Chapter 56 The Knock at the Door

Chapter 56 The Knock at the Door
I wake slowly. Not all at once, not sharply, just piece by piece as warmth and weight settle around me before the rest of the room fully comes into focus. Patrick’s arm is still wrapped around my waist. His chest rises steadily against my back, breathing slow and even in the dim early light filtering through the curtains.
For a second, I stay still. Just breathing. Just existing here beneath the blankets with Patrick's warmth wrapped around me and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat grounding everything that still feels uncertain outside this room.
The tension from yesterday hasn’t disappeared. It’s still there somewhere underneath all of this. Waiting. But it feels further away like this.
Patrick shifts slightly behind me, his hand sliding lazily against my stomach before his mouth brushes once against my shoulder.
“You’re awake.”
His voice is rougher now.
Softer.
“Barely.”
A quiet sound leaves him that almost feels like a laugh before his arm tightens briefly around me.
“What time is it?”
“Too early.”
I smile faintly against the pillow at that. The room settles back into silence afterward, comfortable enough that neither of us rushes to break it again. Outside, rain taps softly against the windows, steady and quiet, while somewhere downstairs a door closes faintly beneath the sound.
Life continuing.
For a few more seconds, I let myself stay here inside this instead of thinking about what comes next. Patrick’s fingers trace absently along my side beneath the blanket before stilling suddenly. The shift is immediate. Small. But enough.
“What?” I ask quietly.
He lifts his head slightly, listening.
Another sound echoes faintly through the house below us. Voices. Low. Controlled. Then, footsteps moved faster than before.
Patrick sits up before I fully process it, the warmth disappearing beside me as his attention sharpens instantly. The softness from a second ago vanishes so quickly that it almost feels unreal.
Not gone.
Buried.
He reaches for his phone from the nightstand, checking the screen before his jaw tightens slightly.
“What is it?”
Before he can answer, there’s a knock at the bedroom door. Urgent.
Patrick swings his legs off the bed immediately. “Yeah.”
Josh opens the door just enough to look inside, already dressed, tension sitting sharp across his shoulders.
“We’ve got a problem.”
The room changes instantly. I sit up fully now, pulling the blanket tighter around myself as Patrick stands and reaches for his jeans without hesitation.
 “What happened?” he asks.
Mike appears behind Josh, his expression darker than usual. “The SUV’s back.”
A chill slides down my spine.
Patrick stills for half a second. “Outside the gates?”
“Half a mile down the road.”
Jake’s voice carries faintly from the hallway. “And before you ask, yeah, it’s the same plates.”
The softness from earlier disappears completely now, tension settling hard and fast through the room.
Patrick finishes buttoning his jeans, his expression unreadable again in that dangerous way that means he’s already thinking three moves ahead.
“How long?”
“Twenty minutes,” Mike says. “Maybe more.”
“And?”
“It hasn’t moved.”
Silence settles heavily for a second. Rain continues tapping softly against the windows. Steady and Unchanged. Like the world outside this house has no idea something is tightening inside it.
Patrick glances toward me briefly, and the shift in his face is subtle but immediate, something controlled settling over the sharper edge beneath it before he looks back at Josh.
“No one leaves today.”
Josh nods once. “Already handled.”
“I want eyes on every entrance.”
“Done.”
Mike crosses his arms. “You think they’re just watching again?”
“No,” Patrick says calmly. “I think they’re getting comfortable.”
That lands harder than anything else. Because comfort means confidence. And confidence means escalation.
Patrick runs a hand briefly through his hair before looking back toward me again, his attention holding for a second longer this time.
“You stay upstairs for now.”
The words come controlled, careful. Protective.
I push the blanket back and stand. “No.”
Josh exhales quietly from the doorway, as if he expected that answer.
Patrick’s gaze sharpens slightly. “Emmy.”
“I’m not hiding upstairs while all of you run around downstairs pretending I’m not part of this.”
Mike mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like finally.
Patrick studies me silently for a moment, tension pulling tight through the room again. Not anger. Calculation. Then he nods once.
“Fine.”
Josh glances between us. “You sure that’s smart?”
“No,” Patrick says evenly. “But she’s right.”
Something in my chest loosens slightly at that. Not because I won, but because Patrick listened.
Mike pushes away from the doorway. “I’ll switch with Jake outside.”
Josh nods once before stepping back into the hall. “Ten minutes downstairs.”
The door closes behind them, leaving the room quiet again except for the rain and the tension still lingering heavily between us.
Patrick looks at me for a long second before stepping closer again, one hand settling briefly against my waist. The touch feels different now. Not softer. Protective in a sharper way.
“You should’ve stayed in bed,” he murmurs.
I look up at him. “Would you have?”
A faint breath leaves him at that, almost another laugh, except there’s no humor in it this time. “No.”
His hand slides once against my waist before falling away as he reaches for his shirt from the floor. 
The moment from earlier is gone now. Not erased, just interrupted.
And somehow that feels worse.
Patrick pulls the shirt over his head before turning back toward me again.
“This changes things.”
“How.”
His gaze holds mine steadily. “He’s getting bolder.”
Outside, rain continues to fall softly against the windows while tension deepens in the house below us. The waiting part is over now. I can feel that. Whatever comes next has already started.