Elena had always been good at pretending.
Pretending to sleep. Pretending to be fine. Pretending not to notice the tension in Liam's jaw when he thought she wasn't looking.
She stirred the oatmeal on the stove, watching it bubble, the spoon dragging slow circles like muscle memory. The kitchen smelled like cinnamon and salt and something almost domestic—almost.
Liam entered the room like a shadow with form. He didn't kiss her good morning. Didn't smile. But he touched her back lightly as he passed, grounding her with that one familiar gesture.
"You didn't sleep again," she said.
"No."
She didn't press. Not yet.
Miri padded in moments later, hair messy, notebook clutched to her chest. She slid into a chair and drew in silence, only half-engaged with the world.
Liam poured himself coffee. No cream. No sugar. "We need to talk," he said softly.
Elena didn't look at him. "About the message?"
He paused. "You read it?"
"You left it open. Besides, I know that look."
"Cassian Voss," he said quietly. "We were trained together. Black Reef. He disappeared after an op in eastern Libya went sideways. Everyone assumed he was dead. That message… proves otherwise."
Elena turned off the stove. "What did you do in Libya?"
He didn't answer.
Not right away.
She faced him fully now. "Liam."
He exhaled through his nose. "We were sent to intercept a convoy. Intel was off. We walked into a humanitarian mission. Cassian made a call—killed everyone. No questions. No hesitation. I filed a private report. The next week, he vanished. I assumed Ridgepoint burned him."
"But they didn't," she said.
"No. And if he's sending messages now, it means two things. One, someone high up is protecting him. Two, he's not done with me."
Elena set the spoon down. Her hands were shaking slightly.
"We just got Miri safe," she said. "We just started living."
"I know."
"You promised we were done with ghosts."
"I lied."
That word dropped like a stone between them.
Miri looked up from her drawing. "Are we in danger again?"
Elena went to her, brushing the child's hair back. "Not yet."
But she could feel it.
The shift in the air. The way Liam couldn't meet her eyes. The old wounds reopening beneath his skin.
They'd survived Ridgepoint.
But surviving Liam's past?
That might be a whole new war.
Liam
Liam stared at the photo on the phone long after Elena had gone to help Miri with her shoes.
He enlarged it with two fingers, scanning every grainy detail—the angle of the streetlight, the blur of a passing train, the shadows on Cassian's face. The last time Liam saw him, there had been blood on Cassian's hands and a laugh in his voice. The kind of laugh a man gives when he knows he's above consequence.
But this wasn't a ghost.
This was deliberate.
He knows I'm alive. He knows where we are.
And worse—he was inviting Liam to know it.
Liam slipped the phone into the drawer beneath the sink and locked it without a sound. He didn't want Miri to see it. And he didn't want Elena asking more questions—not yet.
Not until he had answers worth giving.
He walked to the back porch, the wood creaking beneath his boots. The lake reflected morning light like shattered glass, soft and misleading. Peaceful on the surface. Dangerous underneath.
Just like Cassian.
He remembered the training drills. Cassian was faster. Sharper. But cruel. Not careless—cold. Where Liam hesitated, Cassian executed. No lines. No regret. He'd always known Cassian would turn. But he never expected him to survive long enough to be back.
Liam's hands flexed around the porch rail.
His past wasn't something he could ever fully outrun. But he'd been trying to shield Elena from it—Miri too. And now?
Now that shield was cracking.
Do I tell her the rest?
About the op Cassian disappeared after. About the name on that mission that's still classified.
About the fact that Ridgepoint didn't kill Cassian… because someone higher was keeping him alive.
He heard the door open behind him. Elena's footsteps. Lighter today.
She didn't speak at first. Just stood beside him.
Finally, she said, "Whatever's coming… I want to face it with you."
He turned toward her, finally meeting her eyes.
"I know," he said. "That's what terrifies me."
Because if Cassian was coming for him…
Elena might be exactly who he uses to hurt him.