Cassian didn't speak a word the entire way to the hospital.
Alina was wrapped tightly in his arms in the backseat, his blood still dried into his shirt, her bruises vivid against her pale skin. She didn't protest. She couldn't. She leaned into him, letting his warmth melt the tremble in her bones while her eyes stared blankly out the window. The echo of her screams still rang in her ears.
Cassian held her as though she would break apart if he let go — and maybe she would.
By the time they reached his private medical wing, a team was already waiting. Without loosening his grip, he growled at them, "Check her. Everything. Especially the babies."
Alina blinked up at him in a haze. "You still think I'm carrying twins?"
"I know you are." His jaw was set like carved marble. "I'm not losing anything again."
She wanted to tell him she wasn't that fragile. But she didn't. Because inside, she was. The touch of that monster's gloves on her throat, the blood pooling under her knees, the sound of the gunshots that had torn into Cassian's body — it hadn't left her.
The doctor's voice was calm, but it made her tense. "We'll do a full scan. Vitals look strong, but we'll know more soon."
Cassian didn't leave her side, not even for a second.
She watched him as the machines beeped softly around them. The bullet wounds on his side had been cleaned and stitched, but his knuckles were still bloody from what he'd done to get her back. He looked like a man who had walked through fire and chosen to stay burning.
The doctor returned with the results, eyes calm. "They're safe. Both of them."
Alina let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Twins. Still alive. Still fighting.
Cassian finally exhaled too. He turned to her, brushing a blood-matted strand of hair behind her ear with aching tenderness. "Told you," he whispered.
She smiled faintly. "You're always so damn sure."
He leaned closer, voice dark and low. "About you? I never waver."
—
He took her home that night.
Not to the estate, not to a safehouse — home. His private penthouse in the city, shielded and unreachable. Cassian drew her a bath without asking, added her favorite oil, and helped her undress with slow, reverent hands. She didn't speak when he slid her into the water. She just let herself float — because for the first time since the warehouse, she felt like she could breathe again.
Later, he helped her into bed and wrapped a blanket around her before sitting beside her with a bowl of soup.
Alina arched a brow at him. "You're feeding me now?"
He gave her a look. "You've barely eaten in days."
She tilted her head, eyes glinting. "So this is the real Cassian? Tender, nurturing, doting husband?"
A ghost of a smile curved his lips. "Don't push it."
"I'm just saying," she teased, though her voice was soft. "You're surprisingly… good at this."
He looked at her for a long moment, then placed the bowl aside. "I'd rip the world apart if it meant keeping you safe. That's not tenderness. That's obsession."
Her heart skipped.
Cassian touched her face with a gentleness she hadn't seen in him before. "You think I didn't go mad the second I woke up and you weren't there? That I didn't hear your screams in my head even before the tracker led me to that hellhole?"
She leaned into his hand, lips barely parting. "And now?"
"Now," he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers, "I don't intend to let you out of my sight again."
Alina closed her eyes. The fear hadn't left her, not really. Every time she blinked, she saw the shadows. Felt the restraints. Heard the voice of the third man behind it all — still faceless, still hunting.
But Cassian was here.
Alive. Breathing. And hers.
—
Later that night, she stood on the balcony, watching the city lights flicker below. Cassian came up behind her, arms wrapping around her waist.
"You should be resting," he murmured into her hair.
"I couldn't sleep."
"You're still afraid," he said.
Alina hesitated. Then: "Aren't you?"
Cassian didn't answer right away. His grip around her tightened just slightly, protectively. "Yes. But fear doesn't paralyze me anymore. It fuels me."
She turned in his arms and placed a hand over his heart. "Even with the babies?"
"Especially because of them."
Alina smiled softly, resting her cheek against his chest. "They're going to be terrifying like their father."
Cassian chuckled — a low, rare sound that rumbled through her. "God help the world if they get your mouth, too."
"Oh, they will," she smirked. "Just imagine two tiny, sarcastic monsters."
He lifted her chin with his fingers and kissed her slowly, deeply — a kiss that didn't demand, didn't dominate. It simply was. Warm. Fierce. Real.
When they pulled apart, Alina whispered, "You've changed."
"No," Cassian said against her lips. "I've just remembered what it means to want something more than revenge."
She didn't respond. She didn't need to.
Because in the silence between them, something had shifted. Something fragile, something permanent.
But far below, in the darker corners of the city, the third man watched from the monitors. His face still hidden. His voice still cloaked.
And in his hand was a blood-stained envelope marked with Alina's name.
The game was far from over.