His arms tighten around me in the darkness, and I let myself have this for one more breath. Two. Then reality settles back into my bones like something heavy and unavoidable.
"I can't stay." The words come out quiet. Reluctant. "Not with staff in the house. Not with everything at stake."
Jake's hand slides up my spine, fingers tracing patterns that make my resolve waver. "They're asleep. No one's watching."
"Someone's always watching." I pull back enough to see his face in the dim light. "That's the point. That's what tonight proved."
His mouth finds my shoulder. Soft. Persuasive. Arguments his words cannot win written in the press of his lips against my skin.
"Jake." My voice cracks on his name. "Please don't make this harder."
He stops. Exhales slowly against my collarbone. Then releases me with visible effort.
I sit up, reaching for the dress pooled at the foot of the bed. The silk feels cold against my skin now. Wrong somehow.
"Victoria won the ranch weekend." I say it to fill the silence while I dress. "The auction. Zachary told me before I left the gala."
Jake's laugh is rough. Surprised. "Victoria Snyder? The silver-haired woman who smokes on terraces?"
"That's the one."
"Interesting." He props himself against the headboard, watching me struggle with my zipper. "Be an experience if she actually comes."
"She will." I finally manage the zipper. Turn to face him. "She's not the type to bid on something she doesn't intend to claim."
Something warm passes between us. Fragile and precious. A moment that belongs to the people we are underneath all the performance.
"Goodnight, Jake." I put all my warmth for him into these words.
"Night, Adison." He speaks briefly but with love.
I close his door behind me and walk to my own room on unsteady legs.
Sleep refuses to come.
I stare at the ceiling and think about my father. The weight of his illness pressing down on this penthouse like something physical. The complicated love between us that's never been simple and probably never will be.
I love him. Despite everything. Despite knowing better.
I think about Jake. The growing distance that proximity cannot bridge. We're in the same building, and somehow we've never been further apart.
But amid the darkness, one light remains.
Zachary. His steady presence through every impossible moment. His unwavering support when everyone else doubted. At least there's something good in this mess. At least someone sees me clearly.
I fall asleep eventually, but the rest doesn't feel restful.
Morning brings catastrophe.
Zachary arrives at breakfast with his tablet clutched like evidence. His face is grim. Controlled. The expression of someone delivering news they know will cause damage.
Jake looks up from his coffee. I set down my fork.
"What happened?" My voice sounds strange to my own ears.
Zachary sets the tablet on the table between us. Swipes through images. Posts. Headlines.
Jake being escorted from the gala by security. His hand reaching for mine in the moment before I pulled away. The angle making it look more intimate than it was. Making it look like evidence.
"The theories multiply like viruses." Zachary's tone is professional. Clinical. "The cowboy sleeping with the heiress. Scandal confirmed. Manhattan's elite are having a field day."
I scroll through the comments. Each one worse than the last. Speculation about our relationship. Questions about my judgment. Implications about my character.
My phone buzzes.
I glance at the screen and something cold floods my veins.
Marcus. The man who assaulted me. Who started this entire exile. Who destroyed my life and walked away smiling.
His message sneers: Always knew you were a bad girl, Adison. Guess Texas taught you more than humility.
I delete it. Block his number. Don't respond.
The whole process takes three seconds. Feels like forever.
"We must be more careful." Zachary's attention shifts to Jake. Sharp. Assessing. "Do you understand the stakes? What this kind of exposure could do to her position?"
Jake's jaw tightens. "I understand plenty."
"Do you?" Zachary doesn't back down. "Because from where I'm standing, your actions last night demonstrated remarkable disregard for consequences."
"My actions?" Jake sets down his coffee with controlled force. "I stopped a man from assaulting a woman. That's disregard?"
"You created a scene that overshadowed everything Adison accomplished." Zachary's voice rises slightly. "She won Noel Henderson's respect. She proved herself to the board. And all anyone will remember is her father's friend being dragged out by security."
"At least I was there for her." Jake stands, chair scraping against marble. "Can't say the same for you, hiding behind your tablet while she fought alone."
"I was supporting her strategically." Zachary matches his posture. "Not suffocating her with jealousy and territorial displays."
"Suffocating?" Jake's laugh is sharp. Dangerous. "That's rich coming from someone who can't let her make a single decision without your input."
"Enough." My voice cuts through their argument. Both men turn toward me.
The silence feels heavy. Expectant.
"I'm going to the office." I push back from the table. "With Zachary. There's damage control to manage."
Jake reaches for my hand. His fingers brush mine, warm and familiar.
"Adison." His voice is soft. Pleading. "We're at home. Here. You don't have to perform."
I look at his hand. At the hope in his eyes. At everything we're supposed to be when no one's watching.
Then I pull away.
"Get used to it."
The words land exactly where I aim them. I watch them hit. Watch his expression crumble into something I'll have to live with.
Then I follow Zachary out the door, leaving Jake alone in my father's penthouse with the remnants of breakfast and the wreckage of everything we're pretending we can survive.