Episode 14 –
Tracy's POV
I didn't sleep.
How could I, after everything? After the kiss. After calling it a mistake. After watching him walk away like none of it mattered.
I laid on the worn-out couch in the front of the abandoned bookstore, staring up at the dusty ceiling. Every creak in the walls, every shift of the night outside made me jump.
But what haunted me more than the shadows… was him.
His lips. His hands. The way he'd held me like I was something worth holding onto. And then just like that—he walked away.
A mistake.
He'd said it like he meant it.
The ache in my chest wasn't just confusion. It was heartbreak.
I had no business falling for him. Zane was danger in human form. Secrets wrapped in tattoos and silence. But I didn't care. Because for a moment—just one—I'd felt safe in his arms.
And then I remembered…
That safety was an illusion.
I finally sat up as light started to trickle through the cracks of the boarded-up window. My throat was dry. My head foggy.
Footsteps behind me made my spine stiffen.
Zane walked in, rubbing a towel through his damp hair. He'd clearly found some hidden water source in the back. His shirt clung slightly to his chest, and the scent of clean skin and danger filled the room the moment he stepped in.
"Morning," he said.
I didn't answer.
He grabbed a bottle of water and tossed one toward me.
I caught it but didn't open it.
He sat on the opposite armchair, stretching out like nothing had happened.
I stared at him. "So… that's it?"
Zane paused. "What's it?"
"You know what I mean."
He looked at me now, eyes steady. "We were tired. It was a long night. You were overwhelmed."
"And you?"
He leaned forward. "I don't get overwhelmed."
I rolled my eyes. "Right. Of course not. Zane the invincible."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "It's easier if we don't talk about it."
"Easier for who?"
He didn't answer.
That silence said everything.
"Got it," I said sharply. "Forget I said anything."
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn't.
I stood. "Tell me the truth. All of it."
He stood too. The room felt suddenly smaller.
"You're not ready."
"I've had people try to kill me. I've seen someone get shot. I've kissed a man I barely know in a dirty alley. I think I'm past not being ready."
Zane's jaw tightened. "This isn't just about you, Trace."
"Then tell me what it's about!"
He hesitated, then walked to a locked metal drawer. He pulled out a file.
"Your mother's death—it wasn't an accident."
I blinked.
"I already knew that," I said softly.
He looked surprised.
"I always suspected. But no one would tell me anything. Not even my dad."
Zane glanced down at the file. "Your dad… he's alive. But he's not innocent."
I froze.
"What do you mean?"
Zane hesitated. "You think the debt you're running from is just gambling money owed to thugs. But the truth is… your father owed money to the wrong kind of people. And they didn't just want repayment. They wanted leverage."
I shook my head slowly. "So… I was the leverage?"
Zane nodded. "They used your father's weakness to get to you. Because of who your mother was."
I sat down slowly, overwhelmed. "I thought all this was just about money…"
"It's not," he said, voice low. "It's about blood. Legacy. Secrets. And now it's about survival."
We were quiet again. But not the same kind of quiet. This time, it was personal. Raw.
I glanced at him.
He was staring at the ground, fists clenched like he was fighting something inside himself.
"You regret kissing me?" I asked before I could stop myself.
He looked up. "It doesn't matter what I feel."
"Then why did it feel like everything to me?"
He stepped forward. "Because it was."
I stood now too, our faces inches apart.
"If you're going to push me away, Zane," I whispered, "then say it. Say the words. Tell me you don't want me."
He didn't speak.
"Tell me you didn't feel something when you kissed me."
He still didn't speak.
And then I saw it—the war in his eyes. He was trying so hard to hold back, but the fire was there. It was burning.
I reached up, fingers grazing his jaw.
"I'm not asking you to save me," I said. "I'm asking you to stop pretending."
He grabbed my wrist—gently—and then pulled me forward, kissing me again.
This time, it wasn't cautious. It wasn't quiet.
It was full.
Consuming.
He kissed me like he'd been starving for me, and I kissed him like I'd finally found air.
His hands gripped my waist as mine clutched his shirt. We stumbled back until I hit the edge of the desk. He lifted me slightly, setting me on it without breaking the kiss.
But then—
He stopped.
Breathless.
He rested his forehead against mine.
"This is wrong," he whispered.
I blinked, confused. "Why?"
"Because if I lose you, Trace… I won't survive it."
I swallowed hard.
He stepped back, hands running through his hair.
"I need to clear my head."
"Zane—"
"I'll be back."
He turned and walked toward the back door.
But before he could touch the handle, he stopped.
He turned.
Walked straight back to me.
And kissed me again.
Fiercely. Desperately. Like he'd made up his mind and no longer gave a damn about the consequences.
This kiss wasn't a question—it was a declaration.
He pulled me into him like he was afraid I might disappear again.
My hands moved to the back of his neck, anchoring him. He deepened the kiss, his thumb grazing my jaw, slow and warm, like he was trying to memorize my shape.
I could feel him losing control, and for once, I wanted him to. I wanted the walls gone, the distance shattered. I wanted every secret, every truth, every kiss he was afraid to give.
He finally broke away just enough to whisper, "You ruin me."
I smiled against his lips. "Good."
He chuckled, his forehead resting against mine.
But then—
His phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
It buzzed again. Then again. Relentlessly.
He groaned, pulling away just enough to look at the screen.
His entire face changed.
He answered.
"This better be important," he snapped.
A pause.
And then—
"Where?"
Another pause.
"Keep him there. I'm on my way."
He hung up, eyes suddenly darker than before.
"What is it?" I asked, heart thudding.
His jaw clenched. "A name I never wanted to hear again just showed up."
"Who?"
He looked at me.
forget this happened
what !?
I wanted to scream
but then he looked at me with those eyes
stay here until I get back