Page 91 of When Love Found Us
So many feelings surge up, fast and unmanageable, breaking against me in waves I don’t know how to hold back. I don’t know what to say or how to hold this moment in my hands without losing it to everything I fear.
And then Atlas moves—taking off my seatbelt, pulling me onto his lap, his arms firm around me, his lips crashing against mine like he’s taking the air from my lungs but giving something back in return. A promise. A reassurance. A feeling too deep to acknowledge right now.
I let myself sink into it. Into him. Into this.
ChapterThirty-Four
Henrietta (Blythe)
The air is cooler up here,crisp with the hint of rain that never quite comes. I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders, staring out over Birchwood Springs, the rooftops scattered below, and the sleepy glow of porch lights flickering in the distance. The town is quiet at this hour, but I can’t sleep.
It’s been three weeks since that night at the lake. Three weeks since Atlas gave me the bracelet, since he kissed me like he was willing to fight for me before I even knew if I could fight for myself.
I’m still here. I haven’t run.
I should be scared that I’m still waiting for the right moment to leave. But what terrifies me more is that I’m not.
In the last three weeks, everything has shifted. Atlas hasn’t trapped me. He hasn’t forced me to stay. And yet, I wake up in his bed every morning—wrapped in his warmth, his arm draped over my waist like he fears I’ll disappear but doesn’t want to say the words.
I’ve stopped thinking of it as his bed. It’s ours now—the sheets tangled with the imprint of both our bodies, the pillows carrying the scent of him and the ghost of my sleepless nights. Even in this strange limbo, where our touches are fleeting, and our kisses feel like stolen moments, we exist here together. But we don’t talk about us. Not really.
How can we, when everything is so uncertain? I’m still married. I’m still hiding. And if I’m being honest, I’m barely holding myself together. Any conversation about us feels like tempting fate—like cracking open a door we might not be ready to walk through.
Winston’s reach has tightened. Sanford’s team intercepted two of his men trying to slip into town. They weren’t here to grab me—not yet—but they were asking questions, and that’s enough to make my stomach knot.
Atlas has been training again. Cassian dragged him back into it, hauling him to a private gym every morning, pushing him until every movement became instinct again. Lethal, efficient. Some nights, I catch him in the living room, moving through drills like it’s muscle memory, his focus unshaken. He fights like a man who’s had to survive before. A man who knows he might have to again.
Malerick checks in more now. Not just for Atlas. For me. And I don’t know what to do with that. With the careful ways he makes room for me, the quiet gestures that make it feel like I belong here, like I’m not just passing through.
Delilah and Nysa do it too. They bring food, invite me to their dinners, and let me linger on the edges of their easy conversations. Simone, Nysa, Galeana, and Delilah have formed a tight friendship—almost like a sisterhood. I watch them, wishing I could step inside that space. But I don’t let myself. If I get too comfortable, if I let my guard down even a little, I know what will come next.
My divorce is still tangled in legal hell. But our lawyer thinks we have leverage. Winston won’t let this turn into a scandal—he’s too controlled for that. He’ll try to handle me the way he always has. Quietly. Privately. Like something to be dealt with behind closed doors, out of sight, out of mind. The key is that we can set up the divorce process without him catching me. They have found enough documentation to show he was abusing me.
That’s a win for us.
In these three weeks, there’s been a lot of progress. I even started therapy.
It’s been only three sessions. I confess that I haven’t opened up completely. Not about the worst things. But I’m trying. There’s a lot I have to unload, and then I need to understand the difference between what’s fear and what’s survival. Figuring out what I want when this is over. If this is ever over.
But the biggest shift? Atlas and me.
We move closer without acknowledging it, drawn by something we don’t name. Maybe we don’t need to. I feel it in the way his hands linger when he touches me, in the quiet moments that stretch a little longer than they should. He kisses me like he means it, like he’s memorizing something only we understand. At night, we tangle together, his arm draped over me, his breath warm against my skin. But that final line? We haven’t crossed it.
And I doubt we will anytime soon. Not when there’s so much happening. Winston still looms over us, a threat we can’t ignore. We have to be focused, careful. Now isn’t the time to get lost in whatever this is between us. Or maybe that’s just what I tell myself. Maybe I’m still afraid. Afraid of trusting this. Afraid of believing I could have something real without it being ripped away.
A creak from the rooftop hatch pulls me from my thoughts. Footsteps follow, unhurried, familiar. Atlas steps through, his hair damp, his hoodie hanging loose over broad shoulders, his sweatpants low on his hips. He looks at me, then at the blanket I’ve wrapped myself in, and his mouth tips up just slightly. That almost-smile. The one I’ve started collecting, tucking away like something rare.
“You stole my favorite blanket.”
I lift my brows. “It’s not your favorite if I steal it all the time.”
His smile deepens, just a little. God, he’s so beautiful.
He walks over and eases down next to me, stretching his long legs out. Close, but not touching. Waiting, like he always does.
I should say something.
Ask him if there’s any news. If Sanford and his team have found anything while scouting the town. Maybe I should keep the conversation safe. Ask him if we’re going to the sonogram tomorrow or if he found a way to have Simone come with the equipment. He doesn’t want me going to places where there’s a chance people can break into the CCTV. His team can hide me, but what if they don’t hide my face on time? What if I’m detected before they can erase the footage with me on it?
