“Who?”
“Bowers.”
Hannah.
Relief hits me before I can stop it.
Because if anyone can pull someone back from the edge—
It’s her.
“She won’t let him go,” I whisper.
Russ nods once.
“No,” he agrees. “She won’t.”
There’s something in his tone.
Something knowing.
Like he saw it.
Like he understands something I haven’t fully put together yet.
My gaze drops briefly to my hands.
Then back to him.
His jaw tightens slightly.
“They needed me. I wasn’t there.”
I nod.
“I know.”
And I do. He stayed here with me. Now he feels guilty.
That’s the problem.
That’s the thing that settles deep in my chest—
Unavoidable.
Unchangeable.
This is who he is.
The man who runs toward the fight.
Who puts himself between danger and everyone else—
Every time.
Even when it costs him.
Even when it could—
