Page 52 of Fallen Empire

But he hadn’t missed it.

The man could be surrounded by a hundred people and still catch the one thing that didn’t belong. I knew it. She knew it.

“Grabbed a sub,” she said casually, walking a bag toward me. “Figured the bread would help fill you up.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, nodding as I took it, trying to avoid the heat rolling off Ben’s stare. I didn’t have to look up to know he was pissed.

“Holy shit,” Nic whispered. Her eyes were locked on Savannah. I followed her gaze.

“She’s going to pull through, isn’t she?”

“I sure as fuck hope so,” I said, voice low. “She’s fighting like hell in there.”

“Cut the fucking shit,” Ben snapped. His voice cracked through the room like glass under pressure, sharp and ready to shatter. “Tell me what the hell is going on. Now. Before I start tearing it out of both of you.”

Nic didn’t flinch. She just stayed where she was, jaw tight, eyes on Savannah.

But I felt it—the shift. The leash was off. Ben wasn’t waiting anymore.

I started to speak, but Nic beat me to the punch.

“Alex left the note.”

My eyes shot to Savannah—nothing. No twitch. She was still out cold.

“There’s a little more to it,” I added, forcing the words out. “Nic found out his real name.She can fill you in on it… just not here.”

I nodded toward Millie, hoping the implication was enough. She was curled up on the sofa, breathing steady, her hand still loosely draped off the side toward Savannah’s bed.

Ben’s jaw flexed. He didn’t take his eyes off me, but he didn’t push it.

“When the two of you finish eating, we can take a walk,” he said.

And for the first time ever, I felt the final warning of Benjamin Ford. No wonder Millie hated it when he used that voice on her. I wanted to fucking punch him.

Truth was, he was my best friend, and I wasn’t planning on leaving him in the dark. Not completely. Just dimming the lights a little.

“Sure,” I muttered, forcing a nod. “I need to stretch anyway.”

Finishing my food would buy me a little time to figure out what I was and wasn’t ready to tell him.

Ben didn’t say another word. He just gave a short, clipped nod and turned back toward the window, resuming his post like he hadn’t just shaken the ground beneath us.

Nic stood quietly, tossing her trash in the small bin by the door before settling into the chair beside Savannah. She folded her arms across her chest, pulled her legs in, and pretended shewasn’t part of the storm brewing around us. But we all knew better. She was in it as deep as the rest of us.

I picked at the last bite of my sandwich, not because I was hungry, but because it gave me something to do, something to ground me while the weight of what came next threatened to crush me. Every bite bought me seconds. Every second gave me just a little more time to decide what the hell I was going to say to the man who’d risked his life for mine more times than I could count.

Because whatever I said next—it would matter.

Ben wasn’t just a teammate. He wasn’t just my second set of eyes or backup when things went sideways. He was family. And if I lost him, I’d lose more than just protection. Millie and Nic would bleed for Savannah—I never doubted that. But Ben? He’d bleed for me too. And right now, with everything closing in, I needed him more than I wanted to admit.

I glanced at her, still asleep, still fighting. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm beneath the blanket. There was strength in that softness, a kind of defiance even in unconsciousness. She wasn’t giving up.

And neither could I.

I forced the last bite down and wiped my hands on a napkin, the sound of crinkling paper filling the silence. I stood slowly, brushing the crumbs from my lap and tossing the napkin into the bin beside Nic. She didn’t look up, but her fingers tapped once against her arm. Almost like a silentgood luck.

I didn’t need words. I needed strength.