NOAH

Preston let out a long breath. He looked like he had just finished a chore. "It’s not my concern what he does in his spare time," he said.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He lit one with a silver lighter, the flame bright in the sterile room.

"Though I do find it distasteful," he added. The word was mild. He said it lazily, as if it didn’t really matter, but it hit me like a physical blow.

He blew a cloud of smoke into the air.

I looked at the smoke. I looked at the machine that was clicking and humming, helping Cassian breathe. Then I looked at the cigarette in Preston’s hand.

"You shouldn’t be smoking in here," I said. My voice was strained, but I got the words out. "He’s hurt. He needs clean air. This is a hospital."

Preston didn’t even look at me. He just flicked a bit of ash toward the floor. "It will be fine," he said.

I felt my jaw tighten. I wanted to stand up and knock the cigarette out of his hand, but he was too intimidating and I was a coward. I felt trapped.

"Men entangling themselves in that way," Preston continued. He was watching the smoke curl toward the ceiling. "It lacks discipline. It lacks control. It’s an abomination, really. It’s a waste of energy."

He said it the same way he said everything else. That was the worst part. He didn’t sound angry or hateful.

He sounded like he was stating a fact, like the sky is blue or the grass is green. It cost him nothing to say those words, even though they were tearing me apart.

He moved again, the cigarette held between two fingers. "I came as soon as I heard the news," he said. He gave Cassian a brief glance. "I had to cut my business trip short to be here. Family duty, you understand." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

I nodded. I didn’t know what else to do.

"I’m reassured to see he’s being so attentively looked after," he said. He looked back at me, and I could feel the hidden meaning in his words. He was telling me he knew exactly what I was doing here, and he didn’t approve.

"It’s my job," I repeated.

He gave me a faint, sharp smile. "Yes. You keep telling yourself that, Noah. If it helps you sleep at night."

The room went quiet for a beat. Then he asked a question that made my skin crawl. "Do you know what put him in this bed? Do you know who pulled the trigger?"

He sounded idle, almost bored.

I hesitated. I really didn’t know. I had been left in the dark about the whole thing. "No," I said quietly.

"I assumed as much," Preston said. He stepped closer to me again. He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder.

His grip was firm. It wasn’t rough, but it was heavy. It was the kind of touch that told me I couldn’t move until he let me.

He took a long pull from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke directly into my face.

I turned my head away, coughing. My eyes began to sting. Through the gray haze, I heard his voice right at my ear.

He was speaking so quietly that I could hear the whistle in his breath. It was more invasive than if he had been screaming.

"Would you like to know the truth, Noah?"

I didn’t answer for a second. I wanted to know. I wanted to know about the man in the photograph in Cassian’s wallet. I wanted to know his name.

I wanted to know every secret Cassian had been keeping from me. I wanted the gaps in the story to be filled.

Then I thought about Cassian. I thought about the man who had fought with his father for me.

"No," I said. My voice wasn’t steady, but I made it firm. "I’m not interested. I’ll hear the story from him. Or I won’t hear it at all."

Preston looked at me for a long time. He seemed to be reassessing me again. Whatever he found must have been interesting, because his smile grew a little wider and a little sharper.

"Pity," he said.

He stepped back and finally let go of my shoulder. I felt like I could finally breathe my own air again.

"I don’t have time for this today," he said. "Responsibilities accumulate when my brother is out of commission. The world doesn’t stop turning just because he’s in a hospital bed."

He said it like his visit had been a choice, something he didn’t really want to do. It made me feel small. It made the whole situation feel like a game he was winning.

He pulled a small white card from his pocket and held it out to me. I hesitated for a moment, then I took it. It was thick and heavy.

"If you change your mind," he said simply. "If you decide you want to know the big secrets he’s hiding. Give me a call."

He turned to leave. At the door, he paused and looked back at me. He didn’t move fast.

He just let his gaze drag over my body, from my head down to my feet. It felt like an invasion. It made me feel like I was a piece of property he was checking on.

"I do hope," he said softly, "that you understand what you’ve involved yourself in, Noah. People rarely do until it’s too late."

He walked out and closed the door behind him.

The silence that followed was heavier than the silence before he arrived. It was the weight of a room that had been emptied of a storm.

I didn’t move for a long time. My legs felt like they were made of water. I didn’t think they would hold me if I tried to stand. I just sat there and stared at the door.

Finally, I dropped back into the chair. I let out a long, shaky breath. My hands were cold, and my shirt was sticking to my spine.

"What the hell was that?" I whispered. I said it to the room. I said it to Cassian.

I knew the answer even as I asked the question. That wasn’t a conversation between two people. That was a warning. It was a threat wrapped in a suit.

I looked up and saw the smoke still hanging in the air. I stood up and started waving my hands, trying to clear it away. It felt useless, but I couldn’t just sit there while Cassian breathed that poison. I kept waving until my arms hurt.

The card was still in my hand. I looked at the name and the number printed on it. Preston Wolfe. I looked at the card, and then I looked at Cassian’s pale, still face.

I still had goosebumps on my arms. The room was quiet again, and the machines were still humming. Cassian was still breathing. But everything felt different now. The shadow in the room had grown much larger.