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He was barefoot, his clothes sleep-wrinkled and disheveled. Tension wound tight beneath his skin, and he looked like he was one wrong word away from breaking something. Craig’s arm loosened from around me, his gaze cutting toward Az before he pressed another kiss to my temple.

“I got her,” Az said quietly. Craig nodded once, like they’d said everything they needed to without speaking, then stood. He paused before leaving, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

“You good?” Craig asked me softly, brushing his thumb one last time before standing.

I nodded, even if I wasn’t.

He kissed my forehead warmly and said, “I’m right down the hall if you need me.”

Az didn’t move until Craig was gone. Then he exhaled hard, like holding it in too long had started to hurt.

“Come here,” he said, voice low and rough.

I stood and crossed the room slowly. His arms came around me when I was within reach, tight and anchoring, everything I didn’t know I’d been craving. His hand slid up the back of my neck and held me there, his lips pressing against myhair like he could pour everything he couldn’t say directly into me.

“I’m sorry,” I breathed against his chest. “I didn’t want to make things worse. I didn’t want—”

He pulled back, eyes locked on mine. “Stop. You didn’t do this.”

“But I—”

“I said stop.” That edge in his voice, commanding but not cruel, made my knees want to buckle. He saw it, felt it maybe, because his gaze softened by half a degree.

“You’re coming with me,” he said, threading his fingers through mine. “I’ve let this go too long.”

“Az…"

“No arguments, Victoria.” I swallowed hard. There was something final in his voice that had my pulse fluttering.

The walk upstairs to his room was quiet. Our fingers laced together the whole time in a way that reminded me that hehadme. Az didn’t bother with the lamp when we stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind us, and the soft wash of moonlight spilled across the floor, catching the sharp lines of his jaw and the heat in his eyes.

“Sit,” he said, nodding toward the edge of his bed; I couldn’t do anything but obey.

He stood in front of me, arms crossed over his chest like he was holding himself back from touching me. Again. His eyes dragged over me slowly—taking in every bit of the wreck I knew I looked like. Still in Craig’s hoodie, eyes rimmed red, hair a mess from the night’s unraveling.

“I hate seeing you like this,” he said quietly.

I blinked up at him. “Like what?”

“Small. Shaken. Like you don’t know who the fuck you are.” His voice was sharp, but it didn’t sting. It settled deep instead, curling around something tight in my chest.

“You’re mine,” he said. “You’reours. You forget that?”

“No,” I whispered. “I just—sometimes I don’t know how to hold it all.”

Az stepped between my knees, dropping his hands to either side of my face.

“You’re not supposed to hold it all,” he said. “Not alone. That’s what we’re for.”

I swallowed, throat tight.

“You think I haven’t been carrying it too?” he went on, his voice roughening. “Grief. Guilt. Rage. All of it. I’ve been walking around ready to burn this whole fucking city down, but I keep my hands steady foryou. I do my best to stay calm foryou. And you think I can’t see that you’re doing the same thing forus?”

My lip trembled. Az didn’t flinch.

“You don’t have to be strong right now, Victoria. You don’t have to be anything but mine.” He leaned in, mouth brushing my forehead, my temple, my cheek. The touch was gentle, like he was kissing away every brick of the wall I’d built up inside.

“I know you want control back,” he murmured against my skin. “But you don’t need it here. Not with me. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to explain. You don’t even have tothinkunless I tell you to.”