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It was quiet, but not the kind of quiet that ate me up. Despite the frantic start to my day, a part of me felt more at ease with Frankie beside me.

Where I could take care of her.

It was something I hadn’t allowed myself to experience for years, and it was something I was too proud to admit that I missed. And even though I fought it, even though I tried my best to keep them standing, one by one, the walls I’d built came crumbling down.

Frankie woke up a few hours later, her face puffy with sleep and her eyes still half-closed.

“You’re still here,” she mumbled when she saw me, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I live here,” I teased, but it was half-hearted at best. “How do you feel?”

She blew out a long breath, staring at nothing for a moment before nodding. “Much better,” she said.

I reached forward and grabbed the takeout off the coffee table and set it on her lap. “You’ll feel even better once you’ve eaten this.”

She stuck out her bottom lip petulantly but opened the container anyway, taking small bites.

I grabbed the water bottle off the coffee table and offered it to her.

“Mm, thanks,” she said around a mouthful of pad thai.

I watched her eat, making sure she ate every last bite before I said, “Anytime.”

Chapter thirty

Breaking

Hayden

“Coward,”Imuttered,staringat my reflection in the mirror above my basin. More than a week had passed since Frankie’s trip to the hospital, and I’d once again retreated to the safety of my own isolation.

I was falling for her.

Hard.

And it terrified me.

A loud, thunderous bang echoed from the front door of my city apartment, making me jump out of my skin. I stalked over and flung the door open, ready to cuss whoever it was the fuck out-

“I come in peace.”

I blinked at Elliot, at her hands raised as if she was trying to placate me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, instinctually looking around for Cameron.

“It’s just me,” she said. “I’ve been sent on what Reid describes as a diplomatic mission.”

I sighed and stood aside, holding the door wide enough for Elliot to come in.

“Thanks,” she said. “Oh, wow.”

I closed the door and looked back at her. She gaped at the interior, her eyes wide.

“Sorry,” I murmured, feeling a little self-conscious at the obvious lack of living in the apartment. “I don’t really stay here much, just when I need to get away.”

Elliot shook her head, turning in a full circle to take it all in. “It’s gorgeous!”

I laughed, walking over to the kitchen and opening the refrigerator. “It’s not that different from Cam’s,” I told her. “Water?”