Elias’s POV

The room wouldn’t stop spinning.

Security officers flooded every corner, voices overlapping, boots thudding across the floor, radios crackling with static. But all I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat slamming in my ears.

Too fast. Too loud. Too close to breaking.

Ronan pulled me closer with his uninjured arm, dragging me halfway onto his lap even while the rest of the room erupted into chaos.

He whispered, voice strained with pain, “Breathe. I’m right here.”

I ...