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We stayed there for a while, wrapped in each other’s arms as our breathing steadied. We traced soft patterns on each other's skin.

The world outside felt distant, almost non-existent, as if time had paused for the two of us. Eventually, Sloane shifted, breaking the moment as she murmured that she needed to use the bathroom.

Heavy with reluctance, I pulled away and got dressed. The possibility that the kids could come downstairs seemed more real now than it had when we were in the height of passion. Sloane returned from the bathroom and I was handing over her clothes when it happened.

Rufus growled; a low, primal sound that vibrated through the quiet.

We both jumped. I forced a laugh to cover the creeping unease. “Rufus? Hey boy, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t wag his tail or return to his lumpy old bed. Instead, he padded through the foyer toward the front door, his nails clicking against the floor. His whole body was stiff and alert. He stopped, looked over his shoulder at me, then whined deep in his throat. Protective .

My heartbeat kicked up. “Rufus?” I called again, moving toward him.

He growled once more, low and warning, then pawed at the doorframe.

I followed him through the foyer, reached for the doorknob, muscles taught with caution, all the hairs on the back of my neck stiffened. Sloane stood behind me, silent but watchful. I opened the door a crack.

But there was nothing there other than the night air and a gentle breeze. The only sounds were cicadas and a distant dog barking.

Then I looked down and saw it: a folded piece of white paper, taped to the door. I pulled it free.

Sloane leaned over my shoulder. “Levi? What is it?”

I unfolded it to see letters scrawled in red lipstick.

You think you can erase me? I’ll remind you exactly who you are.

M y stomach lurched. The handwriting was familiar, looped, and feminine.

Peeking over my shoulder, I felt Sloane’s presence as she read the note. I turned to explain as I felt the shift in her posture. A stiffening. A wall going back up.

Rufus whined again and nudged my leg. I crumpled the note in my fist, pulse hammering in my ears as I looked down at my hand. “No more hiding," I said.

“Levi? Hiding from what?”

I turned to her.

How do I explain this?

I struggled to find the words. “I was planning to tell you after the kids went to sleep. ”

The second it left my mouth, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. Her face hardened, jaw clenched. “Another lie, Levi?”

The sight of her fury building struck me with panic. “Hell no, not a lie. Sloane, it’s not what you think.” I closed the door. “Please, let me explain.”

“Then explain it,” she snapped. “Because if this is more of the same, you can forget whatever that moment between us was.”

I stepped towards her, my hands trembling as I showed her the crumbed note. “It’s Angie. She’s been stalking me… us. She took a picture of you on the couch and left it for me the other night at the rental and now? She left another here.”

Sloane's face shifted from anger to disbelief, and then, beneath the surface, I saw it: fear.

Fuck, I never wanted this to happen.

She stared at the note in my hand as she whispered in a tone of restrained fury, “You need to handle this, Levi. Do it the right way with the police. Before she hurts someone.”

“I will. I promise,” I said. “Sloane, I wanted to tell you. I wasn't hiding this from you. But I didn't want the kids to hear."

At that, anger flashed back across her face and she crossed her arms. "Then instead of fucking me on the couch, you should have been talking to me. You should have told me about this."

I opened my mouth to defend myself, then…

Fuck me. She has one hundred percent of my balls right now.

"You are absolutely right," I said.

"You're goddamn right I'm right."

"Sloane, I was not hiding this. I was… caught up in that moment with you. On the couch. Nothing else in the world mattered. Only you. "

She glared, arms still crossed, brow furrowed.

"Sloane… I don't want to lose this," I said as I gestured to the space between us.

“That’s not for you to decide, Levi.” Her tone was accusatory and firm. She turned and headed towards the kitchen.

Even as I locked the door, I knew the peace I’d been building had been shattered. Again. I followed her into the kitchen. "Sloane - ”

She held up her hand without looking at me, an old habit of hers that used to be cute. Right then it felt like a warning flare. I stood there, stiff with the fear of disappointing her again.

“Don’t,” she said. She opened the fridge and grabbed the wine I’d picked up for her. She poured a glass, then set it down untouched. Her fingers wrapped around the rim, knuckles white. I worried she would break it.

“Sloane, please. Let’s talk about this.”

She turned then, hazel eyes sharp with clarity and resolve. “I need you to listen to me, Levi. If she escalates? If she comes near the kids? Then this is over.”

My mouth went dry. “I know. She won’t. I've blocked her in every way I can. I’ve cut her off completely.”

“Clearly that wasn’t enough,” she snapped, then caught herself. She closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose. “I don’t care what she wants. I care about my peace. My children’s safety. And right now? Right now, she is a threat to that.”

I nodded, guilt twisting my guts. “I’m going to deal with it. I’ll file a police report. Talk to a lawyer if I need to. I’ll make sure she goes away and stays away.”

She tilted her head and watched me. “Good. But understand this, Levi… this isn’t a warning for her.

It’s one for you. I let you back into our lives because I believed you had changed.

Because I saw the man you are trying to become.

But if your past bleeds into our present?

” Her voice broke before she continued. “I won’t hesitate to cut you out for good. "

“I don’t want you to cut me out,” I whispered. “I want to earn being here.”

My wife stood there and picked me apart with her analytical gaze. She closed herself off, every inch of her a fortress. “Then clean up the mess you made. All of it.”

Rufus let out a soft whine at our feet, sensing the tension.

She picked up the wine glass and finally took a sip, eyes never leaving mine. “We deserve peace, Levi. Do not let her steal it from us.”

She turned and walked down the hallway toward the master bedroom, a room we once shared, leaving me alone in the kitchen with the note still crumpled in my hand and an inferno of determination and fear raging within my heart.