Page 83 of Thirst Trap

“Let me take care of you,” I whispered.

He let me turn him. Let me guide you. We went slow again,discovery, not frenzy. When

our bodies met, he breathed, “You feel like home,” like it hurt.

“Believe it,” I murmured.

We unraveled without noise. He didn’t move after. He held me and said into the dark,

“I don’t know how to be good at this, but I’ll try.”

“You already are.”

For the first time, I think he believed me.

He showed me the engine of the empire.

I showed him where to lay his head.

Chapter 46

Morning After

Light bled pale across the marble. For one suspended second I thought he’d be gone. He wasn’t. Logan’s arm was heavy over my waist, breath tick-uneven against my shoulder.

Phones detonated.

His. Mine. Both at once,screens strobing headlines:

?LOGAN CREAMS & PENNY HAVEN: SECRET ROMANCE REVEALED

?Exclusive: Maddison Parker’s Hospital Records Leaked

My stomach dropped.

“They know I moved in,” I said, scrolling a flood of mentions. “They know everything.”

Logan went still,ice radiating off him, not at our exposure but at hers. Maddison’s records were splashed online like gossip, unstable and delusional bolded for clicks.

Later, I sat at his steel worktable with his laptop glowing cold. I hadn’t meant to dig. I couldn’t stop.

The leaks weren’t random. They were curated. Personal.

I followed burner accounts across encrypted threads, fingers flying, heart sinking.

The name hit like a gunshot.

Remy.

Maddison’s best friend. Fittings. Fries. Three a.m. calls.

Remy had been feeding the press for months.

“Fuck,” I whispered to the empty room.

I could’ve closed the laptop and pretended I hadn’t seen it. That wasn’t who I was. I grabbed my jacket and went straight to Maddison.

She opened the door in silk shorts and Lucas’s hoodie, mascara smudged. “Here to tell me I look like hell?”