Page 50 of Fallen Empire

Sometimes, it was just the act of staying.

She was still here. Still breathing. Still fighting in her own way.

But she needed sleep.

And truthfully? So did I.

I tried to keep my posture straight, but the ache in my spine told on me. Every bone in my body had turned to lead, and no matter how many times I blinked, the blur in my vision wasn’t clearing. I’d been running on adrenaline for days, and now that the crisis had cracked open just enough for hope to slip in—I felt it. The crash.

“You should rest,” Jaxson said, voice low but firm.

I looked over at him, trying to offer some kind of half-hearted protest, but he wasn’t having it.

“I mean it, Millie. I’ll stay right here. If she even twitches, you’ll be the first to know.”

I glanced at Savannah again, watching the way her lashes stilled against her cheek. Her chest rose gently beneath the thin hospital blanket, her body finally easing.

She was okay. Not fully, not yet. But okay enough that I could let go. For now.

“Just a little while,” I whispered.

Jaxson nodded, and I moved to the sofa. The faux leather was unforgiving, but I didn’t care. I bent my legs up enough so my entire body was inside both ends, pulled the thin hospital blanket over my lap, and let my eyes close.

Because maybe we couldn’t celebrate yet. Maybe the fight wasn’t over.

But she’d opened her eyes.

And that was enough for today.

Chapter 12

Jaxson

The room was too quiet.

Savannah’s breathing had evened out, soft and steady beneath the low rhythm of monitors that once pulsed with panic. It wasn’t long before Millie had passed out on the sofa, exhaustion finally taking over. Ben stood near the window, arms crossed, watching the world outside like he was ready to take on whatever threat might dare slip through the glass.

And I sat still.

Silent.

Suffocating.

Because even with her waking up, even with her eyes finding mine again, the war wasn’t over. Not the one I’d started. Not the one waiting outside this room.

Nic’s words from earlier should’ve given me peace. She’d said the note was left before we tracked Savannah down. Before we’d taken out Bruce’s little army.

But what if she was wrong? What if someone got away?

We hadn’t left any of them breathing, but what if we’d missed one? Someone who slipped through while we were too busy watching our worlds fall apart.

Within the mafia world, I was no one. Just a ghost in the dark.

Our missions were off the books, our names erased before we ever left the ground.

But if Costa was sniffing around?

He’d find me.