She wasn’t supposed to matter. But he broke a man for her.

—-

Lily's PoV

In the short, bruised stretch of life I’ve managed so far, I’ve lived through enough tension to numb most people. But none of it prepared me for this.

The silence in Alex Dankworth’s car was thick enough to choke on. Mark had been dismissed with a clipped nod, and now it was just the two of us. No buffer. No escape. Just me, him, and a storm unraveling outside the windows.

His grip on the wheel was punishing—white-knuckled, veins sharp against his skin. He hadn’t spoken since we left the hospital, but every few minutes,...