Page 276 of Iced Up Love: Part Two
“And… the tape?”
He shakes his head slightly.
“There’s a couple of comments,” he admits. “But it’s not the focus. Not even close.”
My chest loosens.
“Then what are they saying?”
He smirks faintly.
“That you’ve somehow won the jackpot,” he says. “Three men completely devoted to you.”
A soft, almost disbelieving breath leaves me.
Relief.
Real relief.
Zach presses a kiss to the side of my head.
“Told you,” he murmurs. “You’re not facing this alone anymore.”
I lean into him slightly. Just for a second. Just enough to feel it.
Elijah’s phone rings. Everything shifts. The room tightens instantly, like all the air has been pulled in one direction.
He answers without hesitation.
“Yeah.”
We all go still.
Listening.
Waiting. I don’t hear the other side, but I don’t need to. I see it in him. The way his shoulders shift. The way his jaw tightens. The way his focus sharpens into something colder, harder.
“I’ll meet you there,” he says.
My stomach drops. He hangs up.
And before he can even move, I’m already on my feet.
“Elijah—”
He turns toward me. I cross the space between us quickly, my hand catching his shirt, gripping it tight like if I don’t, he’ll already be gone.
“Please don’t go,” I say, the words coming out softer than I expect, but heavier.
He stills.
Just for a second. Just long enough for me to see it. The hesitation. The pull.
His hand comes up, cupping my cheek, thumb brushing under my eye, grounding me even as everything else feels like it’s shifting again.
“I have to, angel,” he says quietly.
My chest tightens.
