Page 74 of Beneath His Robes

I had no concept of time anymore.

All that mattered was him.

Ronan. And the vow I had made, quietly but with everything in me—that I would not leave his side, not for a single moment. It meant more than anything else, more than any other promise in the past.

When he woke up, I would be here. When the pain hit him, when the nightmares came, I would be here. When he was ready to speak about what had happened, I would be here.

And even if he never spoke a word, even if he never told me what had happened, I would be here.

I closed my eyes, the weight of it all settling over me again, but this time, it wasn’t as suffocating. Because I knew one thing—no matter what, Ronan wasn’t alone. And I would make sure he never felt alone again.

I…chose him.

ChapterTwenty-Four

Elias

I sat there for a long while after the cop left, staring at Ronan’s still form, trying to make sense of the whirlwind of emotions spinning inside me. Part of me wanted to yell, scream, and tear something apart because the truth was both a blessing and a curse.

Ronan was free, but at what cost?

Jack was still out there.

I looked at the door, half-expecting it to burst open again, for the cop to walk back in with more news, with some kind of plan to catch Jack, to stop him from hurting anyone else. But the silence in the room was suffocating. There was no action, no movement—just me, Ronan, and the weight of everything that had happened.

How did I even begin to explain this to him when he woke up?

How could I tell him that his mother was gone, that he was unable to protect her from Jack in the last moments?

How could I tell him that Jack was hiding from the law and was still out there?

How could I ever make him feel like the past few months weren’t a nightmare he would never escape?

I couldn’t.

I could never take the pain of it away. But what I could do was be here. Be the one constant thing in his life while he put the pieces of himself back together.

I glanced at Ronan again. He was still asleep, his breathing steady but shallow. His lips were pale, the bruising on his face a haunting reminder of what had happened to him, what those monsters at the prison had done to him. The anger inside me flared again, hotter than before, and I had to steady myself and remind myself that I needed to focus on the present, on him.

I didn’t even hear the door open this time. It wasn’t until I felt the soft tap on my shoulder that I realized someone else had entered.

I turned quickly, expecting a nurse or maybe another officer, but it was someone else entirely. It was a man in a suit, his expression somber but determined. His badge was visible, but this wasn’t the same officer who’d given me the news.

“Elias Cross?” The man’s voice was deep and steady, but there was an edge of urgency to it.

I nodded, my chest tightening again. “Yes. Who are you?”

He flashed his badge briefly before tucking it back into his jacket. “Detective Weston. I’m handling the investigation into Jack Manning’s whereabouts.”

The mention of Jack’s name made my blood run cold. I could feel the knot in my stomach tightening again. I nodded slowly, my hands tightening around the edge of Ronan’s bed.

“You’re looking for him, then? Have you found anything?”

Detective Weston’s face remained unreadable, but I could see the tension in his jaw. “We’re still searching. But we believe Jack may be planning to flee the state. We’ve issued a warrant for his arrest, and we’re doing everything we can to track him down. But…”

His words trailed off, and I could see the hesitation in his eyes.

“But what?” I said, my voice thick with barely contained emotion. “But you’re not sure you’ll find him in time?”

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