The call came at 2:17 a.m.
Elena woke to the vibration before the sound.
Adrian’s phone, sharp and insistent against the glass nightstand.
He didn’t sleep deeply anymore. The moment it buzzed, his eyes opened.
He reached for it, already alert.
Marcus.
Adrian answered without speaking.
There was no greeting. No pretense.
Just tension.
“Yes,” Adrian said quietly.
A pause.
Elena couldn’t hear Marcus’s voice—but she felt the shift in Adrian’s breathing.
“What hospital?” he asked.
Her stomach dropped.
Hospital.
He sat up slowly.
“When?”
Another pause.
His expression changed—not rage.
Something worse.
Fear.
“I’ll handle it,” he said, ending the call.
Elena pushed herself upright.
“What happened?”
Adrian looked at her.
For half a second, he hesitated.
That was enough to
