My stomach dropped. The apartment felt suddenly too small, the air too thin. For a moment I couldn’t think, only listen, to the babies’ quiet breaths, to the pounding of my own pulse in my ears, to the soft click of Adrian’s boots as he straightened.

Then the hallway erupted.

Heavy footsteps. The front door slammed open. Brayden filled the frame like a dark tide, breathless, eyes burning with something feral I hadn’t seen since before the accident.

His gaze cut the room in two: ...