PART 21:

The word came easy, like a fact she’d long since made peace with. Same as anyone. Nolan took her hand. She drew him toward her slowly, and he let himself be drawn, which told her more than anything he’d said in the study. His eyes closed. Her free hand came up to his face, palm against his jaw. Hey, don’t close them.

She waited until he opened them. Look at me. They held like that for a moment. His face in her hand, his eyes on hers. 3 ft of garden behind him. His breathing had changed. She could feel it in the way his hand held hers. Mara Whitmore. His voice came low and even. The kind of even that required effort to maintain.

If you keep doing this, I’m going to start thinking you actually are my fiance. The corners of her mouth moved. Nolan Campbell. Her thumb traced the line of his jaw, barely. If it helps right now, go ahead. She stepped back, kept hold of his hand, drew him one step further into the garden. There. She looked at him.

Three steps. Nolan tipped his head back. His breathing was faster now. His hand shook against hers. Mara held it tighter. She brought it up to her own face and pressed his palm against her cheek the way he’d done to her. I’m right here. Just look at me. Only at me. She pulled him one more step into the garden. He reached up with his free hand and ran his thumb along her cheekbone.

She smiled, wide, real, the kind that takes over a face before a person decides to let it. Look at that. Her voice came quiet. You can do it. She let go of his hand, two steps back, then three, toward the middle of the garden, away from the threshold, putting distance between them deliberately. I think you can do more.

Mara? His voice carried something new in it. Come back here. The sound came from the water side. Both of them looked up at the same moment. A drone moving low from the direction of the sound crossing toward the garden. Mara narrowed her eyes. What is that? She took a few steps toward it. Mara. Nolan’s voice sharpened.

His balance was starting to go. Come here. Now. Two security guards were already breaking into a run across the far side of the grounds. Then the drone started dropping things into the garden where they landed. Small percussive bursts of smoke and pressure bloomed across the lawn. Nolan tried to step toward her. His balance gave out. Mara.

One landed 4 ft from where she was standing. The blast hit her as a wall of pressure before she understood what it was. The ground lurched. Her ears went white. She was on her knees in the grass without knowing how she got there. Her hands flat on the ground. The world still ringing. Then hands.

Both of them gripping her arms. Pulling her upright in one sharp And Nolan’s chest was solid behind her. His arms locking around her. Turning her away from the direction the drone had come from. He’d run to her. He’d run to her when his own legs could barely hold him outside. He was already shouting over her head. Michael. Take it down.

Now. He pulled her tight against his chest and turned his back to the drone. His heartbeat was loud and fast under her ear. He didn’t let go. The living room couch received her before she fully understood she was being set down. Nolan’s voice cut across the room. Sharp. Clipped. The register he used when there was no room for interpretation.

Edith. First aid kit. And get Dr. Adamski on the phone. Mara blinked at the ceiling. The ringing in her ears hadn’t fully cleared. The chandeliers above her were doing something slightly wrong with the light. What’s happening? Her voice came out thin. Nolan was already kneeling beside the couch, his hands moving over her arms, ribs, collarbone.

The focused efficiency of someone looking for damage rather than offering comfort. Where does it hurt? Not a question, a scan. I’m fine. She reached up and caught his hands before they could keep moving. Nolan. She held them still. I’m fine. Stop. He looked at her. His face was the controlled version. The one he showed rooms full of people.

But his eyes were running a different calculation entirely. Michael stepped into the doorway. One drone boss, four devices, sound and smoke, all of them. We brought it down. Nolan’s gaze stayed on Mara for one more second. I’ll be there in a minute. He came back to her side and looked down. Your knee. She looked down.

A scrape across the right knee, blood already drying at the edges. Nolan had the first aid kit open on the table. He poured alcohol over a square of gauze, held it up once in warning. This is going to sting. He sat on the edge of the couch beside her and pressed the gauze to the scrape slowly. Careful, like something he was trying not to get wrong.

Mara didn’t flinch. She was watching the top of his head, the set of his shoulders, the way his hands were steadier than they had any right to be considering where they had both just been. She reached across and set her hand over his. Nolan. He didn’t look up from the knee. She waited until his hands went still.

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