Raiden:
"Raiden, hold me."
She’d asked for me.
That was all it took.
Three little words. One plea. And I was there. Pulling her close to my chest.
No questions. No hesitation. Just me and the storm in my chest that never seemed to calm when it came to her.
Her hair was a mess. Her eyes were swollen from crying. She looked like hell. Like she'd been hollowed out and left in pieces.
And I had never seen her more beautiful.
Because she was real now. Stripped raw. No walls. No perfect smile. Just Ella.
Tired. Empty. Completely undone.
Mine.
She didn’t move. Just sat there with me on the couch, in the center of my living room, like she didn’t know what came next.
But I did.
She belonged to me.
And I was going to make sure she never forgot it.
I reached for her—slow but deliberate
