Page 99 of Fractured Loyalties

She lets the silence stretch. Then says, “You’re already thinking about how to leave again.”

I don’t deny it.

“I just want to be ready,” I say.

“I know.”

She doesn’t argue with it. Doesn’t ask me to stay.

Instead, she presses her palm flat over my heart.

“Just...come back with this still beating,” she whispers.

I cover her hand with mine.

“That’s the plan.”

She nods, and this time, the quiet is softer.

When I finally leave the bed, the light outside is full. She watches me gather what I need without a word. Weapons. Tech. Restraint.

Before I step out, she stops me with a question I don’t expect.

“Will you let me know when it’s done?”

“Yes.”

“Even if it’s ugly?”

“Especially then.”

She doesn’t move, but her eyes follow me until the door closes.

And for the first time in a long time, I walk into the day feeling like something’s still mine.

Even if I have to bleed to keep it.

I head out through the side entrance, away from the glass windows, and toward the car parked in the covered drive. The vehicle hums awake beneath my hands, a low growl of readiness. The streets are quiet—too early for traffic, too late for drunks.

I make two full turns around the block, watching mirrors, checking shadows. When I’m certain the route is clean, I open my encrypted line to Lydia.

“Go ahead,” she answers instantly.

“Keep your eyes on the house. Full sweep every three hours. No civilian tails, no close-range alerts unless necessary. You’ll be invisible, but constant.”

“Copy. Threat level still Caleb?”

“Yes. And I need the freedom to focus where I’m going. I can’t do that if I’m worried about her.”

“I’ve got her. Nothing’s touching that house unless I say so.”

“Good…and when she steps out, you know what to do too.”

I end the call and pull into the main road. The city yawns open ahead of me. I keep my grip steady on the wheel, my mind shifting into the space it always finds before the work begins.

And behind it all, still echoing, her voice from this morning.

Just...come back with this still beating.