Page 68 of Guarded Knight

The mission’s easy. The harder part comes after, when I have to let her go back into the world without me, without my shadows smothering her light, without holding on to her until she breaks.

UntilIbreak…

But I’m already fucking broken. That’s why I stay. To heal. Why I have to fight the urge to run, even if it’s with her.

And that’s a battle no SEAL training ever prepared me to survive.

18

I reachfor my iced latte on a four-top table in Café Luna, sipping like the cold can steady me. It doesn’t. I’m running hot today, nerves buzzing, working opposite Freya. She knows something’s up. She’s worried. But she also understood when I told her I couldn’t explain—not yet. Maybe not ever.

I checked the almighty internet—California has very clear laws on trespassing, and entrapment isn’t even what it’s called if I’m the one reaching out to him as a civilian. At least that’s what Google claims. But I’m not letting Google decide my best friend’s fate. I won’t risk Freya testifying or getting dragged into this.

No, this part’s on me.

Tomorrow I’m going to be the bait.

It’s a terrifying thought, but also, maybe even worse, a little bit exhilarating. I finally feel like I’m doing something. Like I get to fight back. Not just for me, but to make sure Cameron never does this to anyone else. I can’t let him walk away from this unpunished, ready to stalk another woman.

I hope Gabriel scares the shit out of him.

It’s hard to concentrate when I can feel his gaze wrapped around me, even when he’s all the way across the café, pretending to be another laptop warrior. I glance up and catch him watching me like he never stopped, and he gives me that slow, infuriating grin.

My stomach flips. My whole body aches to close the space between us.

There’s something about a man who doesn’t smile much. When he does, it feels like a promise. Like he’s giving me something no one else gets.

Damn, I want it all.

Or at the very least, to crawl into his lap and kiss him until I forget what catching Cameron really means.

It means leaving. Walking away like the first time we knew how much there is between us. Pretending friendship is enough when it never was the first time.

But Gabriel deserves the chance to heal without me becoming another weight around his neck.

And yet… my heart keeps whisperingstay.

Stay, even though it would tether him to me. Stay, even though he deserves more than what my future holds.

I laugh humorlessly inside.We really are two great big messes.

But God, I hate those shadows in his eyes. The self-loathing. The way he talks like he isn’t worth a damn thing.

Doesn’t love conquer all? Couldn’t we stay and just… love each other without conditions? Hold each other up instead of tearing ourselves down?

He’s still watching me. I drop my gaze before he can read every reckless thought in my head and slurp my iced matcha latte like the straw might hold the answers and I’m trying damn hard to suck them in.

I force myself to focus on the environment in Café Luna, to ground myself in the funky artist paintings, the fairy lights, the barista who remembered Freya’s almond milk order after one visit. Every shop in this town has a little bell over the door—charming and old-fashioned.

Once I think I’m ready to work again, I force myself to focus on the spreadsheet open on my screen. Tiny Heroes, Belinda Doyle’s so-called nonprofit, has been eating up funds like a fire through dry grass. New office furniture. Lavish conferencetrips. Vehicles. A purse? And every single transfer to that badly managed charity has Kevin’s name on it. Kevin.

The man Freya is involved with.

How could he not realize what kind of charity he’s dealing with? Surely, he did some due diligence? And even if he didn’t, he should have. I’ve used Scarlet Hope’s brand promise when speaking at events: ninety-nine percent of proceeds go to the kids and families. Now? It’s all a lie.

I helped Belinda live like a queen.

Even if Kevin isn’t complicit, I’m seething.