Chapter 49 Aspen
Aspen
Iknow it’s him before Dylan says anything.
I can feel it.
“Mom, Havoc wants to talk to you,” Dylan says, holding out the phone.
My heart starts pounding.
Why?
I don’t know.
I just know it does.
I take the phone.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Just for a second.
Then—
“Aspen.”
My chest tightens.
His voice is rough.
Lower than usual.
Like he hasn’t slept.
“You okay?” he asks.
And something about the way he says it—
Not casual.
Not routine.
Not just checking in.
I swallow.
“I’m fine.”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
“You’re not,” he says quietly.
I close my eyes.
Because he’s right.
“I didn’t want Dylan to see me fall apart,” I admit.
His voice softens.
Just slightly.
“He didn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he told me you were strong.”
That breaks something open in my chest.
Just a little.
I sit down slowly.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
A beat.
“Not really.”
That surprises me.
“What happened there?” I ask.
“We’re shutting it down,” he says.
“Piece by piece.”
I nod, even though he can’t see it.
Silence stretches between us.
But it’s not empty.
It’s… something else.
“I wish you were here,” I say before I can stop myself.
The words hang there.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
His breath comes through the phone.
Slow.
Controlled.
“Yeah,” he says quietly.
“I’ll be there soon.”
And that’s the moment.
The one where everything shifts again.
Because it’s not about safety.
Not about the mission.
Not about the threat.
It’s about wanting him here.
I grip the phone tighter.
“We’re at the Tavern,” I say.
“Trigger moved us.”
“Good,” he replies.
“That’s where you should be.”
More silence.
Then—
“Aspen.”
My name sounds different when he says it now.
“Yeah?”
“I’m coming back as soon as this is done.”
My breath catches.
“I know,” I whisper.
But what I don’t say is—
I need you to.