Chapter 101 You’re the real sweetheart

Chapter 101 You’re the real sweetheart
The house didn’t sleep that night. Honestly, nobody even tried.

Lights stayed on in corners of the hallways that were usually pitch black, and the security guys moved like literal shadows outside the windows. Every few minutes, I could hear the faint buzz of their walkie-talkies, footsteps on the gravel, and doors clicking open and shut. Everyone was exchanging these quiet, tense updates like the whole place was gonna explode if someone used the wrong tone of voice.

I just sat on the edge of my mattress, staring blankly at my phone screen.

The guys had taken the ultrasound image away, but I could still see it perfectly in my head. That sloppy black marker just burned into my brain.

That baby belongs to me.

My hand moved instinctively down to my stomach. It was still totally flat, way too early for anyone to notice a thing from the outside. But it was real. So real it completely terrified me.

A soft knock on the door pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts. I didn't even have to ask who it was before the door opened.

Lucien walked in first. He’d dumped his suit jacket and tie somewhere, leaving him in just a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, looking like he’d been working all night instead of sleeping. Vincent trailed right behind him, leaning his shoulder against the wall like he didn't have a single care in the world—even though his eyes were completely sharp. Zane came in last, shutting the door behind them and turning the lock.

That little click made my chest tighten right up.

Lucien didn't sit down. He just stood there staring at me for a long, heavy second, basically checking to make sure I hadn't fallen apart since he last saw me. "You didn’t sleep," he said. It wasn’t even a question.

"I tried," I said, my voice sounding a little raw. "It didn't work."

Vincent pushed himself off the wall, folding his arms. "Too much pointing and clicking in your head?"

I let out a dry, miserable laugh. "Yeah. You could say that."

Zane moved across the room and sat right on the armrest of the chair next to my bed. He was always quieter than his brothers, but somehow his presence felt way heavier when things got bad. "We found something," he said.

My heart skipped a beat, and I sat up straight. "What kind of something?"

Lucien looked over at Vincent real quick before looking back at me. "Aaron didn’t do this by himself, Sarah."

That hit me way harder than I wanted it to. My throat went tight. "What do you mean he didn't do it alone?"

Vincent let out a long sigh, looking like he really hated having to say the words out loud. "Someone inside the hospital system has been feeding him everything. There’s a leak."

A total, freezing silence dropped over the room. I just blinked at him, my brain rejecting the words. "No," I said, shaking my head. "No, that’s impossible. That hospital is totally private. It’s supposed to be completely secure."

Zane looked at me, his eyes dead serious. "It was secure," he corrected gently.

"Not anymore," Lucien added.

My hands curled into tight fists against the bedsheets. "So... someone just sold me out," I whispered, the reality starting to burn. "My pregnancy, my appointments, my personal details. Everything."

Vincent gave me a slow nod. "Yeah. Looks like it."

The whole room felt like it tilted a little bit. I stood up way too fast, the panic turning into hot anger. "Are you telling me some creep has been sitting there watching me through my own medical records?"

Lucien stepped closer to me right away, reaching out. "Sarah—"

"No!" I snapped, cutting him off. "Don’t try to sugarcoat it or calm me down. Just tell it to me straight."

Nobody spoke for a second. Then Zane's quiet voice broke the silence. "Yes. That's exactly what happened."

The word felt like a physical slap in the face. I turned away from them, pacing over to the big window and pressing my forehead against the cool glass. Outside, the city lights were just twinkling away like it was a normal Tuesday, like my entire life wasn't currently crashing and burning in slow motion.

Behind me, Vincent's voice sounded a lot more cautious than usual. "Look, Aaron is a psycho, we know that. But him having a mole inside makes this a whole lot worse."

I let out a bitter, nasty little laugh, still looking out at the city. "Worse? How much worse can it honestly get, Vincent?"

"A lot worse," Lucien said, his deep voice totally flat and serious.

I turned around to look at him. He was standing completely still, totally locked onto me.

"If someone has enough clearance to pull your actual medical files, they're either being blackmailed, paid off, or they're connected to someone big," Lucien explained.

Zane agreed, nodding. "Which means this isn't just Aaron throwing a temper tantrum because he's obsessed. This is a coordinated plan."

My stomach did another miserable dive. "So what are you guys actually trying to tell me?" I asked, my voice getting small.

Vincent answered this time, his playful attitude completely gone. "We're saying Aaron isn't just stumbling around in the dark, Sarah. He’s being guided."

The room went dead silent again. My mind was racing a million miles an hour.

Guided. Watched. Handled.

This wasn't just one crazy ex losing his mind anymore. This was a setup. And I was sitting right in the bullseye.

I sank back down onto the edge of the mattress because my legs suddenly felt like jelly. Lucien immediately dropped into a crouch right in front of me, forcing me to look at him. "Look at me," he commanded softly.

I looked into his eyes. They were totally steady and controlled, but right beneath the surface, there was this dark, terrifying anger brewing.

"I am not going to let anything happen to you," he said, and he meant it down to his bones. "Or the baby."

I swallowed hard, my chest aching. "That’s a really big promise, Lucien."

Vincent let out a tiny, soft scoff from the corner. "Yeah, well, he’s pretty crappy at making small ones."

Lucien shot him a lethal glare over his shoulder, but Zane didn't even notice the joke. He was entirely focused on the problem. "We need to move you," Zane said.

My head snapped toward him so fast my neck popped. "What?"

"To a different property," Zane repeated, like it was the most logical thing in the world. "Somewhere safer."

Vincent nodded along. "Somewhere we control 100%. No staff we don't know, limited access, zero chance of leaks."

I stood right back up, my temper flaring. "No."

All three of them stared at me like I'd just spoken in a different language.

Lucien’s voice stayed completely calm, though. "Sarah—"

"I said no!" I repeated, digging my heels into the rug. "I am not running away. I am not going to go hide in some cabin in the woods."

Vincent groaned and rubbed his neck. "This isn’t running away, sweetie. It’s tactical strategy."

"It's the exact same thing!" I shot back, glaring at him.

Zane stepped closer, his voice dropping to that quiet, intense tone he uses when he's trying to drop a truth bomb. "You were almost crushed by a steel beam yesterday, Sarah. Let's not forget that."

That completely shut me up. For about three seconds, the memory of the crash flashed in my mind and made me shudder. But I forced it down.

"I know that," I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. "I know I almost died. But packing me up and moving me doesn’t fix anything. It just turns me into a target that's hiding in a different box."

Lucien watched me, his eyes calculating. "So you just want to sit here in this house and wait for whatever he tries next?"

"No. I want to actually handle it. I want to face it."

Vincent raised an eyebrow, looking amused despite the situation. "Okay. With what army, exactly?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Because that was the exact problem. I didn't have one. Not really. I just had them. And right now, even that felt totally overwhelming.

Lucien stood up real slow, towering over me. "You think this is a choice, Sarah," he said, his voice completely level.

"It should be my choice."

"No," he corrected, cold and clear. "This is about survival. Nothing else matters."

The silence stretched out between us, super heavy and uncomfortable. But then Zane did something completely unexpected—he just sat back down on the armrest, folding his arms. He wasn't agreeing with Lucien, but he wasn't arguing with me either. He was just... watching.

Vincent noticed it right away. "Wait, don't tell me you're changing your mind now?"

Zane kept his eyes on me. "I'm just thinking about what she said. She has a point."

Vincent let out a loud groan, throwing his hands up. "Oh, great. Zane is thinking. That is always way worse."

A tiny, totally unexpected laugh slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Honestly, it surprised me more than it surprised them. But it worked—the thick tension in the room loosened up just a fraction.

Lucien looked down at me again, his expression softening just a tiny bit. "Tell us what you want, Sarah. Seriously."

I hesitated, looking at the three of them, before just telling them the honest truth. "I want some control," I said, my voice shaking a little. "Not over your business or your security stuff. But over my own life. I am sick of feeling like a piece on a chess board that you guys just slide around whenever you get worried."

Vincent went completely quiet, his mouth shutting. Zane gave me a small, respectful nod.

Lucien didn't say anything for a few seconds. He just stared at me, processing. Then he said something that completely threw me off. "Then take control with us."

I blinked, totally confused. "What?"

"You aren't a piece on the board," Lucien said, his eyes locking onto mine like superglue. "You sit at the table with us. We do this together."

My heart rate finally started to slow down to a normal pace.

Vincent let out a little smirk, shaking his head. "Wow. That sounded surprisingly romantic for a conversation about a literal mob war."

Lucien completely ignored him, keeping his focus on me. Zane leaned forward, his face dead serious. "If we're doing this together, Sarah, it means when things start moving fast, you have to trust us completely. No arguing, no second-guessing. Deal?"

I looked at the three of them. Vincent, Zane, Lucien. Three incredibly dangerous, powerful men who could absolutely obliterate anyone who dared to look at me wrong. And instead of just locking me in a room, they were asking me to be a part of it. Not protected from the storm, but right inside it with them.

I let out a long, slow breath. "I really hate this whole situation," I admitted.

Vincent nodded. "Totally fair."

"But," I continued, looking right at Lucien, "I hate being left out of my own life even more."

A tiny, faint trace of a smile touched Lucien's lips. "I'll take that as a yes."

I rolled my eyes hard. "Don't get cocky."

Zane stood up from the chair, stretching his shoulders. "Then it's settled."

I frowned at him. "Wait, when did it get settled?"

Vincent clapped his hands together once, a big grin hitting his face. "Awesome meeting, guys. We just solved trauma, a stalker crisis, and relationship boundaries all before 2:00 AM."

I grabbed the nearest throw pillow and chucked it directly at his face. He caught it effortlessly with one hand, laughing. Of course he did.

Lucien started moving toward the bedroom door. "I'm going to go rewrite the surveillance protocols."

Zane followed right behind him. "I'll start tracing the digital signatures on that hospital leak."

Vincent paused at the door, lingering for a second as the other two walked down the hall. He looked back at me, his eyes gleaming with that usual trouble-making spark. "Try not to die before breakfast, okay?"

"You're a real sweetheart, Vincent," I muttered, pulling the covers up.

He grinned, flashing his teeth. "Always, kitten."

Then he stepped out, and the heavy bedroom door clicked shut.

The room went completely quiet again. But this time, the silence didn't feel terrifying. It felt loaded. Because somewhere out there in the dark, Aaron wasn't just watching us anymore. He was actively planning his next move.

But he didn't know that now... so were we.