Page 184 of Ruin Me Gently

His fingers stilled and I felt his attention shift completely onto me, even before I looked at him. “Leave?”

I rolled my head toward the side, meeting his gaze. “Not permanently. Just… air. I need air.”

He didn’t say anything, just watched me. So I kept going. “Only for a little bit. To remember that I exist outside of—” I gestured vaguely around us. “I’ve been here for what—nearly a month? I need out.”

He let out a slow breath, dragging his thumb idly along my calf. His gaze flickered over my face before he smirked. “Go get dressed,” he said. “Something warm.”

My brows shot up. “Are you serious? Where are we going?”

He just squeezed my knee and stood up, stretching. “It’s a surprise.”

I sat up straighter. “Silas.”

He was already walking away. “Hurry up, sweetheart. Meet me at the elevator in five.”

I ran to the bedroom. Leggings. Boots. One of his hoodies—because, let’s be real, mine weren’t nearly as comfortable, and I was already committed to stealing all of his shit anyway. I shoved my hair into a ponytail, barely spared a glance in the mirror, then booked it back toward the elevator.

He was already waiting, leaning against the wall like he hadn’t just set a five-minute deadline on my life.

I skidded to a stop next to him, slightly out of breath—thanks, asthma.“Okay. Where are we going?”

His hand moved to the panel. I expected him to press down. But he didn’t. He pressed up.

I frowned. “Huh?”

He glanced down at me, smirking. “We’re going to the garden.”

“The garden?”

He nodded.

“Silas…” The words were slow, careful—the kind of voice you use when you’re explaining something simple to a particularly stupid man. “Gardens are usually on the ground.”

His smirk deepened. “Not this one.” The elevator opened and he stepped inside. “Come on. Let me blow your mind.”

I joined him, ready for the ride, but the elevator only went up one floor. I squinted at the doors. “That was anticlimactic.”

He huffed a laugh. “It’s been too windy to bring you up here. But today’s not too bad.”

A second later, the doors slid open, and—oh, absolutely the fuck not.

It wasn’t a rooftop. It was insanity. A garden. A literal, actual, fully landscaped garden. On top of a goddamn skyscraper.

The air was sharp with the lingering chill of evening, the sky and clouds awash with streaks of fading gold and dusky purple as the sun bled low on the horizon. I could hear the faint rustling of trees—trees, on a fucking rooftop—and the hum of the city far, far below.

Too far below. My stomach churned. I took one hesitant step forward. It was beautiful. Genuinely. Lush greenery, stone pathways, benches tucked beneath archways of ivy. It was like someone had scooped up a piece of a park and just… dropped it on top of a building.

The view? Insane.

But also? Absolutely horrifying.

If I stood on my tiptoes and reached up the tiniest bit, I was sure I’d be able to touch the clouds. Or worse—fall straight through them. “Holy shit.” My voice came out a little strangled. “This is way too high up to be experiencing fresh air.”

“Told you it would blow your mind.”

I wasn’t panicking. Nope. Absolutely not. This was fine. Totally. I just… happened to be standing like a badly posed mannequin that was vaguely considering its odds of getting blown off into the abyss.

Silas must have noticed. “Breathe.”

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