Page 122 of Push My Buttons

I pull back slightly from Theo's embrace, though I keep my hands firmly in theirs. "I don't know," I say, the lie coming easily to protect my brother. "Someone came from behind. I couldn't see who it was. They were gone before I could turn around."

The guard's eyes narrow skeptically. "You didn't see anything? The attacker just vanished?"

"It was dark," I insist, gesturing to the dimly lit office space. "Everything happened so fast."

He turns to Jace and Theo. "What about you two? Did you see the attacker?"

Jace shakes his head, his expression perfectly neutral despite the lie. "The lighting in here is terrible. All I could see was Wren and... him." He nods toward Levi's body without looking at it.

"Same," Theo confirms, his arm tightening around my waist. "Too dark to make out anything but shapes. We were focused on getting to Wren."

The security guard doesn't look convinced, but before he can press further, the door bursts open again as police officers stream into the room. The launch party is effectively over, the celebration transformed into a crime scene in minutes.

They separate us for questioning, despite Jace and Theo's protests. I repeat my story over and over—how Levi dragged me into the office, how he threatened me, how someone intervened before he could hurt me. Each time, I maintain that I never saw my rescuer's face.

"So you expect us to believe that someone just happened to follow you in here, killed your stalker, and disappeared without a trace?" Detective Rivera asks hours later, her eyebrows raised in obvious skepticism.

I meet her gaze steadily. "I don't expect you to believe anything. I'm telling you what happened."

Hours pass in a blur of questions, evidence collection, and statements. By the time they finally allow us to leave, the rooftop is nearly deserted, the elaborate decorations looking sad and abandoned in the harsh light of police work.

As we wait for the elevator, I lean heavily against Theo, exhaustion seeping into every cell of my body. Despite everything, a bubble of hysterical laughter escapes me.

"What?" Theo asks, looking down at me with concern.

"I was just thinking about your headline," I say, my voice raspy from hours of questioning. "Remember what you said earlier? 'Developers so passionate they murdered a colleague at launch party'?"

Jace's lips twitch despite the gravity of the situation. "Except it wasn't us who did the murdering."

"No," I agree, sobering slightly as the elevator arrives. "It was my serial killer brother who's supposed to be in FBI custody."

The doors close, sealing us into the small space together. Theo's arm tightens around me protectively.

"Thank you," I say quietly, looking between them. "For backing me up. For protecting him, just on my word."

Jace takes my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "We trust you. If you say your brother deserves protection, that's good enough for us."

"Even knowing what he is?" I ask, the question that's been haunting me since Lucien's casual confirmation.

"Even then," Theo confirms without hesitation. "He saved you. That's all that matters to me."

The elevator reaches the ground floor, the doors sliding open to reveal a lobby still bustling with police and confused party-goers. Before we step out, I stop them both with a hand on each of their arms.

"I love you," I say, my voice stronger than it's been in years. "Both of you. So much."

Their expressions soften in unison, identical looks of devotion that make my heart swell despite the horror of the night.

"We love you too," Jace says simply.

"Always," Theo adds, pressing a kiss to my temple.

As we walk through the lobby toward the exit, I can't help glancing back at the elevator, wondering where Lucien is now. My brother, the killer. My brother, my savior.

He said he'd find me again soon. Despite everything—the blood, the casual admission of murder, the years of absence—part of me hopes he keeps that promise. There are so many questions I need answered, so many gaps in my understanding of what happened two years ago.

But for now, I have Jace and Theo. I have my voice back. I have my life, free from Levi's shadow at last.

Epilogue