a legacy girl on her back. Even the Crows know that. Probably already passed you around once.”
I froze.
Bastion went completely still beside me.
Luca didn’t move—but the tension in the room thickened like smoke.
Griffin kept going.
“And don’t forget,” he added, voice dripping with venom, “your brother and my family are still in negotiations. So don’t be stupid and take anything they give you, keep your legs closed. Because we are all the same.”
That was the last thing I let him say.
I hit end .
Before I could fall apart. The silence afterward was deafening.
Which I didn’t understand. They were acting as if what Griffin said, insulted them. Though, I supposed he had.
Then Bastion exhaled—one, hard breath like he was trying to keep himself from tearing the room apart. His shoulders rolled back like he needed the stretch to keep from snapping.
Luca’s eyes were still locked on the phone like it had personally offended him.
“Sorry,” I stood, brushing my hands on my thighs, “You two asked for loudspeaker, seriously, you would have had to expect for him to call you two something.” I walked to the bathroom to grab my makeup bag.
Though I noticed Luca expression, as if I had missed something.