Marcus's apartment smelled like coffee and the faint citrus of the cleaning solution the housekeeper used on Thursdays.
Ryan dropped his briefcase by the door and loosened his tie, the familiar sounds of Marcus moving around in the kitchen immediate and grounding. They'd been living here for three weeks now, since the mansion had started feeling too large, too full of ghosts.
Matt's room still existed there, untouched, the basement where Logan and Jasper had died had been cleaned but the memory lingered, every hallway held echoes of violence and grief that neither of them could escape.
So they'd left.
Marcus's apartment was simpler, two bedrooms that had become one since Ryan never used the guest room. A kitchen that actually got used now that they cooked together most nights, windows that looked out over the city instead of manicured gardens that required staff to maintain.
It felt like home in a way the mansion didn't.
