Claiming Lily

Chapter 10 The Spark Under Ashes

POV: Lily

The kitchen smelled of burnt coffee and rain-soaked earth drifting in through the open window. The storm outside was soft but steady, pattering against the glass like a rhythm of warnings. He was already there when I entered the coat , still damp, eyes dark as the clouds above.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked without turning, his voice a low rasp that curled around my ribs.

“I wasn’t sleeping.” I shut the door gently so Noah wouldn’t wake. “Why are you still here?”

He set his mug down. “Because someone tried to break into your house last night. Because you don’t lock your windows. Because you’re too proud to admit you’re in danger.”

“I didn’t ask you to stay.” The words came out sharper than I meant, shaking with everything I wasn’t saying.

He finally looked at me, and the kitchen lights caught the bits of gold in his eyes. “You never ask. That’s the problem.”

I busied myself with the kettle, but my hands shook. “You can go back to your hotel. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” he said, moving closer. “You’re pale. You’re tired. You’re” He broke off, jaw tight. “You’re shutting me out again.”

“I’m protecting myself,” I whispered.

His laugh was soft and bitter. “From me?”

“From everything.”

He moved until the space between us was a breath. “Tell me to leave, and I’ll go. But don’t lie.”

I turned, heart pounding. “Why are you doing this, Adrian? What do you want from me?”

“Everything you’ve denied me,” he said, voice low, raw. “The truth. The trust. The touch you still dream about.”

My throat went dry. “You don’t get to ask for that after what you did.”

He flinched. “I know. And yet here I am.”

The kettle clicked off. The sound was loud in the quiet. His hand brushed mine as I reached for the handle. Sparks. Always sparks. It made me angry and dizzy at once.

“Stop,” I whispered. “Noah’s asleep.”

“I’m not touching you,” he said. But he didn’t move away.

“You’re crowding me.”

“You’re trembling.”

“Because you” I bit my lip hard. “Because you make everything complicated.”

He smiled weakly. “It was never simple.”

I set the kettle down with a bang. “You should leave.”

Instead he caught my wrist not hard, just enough to still me. “Look at me.”

I did. Big mistake. His face was so close, raindrops still sticking to his lashes. “If I walk away now,” he muttered, “someone else will come for you. Caitlyn. Whoever sent that warning text. You think you’re safe because you hide, but you’re not.”

My heart stumbled. “You saw the text?”

“It popped up on your counter last night. ‘Tell him or I will.’ Who sent it, Lily?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s the only answer I have.”

He studied me, eyes narrowing. “Then I’ll find out for myself.”

“I don’t need a savior,” I said furiously.

“Maybe not. But Noah does.” His gaze softened. “Let me help you.”

Something in me cracked. All the nights alone, the fear, the lies. It rose like a wave. “You left me,” I whispered. “You made your choice years ago.”

“I’ve been paying for it every day since,” he said. “Don’t you see? I’m trying to make it right.”

My breath hitched. “And what if it’s too late?”

He leaned closer, and for a heartbeat I forgot to breathe. “Then let me fail trying.”

I didn’t know who moved first. One second his fingers were on my cheek, warm and careful; the next his mouth was on mine, and the world turned. The rain outside roared. Sparks under ashes. Heat under ice.

I kissed him back just for a second before the memories slammed in: courtrooms, charges, tears. I pushed him away, hands flat against his chest.

“No.” My voice cracked. “We can’t.”

He froze. “Why?”

“Because if I start again, I won’t stop.” I backed away, shaking. “Because you still don’t know everything.”

He caught my eyes. “Then tell me.”

I opened my mouth and the doorbell rang. Sharp, demanding, slicing through the moment. We both jumped.

“Who would come this early?” I whispered.

He was already moving, shoulders tense. “Stay here.”

But the sound of the bell, the way it rang twice, made my stomach knot. “Adrian”

“Stay.” He vanished down the hall.

I gripped the counter, pulse racing. Through the crack of the kitchen door I could see the hallway, the shadow of a courier giving him a thick package. Adrian thanked him, signed something, and shut the door.

When he came back his face was unreadable. He held the package like a bomb.

“What is it?” I asked.

He didn’t answer at first. He slid a finger under the seal, eyes scanning the contents. The muscles in his jaw worked. He looked up, pale.

“You’ve been accused,” he said softly.

My stomach dropped. “What?”

He spread out a sheaf of written emails. “Someone sent these to me anonymously. Transactions. Dates. Your name.”

I stepped closer, reading upside down. My blood went cold. They were bank records of large payments from the clinic account to an art buyer. Numbers I’d never seen. My name typed neatly in the memo lines.

“I didn’t do this,” I whispered.

“They say you laundered money through a forger I once prosecuted.” His voice was low, dangerous. “Tell me it’s not true.”

“It’s not true!” My eyes burned. “I’ve never seen these before.”

“Then someone’s framing you.”

“Yes,” I said, but the word sounded small even to me.

“Who would have access to these accounts?” he demanded.

“Only…only me. And the board.” My heart thudded. “And Caitlyn.”

His eyes darkened. “She’s back?”

“She’s been circling for weeks,” I revealed. “I didn’t tell you because”

“Because you don’t trust me.” He stepped back, breathing hard. “Lily”

“I didn’t want to drag you into this!” I cried. “You’re the last person who should get hurt because of me.”

He stared at me, some mix of rage and something softer flashing across his face. “It’s too late for that.”

A floorboard creaked upstairs. Noah stirring. The sound broke the strain just enough for me to breathe.

“What do we do?” I whispered.

He took a long breath, then reached for his phone. “First, I stay. Tonight, tomorrow, however long it takes. No more running.”

“You can’t,” I said. “If the press finds you here”

“Let them.” His voice was steel. “I’m not leaving you alone.”

I wrapped my arms around myself. “This will destroy you.”

“It already destroyed me once,” he said softly. “I’m done hiding.”

We stood in silence, the storm outside growing, the papers on the counter like a trap ready to spring. His eyes searched mine, angry and desperate all at once.

“Lily,” he said, “there’s something else in the envelope.”

“What?” My voice barely breathes.

He held up a single photo: Noah, asleep on the couch, taken from outside the window. The slope was wrongtoo high, too far. Someone had been in the yard last night, watching.

My knees went weak. “Oh my God.”

He stepped closer, eyes like knives. “Whoever is doing this knows about him.”

“Adrian” My throat closed.

His hand found mine, steadying but trembling. “From now on, he’s not leaving your sight. Neither am I.”

I stared at the photo, my heart pounding so loud I thought it might wake Noah upstairs. Outside, the thunder cracked like a gunshot.

I swallowed hard. “What if this is only the beginning?”

His grip tightened. “Then we fight.”

But the question sat heavy in the air, unsaid, hard to ignore:

Fight who?

Lily gazes at the photo of Noah taken through her own window while Adrian’s phone buzzes with a new message:

“You can’t protect him forever.”

Her breath catches. She looks at Adrian.

“Tell me,” she says. “How much more do they already know?”

The screen goes dark before he can answer.