My voice echoed off the empty rafters, hitting us both like thunder.
He stared at me—stunned—as if no one had ever shouted for him before.
I stepped back, chest heaving.
“You saved me,” I said, louder. “Once, twice, more times than you’ll ever admit.”
He swallowed, jaw tight.
“So now,” I said, “it’s my turn.”
He opened his mouth to argue again, but I cut him off—the same way he’d taught me to: with speed, decisive and absolute.
I grabbed his face in both hands and forced his eyes to mine.
“Riven Cortez,” I said, “I am getting you out of here. Even if you hate me for it. Even if you never look at me again.”
And then—
Because the moment demanded it.
Because the fear in my chest was too much.
Because losing him was the one thing I couldn’t survive—
I shouted it, voice cracking:
“You saved me again and again. Now it’s my turn to save you!”
Something inside him shattered.
His legs buckled. His arms locked around me, hauling me against him with a desperation so raw it felt like lightning in my veins.
He buried his face in my shoulder.
And for the first time since I’d known him—
Riven trembled.
He didn’t cry.
But he broke.
And I held him while the outside world prepared to burn.
I used the back exit he’d once shown me, the one hidden behind a false wall. The one he’d carved into the foundation in case he ever needed to disappear.
We stumbled through darkness, the ground littered with shattered glass. He leaned heavily on me, but I knew he wasn’t weak—he was choosing to trust me.
Choosing me over survival.
We reached the alley seconds before headlights swept across the warehouse entrance.
I turned. He turned.
And together—hands locked, breaths colliding—we ran.
We didn’t stop running until the city lights became a blur behind us.
Until the night swallowed us whole.
Until he finally sagged against a rusted fence and whispered, voice hoarse:
“Why didn’t you let me go?”
I pressed my forehead to his. “Because losing you would have killed me.”
This time, he didn’t fight me.
This time—we collapsed into each other like we’d been falling for years.
This time—he held me like he meant it.
And for the first time in his life, Riven Cortez let someone save him.
CHAPTER SEVEN — THE CHOICE
The sun hadn’t risen yet, but the world felt different—lighter, like it finally believed we deserved a second chance.
Riven stood at the edge of a cracked overpass, staring at the gray horizon. The wind tugged at his hair. His shirt was half-buttoned, revealing the bruises blooming across his ribs.
He looked wrecked.
He looked beautiful.
He looked like a man standing at a crossroads he never expected to reach.
When I stepped beside him, he didn’t turn. But his fingers found mine.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said quietly.
“That sounds dangerous.”
His lips twitched. “You always talk too much when you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Liar.”
Okay. Maybe I was.
I waited. He stared ahead a moment longer, then exhaled slowly, like he was surrendering something he’d held onto for far too long.
“I’m done,” he said.
I blinked. “Done… what?”
“Fighting. Hurting. Chasing power I never wanted.” He paused. “I’m done with the syndicate. With my family. With all of it.”
I stared at him.
He wasn’t joking.
He wasn’t breaking.
He was choosing.
“You’re walking away?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“And going where?”
He finally looked at me—and his eyes were soft in a way that punched the breath straight out of my lungs.
“Anywhere you want to go,” he said.
My heart flipped.
“But… your name, your empire, everything—”
“I don’t need it.”
“Riven—”
“I’m not a good man,” he said, voice low. “But for you… I can try to be better.”
My throat tightened.
He stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel the warmth of him, the danger, the tenderness he never showed anyone else.
“I don’t know how to love the right way,” he admitted. “But I can learn.”
My heartbeat went wild.
“And if you let me,” he whispered, “I’ll spend every day trying.”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I slid my fingers up his shirt, caught the edge of his collar, tugged him down to me, and said—
“Then start by kissing me.”
He didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t think.
Didn’t hold back.
He kissed me like he was claiming a life he never believed he deserved. Like he’d finally realized freedom was a person, not a place.
His hands framed my face. Mine tangled in his hair. The world quieted.
And for one breathless, earth-tilting moment—
We weren’t running.
We weren’t breaking.
We weren’t afraid.
We were just… us.
Infinite. Alive. Unbound.
When we finally pulled apart, Riven rested his forehead against mine.
“Say the word,” he murmured. “And I’ll take you anywhere.”
So I did.
And he drove.
EPILOGUE — AFTER MIDNIGHT
The road stretched on forever, a silver ribbon cutting through miles of darkness. The old car rattled every time we hit a bump, but neither of us cared.
We’d abandoned the city hours ago.
Abandoned our past lives.
Abandoned everything that tried to kill us.
We were no one now. Anonymous. Weightless.
Free.
Riven’s hand rested on my knee as he drove. Not claiming. Not controlling.
Just there.
Warm. Steady. Real.
We passed a sign for a tiny town with a population so small it barely needed numbers.
He glanced at me. “Here?”
I nodded.
He turned into the empty main street. The buildings were dark, the sidewalks deserted, the only light coming from a flickering streetlamp leaning slightly