Chapter 44 Lark
Lark
Location: Secure Analysis Room — Government Facility
Time: Night
They don’t take me back to holding.
That’s how I know something changed.
New escort.
Different tone.
Less distance.
More urgency.
No cuffs.
Just movement.
We leave the secure wing entirely.
Different building.
Different security clearance.
Different world.
The doors open—
And this time, it’s real.
Not temporary.
Not reactive.
Alive.
Screens everywhere.
Data flowing.
People moving with purpose.
This is where decisions happen.
This is where control lives.
Ronan is already there.
Of course he is.
He looks up the second I walk in—
And grins.
“Told you,” he says, “you’d break their math.”
Something in my chest loosens.
Just a little.
Then—
I see him.
Aaron.
Standing near the wall.
Arms crossed.
Still.
Controlled.
Very much not relaxed.
For a second—
Everything else disappears.
The room.
The noise.
The war.
Gone.
Then he moves.
Closing the distance.
Stopping just in front of me.
Close enough to feel the shift in him.
“You okay?” he asks.
Low.
Careful.
“Yes.”
His eyes search mine.
Not quick.
Thorough.
“Did they touch you?”
“No.”
A beat.
Then—
“Good.”
One word.
But it carries everything.
Relief.
Control.
Restraint.
Something deeper he’s not saying.
I hold his gaze.
And for a second—
It’s just us.
Still here.
Still standing.
Together.
Then the screens flicker.
Voices rise.
The world comes back.
And the war is waiting.
I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him before turning around to the screens.