Hired To Protect Him, Falling For Him

Chapter 15: Stay With Me

Elias didn't get up from the balcony floor for many minutes.

He just knelt there, his forehead on the cold tile, holding my mama's phone even after she hung up. Whispering.

"Marcus didn't push her... he didn't push her inside... My father lied... he made me hate my brother..."

I knelt beside him. I rubbed his back. His neck was still red from where Marcus held him last night. His torn shirt was wet with tears.

"Elias... stand up. The floor is cold."

He shook his head. "I can't. I can't breathe."

That was when I saw — he was having a breakdown. His chest was rising too fast. His hands were shaking. The strong Elias Thorne who always protects me was breaking in front of me.

I pulled him up slowly. His legs were weak.

"Come. Let's go inside."

I took him to the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands.

"My whole life... my father told me,'Elias, I saw Marcus push her from behind.' I believed him. I told everyone Marcus is a monster. And it was all a lie?"

I knelt in front of him. "Elias, look at me. Breathe with me."

He looked at me, eyes red. "Nova... how? How could he do that?"

I stood up and held his hand.

"Your shirt is torn. You have not bathed since last night. There is blood on your hand. Let me help you."

He nodded.

I led him to the bathroom. I opened the shower. Warm water started falling. Steam filled the glass.

I started to step out to give him privacy, but he held my wrist.

"Don't leave. Please. Stay with me."

So I stayed.

He stepped under the water with his torn shirt still on. Water soaked him. I slowly helped him remove the shirt. The red mark on his neck where Marcus held him was still there.

I washed his shoulders. His back. The tension was there, hard like stone.

He turned, wet hands held my face.

"You stayed. Even when my family is crazy. You stayed."

I smiled small, touching his wet face. "Where else would I go, Elias?"

And then he kissed me. Slow. Soft. Not rushed. Like a man who finally has something true in his arms.

Water kept falling. Steam everywhere. My dress was soaked. His hands were on my waist, pulling me closer.

"Nova... is this okay?" he whispered.

"Yes," I said. "I'm here."

We stayed under the water for a long time, just holding each other, letting the warm water wash the pain away. What happened after that stayed private and soft between us in that bathroom, with the shower still running.

Afterwards, I wrapped him in a big white towel. I dried his hair like a child. He looked calmer. Stronger.

I gave him a clean black shirt. He wore it.

"Thank you for not leaving me on that floor," he said.

He lay down on the bed and pulled me beside him. He held my hand tight.

"Stay with me today. We will go to my father's house tomorrow. Today... I just want to stay here with you. I heard from the guard — the main house is full of security now because of Jonah. Because of what happened last night."

I lay beside him. "I will stay."

And for the first time since last night, his breathing became slow. He fell asleep holding my hand in the clean shirt I gave him.

Outside, the city was waking up. But in that bedroom, it was just us. Safe. Together. After the call.