The drive back from the river took forty-three minutes.

Nobody spoke during any of them.

Rain rolled across the windshield while the city passed in blurred streaks of red and gold outside the SUV windows. Kane sat in the front seat pretending very hard not to exist.

Dominic gave up pretending after ten minutes.

“I just wanna say,” he muttered from the passenger seat, “this atmosphere feels medically unsafe.”

No response.

Evie sat near the far door with her arms crossed tightly against her jacket.

Cassian drove.

Both hands fixed on the wheel.

Jaw tight.

Eyes forward.

He hadn’t looked at her once since the overpass.

That irritated her more than the kidnapping somehow.

Kane cleared his throat carefully.

“So. Good news.”

Nobody answered.

“You weren’t technically kidnapped very long.”

Dominic nodded supportively.

“That’s true. Strong efficiency numbers.”

Still nothing.

Rain tapped steadily against the roof.

Kane slowly lowered himself farther into the seat.

“…Cool. Awesome. Love silence.”

Evie followed Cassian into the safehouse kitchen the second they got back.

Not calmly.

The front door barely shut before she turned toward him.

“Oh, we are absolutely not doing this.”

Cassian pulled his gloves off slowly near the counter.

“Doing what.”

“That thing where you act like I’m made of glass after somebody points a gun at me for ten minutes.”

“You were taken by Viktor.”

“Yes. I was there.”

Cassian set the gloves beside the sink.

“You should’ve called for backup leaving the warehouse.”

Evie stared at him.

“That’s your opening line?”

“It would’ve prevented this.”

Rainwater still darkened the shoulders of his jacket.

He looked exhausted.

Angry too.

Not loud anger.

The kind he locked into his spine until it changed the way he stood.

Evie stepped closer into the kitchen light.

“You know what’s really starting to piss me off?”

Cassian looked at her finally.

“You keep talking about me like I’m part of the mission.”

Silence settled hard between them.

Kane appeared briefly near the hallway entrance, saw both of them, then turned around immediately and disappeared upstairs again.

Coward.

Cassian folded one towel beside the sink with unnecessary precision.

“Viktor identified you as leverage.”

“I’m a person.”

“You’re both.”

“That is deeply not romantic.”

“This isn’t romance.”

The answer came too fast.

Cassian looked away immediately after saying it.

Toward the rain-dark kitchen windows again.

Evie laughed once under her breath.

“Oh my God. There it is.”

Cassian’s shoulders tightened slightly.

“The window thing again,” she continued. “Every time you say something stupid emotionally, you look at the windows like they’re gonna rescue you.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Really? ‘This isn’t romance’ sounded super convincing.”

Cassian turned back toward her.

Rain slid slowly down the glass behind him while the kitchen lights hummed softly overhead.

“You were sitting in Viktor’s car.”

“Yes.”

“And he knew exactly how to get my attention.”

Evie crossed her arms harder.

“That doesn’t make me a liability.”

“It makes you vulnerable.”

“So are you.”

Cassian didn’t answer.

That hit somewhere.

Evie saw it immediately.

She stepped closer again.

“You think caring about somebody automatically turns them into a body count.”

His jaw tightened.

Tiny movement.

Still there.

“People around me die.”

“You are not the grim reaper, Cassian.”

“You didn’t see Elena.”

The kitchen quieted after that.

Rain tapped steadily against the windows while the refrigerator motor kicked softly on somewhere behind them.

Evie looked at him carefully.

“You know what the worst part is?”

Cassian stayed still.

“You already decided how this ends for us.” Her voice dropped slightly. “And we haven’t even started anything yet.”

Cassian’s hand pressed harder against the edge of the counter.

Not enough to shake.

Enough to notice.

“This isn’t safe.”

Evie threw both hands upward.

“Neither is your driving.”

“That’s different.”

“You literally drove through a warehouse door last month.”

“It was structurally weak.”

Evie stared at him for a full second.

Then pointed aggressively.

“See? This is what I mean. You’ll fight twenty armed men, but God forbid somebody likes you back.”

Cassian looked at her.

Really looked at her this time.

No distance.

No windows.

Just her standing barefoot in the kitchen yelling at him while rainwater dripped from both their jackets onto the tile floor.

The silence shifted slightly after that.

Not awkward.

Heavier.

Evie became suddenly aware of how close they were standing.

Close enough to see the faint scar near his mouth.

Close enough to notice the water still caught in his dark hair from the rain.

Cassian’s voice lowered when he spoke again.

“You don’t understand what Viktor is.”

Evie swallowed once.

“You don’t understand what you are when you decide somebody matters.”

The sentence landed harder than she expected.

Cassian’s eyes stayed fixed on her now.

No windows.

No exits.

Rain rolled softly against the glass behind them while the rest of the safehouse stayed quiet upstairs.

Evie’s pulse stumbled once.

Annoying timing.

“You know,” she said quietly, “normal people usually say things like ‘I was worried about you.’”

Cassian took one step closer.

Not much.

Still enough to close most of the space between them.

“I watched Viktor put you in a car.”

Evie stopped breathing for a second.

Not dramatic.

Just enough for the silence to stretch.

Cassian’s hand shifted slightly against the counter beside her.

Close enough now that she could feel warmth through the damp sleeve of his jacket when his arm brushed hers.

“You keep saying this isn’t romance,” she murmured.

Cassian looked down toward her mouth briefly before answering.

“Yeah.”

“That’s getting harder to believe.”

Neither of them moved after that.

The kitchen lights buzzed softly overhead.

Rainwater tapped against the windows.

Somewhere upstairs, Dominic dropped something heavy and immediately yelled “I’m okay.”

Nobody downstairs reacted.

Cassian leaned down slightly.

Evie’s fingers tightened around the edge of the counter.

Then—

Kane’s voice exploded from the hallway.

“OKAY SO I DIDN’T KNOW IF YOU GUYS WERE FIGHTING OR—”

He stopped mid-sentence.

Dead silence.

Kane looked between them standing inches apart in the kitchen.

“…Oh,” he said weakly.

Cassian closed his eyes briefly.

Evie grabbed the nearest kitchen towel and threw it directly at Kane’s face.

“GET OUT.”