“Alexandros?” she gasped.
“No. Theo. I’m his brother,” he said, steady and calm. “You’re safe now. I promise.”
She collapsed against him, her legs buckling, relief and pain crashing over her like a tidal wave.
Theo wrapped an arm around her, dragging her down with him behind a column of crates. He spoke into his comms, his voice terse. “I’ve got her. She’s alive, but bleeding. We need a medic, stat!”
Gunfire erupted nearby. Boots pounded against the floor.
Dani clung to him, sobbing, unable to stop. “He said he came back… I thought he would kill me… I didn’t know where to go… I wanted—I needed—Alexandros?—”
Theo’s voice didn’t waver. “I know. He’s waiting for you. You’re going home.”
“I want him,” she whispered. “Please, I want him.”
“You’ll see him soon. Just stay with me, alright? I’ve got you.”
She nodded against his chest, her body shaking uncontrollably.
More shouting echoed through the warehouse. The sound of asecond gun battle broke out. Additional sirens wailed in the distance. Theo’s voice barked orders into the comms.
Dani’s world tilted again.
Everything hurt. Blood trailed down her arm. Her body was battered—bruises, cuts, gunshot—but something inside her had survived. She wasn’t broken. Not anymore.
She was free.
She was safe.
Most of all, she was going home.
Her eyes, weighted with fatigue, finally closed. She released a soft breath. It wasn’t fear that claimed her—but fragile peace… and the promise of seeing Alexandros again.
Eleven
The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound—steady, soothing in its constancy.
The private hospital suite was dimly lit, the overhead lights turned off hours ago. A single lamp cast a warm, yellowish-sheen over the room, pooling across the pale linen sheets and Dani’s bruised, sleeping form. Shadows stretched across the whitewashed walls. Beyond the window, city lights flickered like distant stars, their colors dancing faintly on the polished floor tiles.
Alexandros sat in the corner chair, still dressed in the same black slacks and white dress shirt from earlier, now rumpled and wrinkled. His jacket was folded neatly over the armrest. His feet flat against the floor. He cradled a now-cold cup of coffee, untouched. Elbows braced on his knees, his shoulders curled in quiet vigilance. He had barely moved since Dani had been transferred here from downstairs.
She lay motionless in the hospital bed, a thin white blanket pulled to her chest. Her arm—wrapped in a fresh bandage—rested lightly across her stomach. A bruise had bloomed high on her cheekbone, another near her collarbone. Cuts, scrapes, and pain painted her skin like a canvas of survival. And yet—her expression was peaceful. At last.
They’d sedated her after she woke up screaming. Twice.
He hadn’t left her side. He couldn’t.
A gentle knock sounded at the door.
Alexandros turned his head slightly as the door cracked open. Theo’s face appeared in the sliver of space, his dark gaze searching the room.
Alexandros gave a brief nod.
Theo stepped inside, quietly easing the door shut behind him. He looked at Dani, his jaw tightening at the sight of her injuries. Without a word, he pulled over a second chair and sank into it beside his brother.
“Will we wake her if we talk?” Theo asked in a low voice.
Alexandros shook his head. “No. They gave her something to help her rest.”
