The weight of the message settled into Piper’s bones like ice. Her hand trembled as she held the phone, staring at the words, their meaning sinking in slowly. The fear she had been trying so hard to control bubbled up again, threatening to spill over. They weren’t just coming for her and Lily — they were already here, watching, waiting for their moment to strike.
Jasper reached across the table, gently taking the phone from her hand. His eyes scanned the message, and his jaw tightened. “They’re trying to scare you, Piper. They want you to make a mistake.”
“They don’t have to try very hard,” Piper whispered, her voice shaking. “I feel like I’m unraveling.”
Jasper leaned in, his eyes locked on hers. “You’re not. You’re stronger than you think, and we’re going to get through this. But we can’t let fear control us. That’s what they want.”
Piper swallowed hard, forcing herself to breathe. He was right. Giving in to the panic, letting the fear consume her — it wouldn’t help Lily. It wouldn’t protect them from what was coming.
But it was so hard to stay calm when everything felt like it was slipping away.
“What if we’re too late?” Piper asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “What if they’ve already decided to come after Lily? What if no matter what we do, it won’t be enough?”
Jasper reached out, placing his hand on top of hers. His touch was warm, grounding, and for a moment, it felt like the world stopped spinning. “We won’t let that happen. I promise you.”
Piper stared at him, searching his face for reassurance. Jasper had always been the steady one, the protector, the man who kept his word. But so much had changed between them. So much had gone wrong. Could she still trust him to keep that promise?
Before she could answer, the front door creaked open. Both Piper and Jasper tensed, but relief washed over them as Gabriel stepped inside, his face serious but calm. His dark eyes flicked between them, noticing the tension in the room.
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked, his voice low, as he crossed the room to stand beside Piper.
Piper handed him the phone, the ominous message still displayed on the screen. Gabriel’s expression darkened as he read it, his jaw clenching. “They’re getting bold.”
“They’re getting close,” Jasper corrected, his voice hard. “We need to move faster.”
Gabriel met Jasper’s gaze, the rivalry between them barely contained, but for the moment, they both seemed focused on the same goal. “The meeting with Noah is set for tomorrow,” Gabriel said, handing the phone back to Piper. “We’ll use him to draw Moreno out, and then we’ll take care of this once and for all.”
Piper’s stomach twisted at the thought of seeing Noah again. She had barely been able to process the fact that he was still tied to this nightmare, let alone that they were about to use him as bait. But she knew they didn’t have a choice. They had to take the risk. Moreno wasn’t going to stop until he had what he wanted, and if Noah was the key to ending this, then they had to do whatever it took.
“Are you sure Noah will cooperate?” Piper asked, her voice tight with anxiety. “He’s always been so... unpredictable.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened. “He’ll cooperate. He doesn’t have a choice.”
The way Gabriel said it, with such calm certainty, sent a shiver down Piper’s spine. She didn’t doubt his ability to get Noah to play along, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know how far Gabriel was willing to go to make that happen.
Jasper stood, running a hand through his hair, his frustration barely contained. “We need to be ready for anything. Moreno’s not going to show up without a plan, and he’s not the type to play fair.”
Piper felt the tension in the room ratchet up as both men squared off, their shared desire to protect her and Lily clashing with their personal rivalry. She could feel the weight of their unspoken feelings, the undercurrent of competition between them. It was suffocating, and she didn’t have the energy to deal with it right now.
“I’m going to check on Lily,” Piper said quietly, standing up and stepping away from the table.
Both men watched her go, but neither said anything as she made her way down the hallway and into Lily’s bedroom. The sight of her daughter, curled up peacefully under the blankets, brought a fresh wave of emotion crashing over her.
She sank down onto the edge of the bed, reaching out to brush a stray curl from Lily’s forehead. How could something so pure, so innocent, be caught up in this nightmare? How could her daughter be the target of people who wanted nothing more than to destroy everything Piper had worked so hard to protect?
“I’m so sorry, baby,” Piper whispered, her voice breaking. “I’m trying to keep you safe. I promise I’ll do everything I can.”
Lily stirred in her sleep but didn’t wake. Piper stayed there for a few more minutes, trying to calm the storm of emotions inside her, trying to find the strength to face what was coming. She couldn’t afford to fall apart. Not now.
After a while, she stood and quietly left the room, closing the door softly behind her. When she returned to the living room, she found Jasper and Gabriel standing on opposite sides of the room, the tension between them still thick.
“We’ll take shifts tonight,” Jasper said, breaking the silence as Piper entered the room. “One of us will stay awake to keep watch, just in case.”
Piper nodded, too exhausted to argue. “I’ll take the first shift.”
Jasper shook his head. “You need to rest. Gabriel and I can handle it.”
Gabriel nodded in agreement. “You need to be ready for tomorrow.”
Piper hesitated, but the exhaustion was catching up with her, the emotional toll of the last few days weighing heavily on her. She knew they were right — if she didn’t get some rest, she wouldn’t be any good to anyone tomorrow.
“Okay,” she relented, though part of her still didn’t like the idea of leaving them alone together. “Wake me if anything happens.”
With that, she headed back to her room, leaving Gabriel and Jasper to their silent stand-off. She lay down on the bed, but sleep didn’t come easily. Her mind kept racing, replaying the message, thinking about tomorrow’s meeting with Noah, and wondering if they were really as prepared as they thought.
Hours later, Gabriel stood in the living room, staring out the window at the dark, empty street. The tension between him and Jasper had cooled somewhat, but it still simmered beneath the surface. They both wanted the same thing — Piper’s safety, Lily’s safety — but they had very different ways of getting there.
“You think this plan is going to work?” Jasper asked, breaking the silence as he crossed the room to stand beside Gabriel.
Gabriel didn’t take his eyes off the window. “It has to.”
Jasper leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “You’re awfully confident for someone who doesn’t know Noah.”
Gabriel turned to look at him, his expression unreadable. “I don’t need to know him to know what motivates men like him. Fear. Self-preservation. Noah will do whatever it takes to save his own skin. We just need to make sure we give him the right motivation.”
Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “You seem pretty familiar with how men like Moreno and Noah operate. Makes me wonder what kind of business you’ve been in before all this.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “I’ve been in enough situations to know how this works.”
Jasper smirked, though there was no humor in it. “That’s the problem. Piper doesn’t know you. Not really. And she’s trusting you to keep her and Lily safe.”
“I’m keeping them safe,” Gabriel said, his voice hardening. “Whatever my past is, it doesn’t change that.”
Jasper took a step closer, his voice lowering. “Maybe. But if anything goes wrong tomorrow, it’ll be on you.”
Gabriel met his gaze, unflinching. “Nothing’s going to go wrong.”
Jasper’s eyes flicked toward the hallway, where Piper was asleep, then back to Gabriel. “I’m here for them. Always have been. So if you think you’re going to take them from me, you’re wrong.”
Gabriel’s expression didn’t change, but there was a flicker of something — anger, maybe, or a challenge — in his eyes. “This isn’t about you, Jasper. It’s about keeping them safe. Whatever your issues are with me, deal with them later.”
Jasper stepped back, crossing his arms. “Just don’t forget whose family you’re dealing with.”
The tension between them hung in the air like a storm waiting to break. But before either of them could say anything more, Piper’s voice came from the hallway.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, her tone tentative as she appeared in the doorway, her eyes scanning their faces.
Both men turned toward her, the tension between them dissipating as quickly as it had built.
“Yeah,” Jasper said, forcing a small smile. “Just talking.”
Piper didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she let it go. “I couldn’t sleep.”
Gabriel stepped forward, his expression softening. “We’re just keeping watch. Go back to bed. We’ve got this.”
Piper hesitated for a moment, her eyes lingering on both of them before she nodded and retreated back to her room.
As the door closed behind her, Gabriel and Jasper exchanged one last tense glance before returning to their posts, the weight of the coming day pressing down on both of them.