CHAPTER THREE

Lena's Pov

I didn't sleep much that night.

New houses always made me restless, but this one felt... different. Too big. Too quiet. Too aware of me. Every creak in the hallway made my nerves jump. And every time I closed my eyes, I saw two things:

Bryce leaning across that fancy restaurant table and Cassian Ward at the foot of the stairs, looking at me like he could see through every lie I'd ever told myself.

By sunrise, I gave up on sleep entirely.

My room was beautiful soft cream walls, a view of the snowy backyard, a massive bed with pillows that could smother a cow. But comfort meant nothing when your heart felt like it was made of cracked glass.

I dragged myself out of bed, brushed my hair into something vaguely human, and headed downstairs.

Voices drifted from the kitchen.

"Lena! Good morning," my mother chirped the moment I stepped in. She was dressed already hair curled, lipstick on, looking like she was ready for a photoshoot.

"Morning," I said, rubbing my eyes.

Senator Ward was reading the newspaper at the breakfast table, coffee steaming beside him. He gave me a warm nod. "Sleep well?"

"As well as I could," I answered truthfully.

Then I saw him.

Cassian stood by the counter, sleeves pushed up, pouring coffee into a mug. The morning light hit him in a way that made him look even more unreal...sharper jawline, tousled hair, quiet tension in his shoulders.

He glanced at me once.

Just once.

But it was enough to send my heartbeat skittering.

"Coffee?" he said, voice low, unreadable.

"Oh...sure," I said.

He slid the mug across the counter toward me without breaking eye contact. Not a smile. Not a frown. Just that intense, steady gaze that made me feel like I was shrinking and expanding at the same time.

My mother, oblivious as always, clapped her hands. "So! Today is decorating day! We're turning this house into a winter wonderland."

Cassian's jaw clenched an entire millimeter.

Senator Ward chuckled. "Don't let him fool you. Cassian loves holidays."

Cassian didn't respond, but he did look away from me long enough to sip his coffee.

Mom pointed to the living room. "We'll need help bringing the boxes down from the attic. Cassian, sweetheart, show Lena where everything is."

Cassian looked like he wanted to argue.

Just a flicker.

But then he sighed and nodded.

"Come on," he said to me.

He moved without waiting for me to follow, all quiet confidence and long strides. I trailed behind him through the corridor, trying not to stare at the muscles shifting under his sweater.

The attic ladder groaned as he pulled it down.

"You don't have to help," he said.

"I want to," I lied.

His brows lifted slightly like he could tell. Of course he could.

I climbed up first, and he followed close behind. The attic was huge, dusty, filled with boxes labeled lights, ornaments, family decorations, and randomly... fragile. I stared at the last one like it was mocking me.

As I knelt beside one of the boxes, Cassian stayed near the ladder, watching me carefully.

"You're quieter today," he said.

"I'm fine."

He exhaled through his nose. "That's not an answer."

I swallowed. "It's been a long week."

"Your boyfriend?" he asked, though his tone made it sound less like a question and more like he was confirming something he already knew.

Ex-boyfriend.

I opened my mouth then closed it again.

He waited. Patient but not gentle.

Finally, the words slipped out. "He cheated on me."

Cassian stilled.

Not shock.

Not pity.

Just a slow tightening of his jaw, like he was wrestling with something sharp behind his eyes.

I expected him to say something comforting. Something soft. Something normal.

Instead, he asked, "Did it hurt?"

I blinked. "What?"

"You looked... destroyed when you got here."

My throat tightened. "Anyone would be destroyed."

"No," he said quietly. "Not everyone loves like that."

Oh.

Oh no.

Heat crept up my cheeks. I turned back to the box to escape his gaze. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"It does," he said simply.

No one had ever said that to me. Not even Bryce. Especially not Bryce.

Before I could respond, a loud laugh echoed from downstairs my mother's voice.

"Cassian! Lena! We need the garlands!"

Cassian took a step closer, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off his body.

"We'll talk later," he said.

"About what?"

His eyes dipped to my mouth before lifting again. "About whatever you're trying so hard not to feel."

My breath caught.

But before anything else could be said or felt he grabbed two boxes like they weighed nothing and headed down the ladder.

Decorating with my mother was either a holiday tradition or a hostage situation depending on the year.

Cassian worked silently, stringing lights along the banister with practiced movements. I tried not to stare every time his sweater lifted slightly, revealing a sliver of skin.

"You're so helpful," my mom praised him, touching his arm.

He ignored the touch, eyes flicking to me instead.

Mom beamed. "Cassian could teach you a thing or two about being festive, Lena."

I bit my tongue. Cassian's gaze softened for a split second, like he understood what I wasn't saying.

Then the front door opened.

All three of us turned.

Cassian froze.

Senator Ward paused mid-step.

My mom gasped excitedly.

And my stomach?

It dropped straight to the floor.

Because Bryce Carter my cheating, lying, restaurant-reservation-having ex-boyfriend

was standing in the doorway.

Holding wrapped gifts.

Smiling at my mother.

Like he belonged here.

"Hey, Mrs. Hale!" he said. "Senator Ward asked me to stop by early. Family gathering and all."

Family.

What family?

Then Bryce's eyes landed on me.

His grin slipped into something desperate. "Lena. Baby..."

But another voice cut him off.

A quiet, controlled, unmistakably dangerous one.

"Don't," Cassian said.

His entire body went rigid, jaw sharp, gaze locked onto Bryce with a heat I'd never seen before.

Bryce blinked. "Uh... Cass? What's your problem? I was just..."

Cassian stepped forward, slow and lethal.

"Don't call her that."

My mother looked between them, confused.

"Wait...Cassian, you two know each other?"

Bryce laughed awkwardly. "Know him? He's my cousin."

My heart stopped.

No.

No, no, no..

My ex... is Cassian's cousin?

Cassian's eyes flicked to mine.

And in that moment, everything snapped into place.

The tension.

The way he watched me.

The way he asked about my pain.

The storm brewing behind his silence.

I felt my throat tighten.

Bryce took a step toward me.

Cassian blocked him instantly.

"Not. A step. Closer."

And that was the moment I realized..

This Christmas wasn't going to be peaceful.

Wasn't going to be healing.

Wasn't going to be simple.

It was going to be war.

CHAPTER FOUR;

Lena's Pov

Silence.

Not the peaceful kind.

The heavy, suffocating kind that squeezes your ribs tight and whispers, Run.

Bryce stood in the doorway holding his gift bags like some twisted Christmas angel, blinking between me and Cassian like he couldn't understand the hostility radiating off his cousin's body.

My mother, of course, broke the silence first.

"Oh, wonderful!" she said brightly. "You boys know each other already family should arrive any minute!"

Family.

Family.

The word kept stabbing the same place in my chest.

Bryce my ex was Cassian's cousin.

Meaning he was part of this household.

Meaning he wasn't just visiting.

Meaning...

I wasn't escaping him at all.

"Lena," Bryce tried again, stepping forward.

Cassian's arm shot out not touching me, but close enough that I could feel the warning in his body.

"I said don't."

His voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of calm that meant someone was barely holding their own temper back.

Bryce scoffed. "Cass, seriously? Stay out of this."

Cassian didn't blink. "You shouldn't be here."

"I was invited."

"And you should've declined."

My breath caught.

Senator Ward cleared his throat, his usually warm expression tightening. "Boys, that's enough. Bryce is family. He has every right to be here."

Cassian's jaw flexed, a quiet rebellion simmering under his skin.

Bryce smirked, stepping around him just enough to look at me again. "Lena, can we talk somewhere private? Please? Just five minutes."

The audacity.

The bold, unbelievable audacity.

I lifted my chin. "No."

Bryce blinked like no one had ever told him no before.

"No, we cannot talk. No, I don't want to see you. And no, you don't get five minutes or five seconds of my time."

His face reddened. "Lena, you're making this worse.."

"I didn't cheat on me," I snapped. "You did. You made this worse."

My mother gasped softly. "He cheated? Bryce, is that true?"

Bryce's mouth opened. Closed. Then opened again. "It...it wasn't that serious, okay? We'd fought. I wasn't sure where we stood."

Cassian's head turned sharply. "You weren't sure where you stood," he repeated slowly, like he was tasting something rotten. "So you took another girl to the most expensive restaurant in the city."

"It wasn't like that," Bryce muttered.

"It was exactly like that," I whispered.

His eyes softened, switching into manipulation mode. "Lena, baby.."

Cassian stepped forward so fast Bryce stumbled back.

"I warned you."

His voice dropped lower.

Dangerous.

Controlled.

The kind of tone that made your spine tingle.

My heart raced.

Senator Ward stepped in again. "Cassian," he said sharply. "Enough."

Cassian didn't look away from Bryce. Not once. But he obeyed, stepping back exactly one pace.

Bryce swallowed. "Look, can we all calm down? It's Christmas. I didn't come here to fight."

No. He came here to win.

To pretend nothing had happened.

To reel me back in like I was some toy he'd misplaced.

My mother forced a smile. "Yes let's not ruin the evening. Bryce, sweetie, go put your things in the guest room. Lena, darling, maybe freshen up? You look... tense."

Tense.

Of course I looked tense.

I was living in a nightmare with perfect lighting.

Bryce shot me a hopeful smile before heading upstairs.

I didn't move. Couldn't.

Not until Cassian's voice broke through the static in my brain.

"You don't have to be near him."

I looked at him. Really looked.

His eyes were dark frustrated, angry, but something else too. Something I didn't understand yet.

"He's family to you," I whispered. "I don't want to cause tension."

"You're not," he said flatly.

I wanted to believe him. God, I did.

But how do you believe anything when your world cracks in one night?

My mother and Senator Ward drifted into the dining room, giving us privacy without meaning to.

Cassian exhaled softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't know," he said. "About you and Bryce."

Of course he didn't. Why would my mother tell him?

But something about the way he said it quiet, careful made my chest tighten.

"If I had known," he added, voice dropping, "I wouldn't have let you walk in here without warning."

I swallowed. "Did you know he'd be here?"

His jaw tightened again. "Family comes every Christmas. But I didn't expect him this early."

A beat of silence.

Then, softer:

"I wouldn't have let him blindside you."

My breath hitched.

Why did he care?

Why did he sound like that?

Cassian stepped closer not too close, but close enough that I felt his presence like a second heartbeat.

"You're not alone here, Lena."

My name in his mouth sounded different.

Warm. Dangerous.

Like he was promising something he shouldn't.

"I don't want to be a problem," I whispered.

His eyes dropped to my lips before lifting again.

"You're not the problem."

The air thickened between us. Electricity. Heat. Something unfamiliar but impossible to ignore.

Then...

Footsteps pounded down the stairs.

Bryce reappeared at the bottom, breathless. "Hey, uh, Lena could you.."

Cassian didn't even turn. "Not now."

Bryce bristled. "She can speak for herself."

Cassian finally shifted, head tilting slightly. "You've done enough speaking for both of you."

Bryce glared. "She's still my..."

"She isn't yours," Cassian said.

Quiet. Final.

A verbal door slammed shut.

My throat tightened.

Bryce's eyes swung to me, pleading. "Lena, please. Tell him we can talk."

I exhaled shakily. "Bryce... I'm tired. I don't want to talk."

His face fell. "Just give me a chance to explain."

"There's nothing to explain."

Cassian didn't hide the satisfaction in his chest rising slightly. Like he was fighting the urge to smile.

Bryce hesitated, jaw working. "Fine. But I'm not giving up."

He stormed off toward the kitchen.

Silence again.

Then Cassian stepped back, giving me space, but his eyes stayed on me steady, watchful, like he was making sure I didn't fall apart.

"You handled that well," he murmured.

I shook my head. "I feel like collapsing."

"You didn't."

His voice softened.

"That matters."

I breathed in through my nose, grounding myself.

"Tomorrow," Cassian said, "we'll make sure you don't have to be alone with him."

We?

My heart fluttered.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

He paused.

Not confused just choosing his words carefully.

"Because he hurt you," he said quietly. "And I don't like seeing you hurt."

His eyes held mine a second too long.

Then, softer almost unwilling:

"And because this... situation isn't simple anymore."

Meaning what?

Meaning us?

Meaning the tension crackling between us like static?

Before I could ask, my mother called from the dining room:

"Dinner time!"

Cassian didn't move for a moment.

Then he leaned slightly closer, voice low enough to curl beneath my skin:

"We'll figure this out, Lena."

Then he walked away, leaving me standing there heart pounding, breath unsteady, already tangled in something I wasn't prepared for.

Something dangerous.

Something electrifying.

Something that had nothing to do with Bryce...and

CHAPTER FIVE

LENA

Dinner felt like sitting inside a pressure cooker.

Holiday candles flickered. Soft instrumental Christmas music played in the background. My mother smiled too hard. Senator Ward asked polite questions. And Bryce... Bryce stared at me like he expected me to magically forget everything and fall back into his arms.

But the worst part wasn't the tension.

It wasn't Bryce's swollen ego.

It wasn't my mother's whispers of "just hear him out, sweetheart."

It was Cassian.

Sitting directly across from me.

Silent.

Sharp.

Watching everything.

He didn't speak muchmaybe five sentences total but every time Bryce's hand twitched toward me, Cassian's jaw tightened. Every time Bryce tried to slip a comment in my direction, Cassian's eyes darkened another shade. And when Bryce "accidentally" brushed my arm reaching for the butter?

Cassian didn't move. Didn't make a sound.

But his stare was lethal.

"Lena," Bryce said suddenly, leaning in with a smile that used to make my stomach flutter. Now it just made me want to vomit. "I saved you some of the sweet potato casserole you love it, remember?"

I forced a polite smile. "Thanks."

Mom practically swooned. "Look how thoughtful he is."

Cassian's fork paused against his plate.

"So thoughtful," he murmured.

Not sincere.

Not even close.

Bryce rolled his eyes. "Ignore him. Cass has always been annoyingly protective."

Cassian didn't look up. "Just with people who deserve it."

Silence.

Sharp and immediate.

Bryce's face tightened. "Meaning what?"

Cassian finally lifted his head, eyes landing on Bryce with a coldness that made my breath catch.

"You know exactly what I mean."

Bryce opened his mouth ready to start something but Senator Ward cleared his throat loudly. "Enough, both of you."

Cassian didn't take his eyes off Bryce until he looked away.

After dinner, my mother insisted everyone help clean up.

Bryce immediately tried to follow me into the kitchen, but Cassian intercepted him with a smooth, casual step, cutting him off.

"You clean the dining room," Cassian said.

Bryce bristled. "You don't get to boss me around"

Cassian raised a brow.

Bryce backed down.

I nearly laughed.

Inside the kitchen, I started loading dishes into the sink. My hands were still trembling, my chest tight from the tension. When I reached for a heavy pot, I almost dropped it.

A hand caught it before it slipped.

A large, warm hand.

My breath hitched as Cassian stepped close behind me close enough that I felt his presence before I felt his touch.

"You're shaking," he murmured.

"I'm fine," I whispered.

"No," he said. "You're not."

My throat tightened. "It's just... a lot."

He didn't argue. Didn't tell me to toughen up. Didn't say Bryce wasn't worth the pain.

He simply took the pot from me, set it in the sink, and moved the dish towel aside.

"Let me," he said quietly.

And something inside me cracked.

Not a painful crack.

A soft one.

A safe one.

I stepped aside, grateful and embarrassed all at once.

Cassian washed the dishes with calm, methodical movements. I stood beside him drying plates, our shoulders brushing occasionally tiny sparks every time.

Halfway through, he spoke without looking at me.

"You don't have to pretend around him."

I froze. "Pretend what?"

"That you're okay."

The words hit too deep.

My voice barely came out. "If I don't pretend... I'll fall apart."

He turned to me then fully.

His eyes were darker than before.

Softer too.

"Then fall apart," he said. "Just not with him."

My breath caught.

And that was the problem.

Part of me wanted to fall apart with Cassian.

"Why are you helping me?" I whispered.

He didn't answer right away.

Then he leaned in not touching me, but close enough that my pulse jumped.

"Because you don't deserve what he did to you," he said quietly. "And because watching him talk to you like nothing happened makes me want to break something."

My lips parted. "Cassian..."

He stepped back suddenly, as if realizing how close we'd gotten.

But the air didn't lighten. If anything, it grew warmer, thicker, alive with something neither of us dared name.

Cassian turned away, wiping his hands on a towel, jaw tight. "Let's finish this before your mother comes in and starts assigning more tasks."

I nodded, heart racing.

Later, when everything was cleaned and reset, I escaped upstairs before Bryce could catch me. I climbed the steps two at a time, desperate for my room. Desperate for quiet. Desperate to breathe.

But Cassian caught me first.

His hand wrapped gently around my wrist not tight, not forceful, but enough to stop me.

"Lena."

A whisper.

Sharp but careful.

I turned slowly.

Cassian stood there, his expression unreadable, his chest rising and falling like he was fighting whatever words were inside him.

He stepped closer. "Don't be alone with him tomorrow."

"I won't," I said softly.

He held my gaze. "I mean it."

His intensity made my breath tremble. "Cassian... I can handle Bryce."

"No," he said, voice low and certain. "You survived him. There's a difference."

I swallowed hard.

He let go of my wrist slowly, fingers trailing like he didn't want to break contact too quickly.

"Goodnight, Lena."

My heart fluttered.

"Goodnight, Cassian."

He turned to leave...

But paused.

Looked back at me.

Studied me with that quiet, dangerous patience.

Then he said, barely above a whisper:

"You shouldn't hide your hurt. I see it anyway."

And then he walked away, disappearing into his dim bedroom, leaving me standing on the staircase with my pulse pounding like a warning or a beginning.

Maybe both.

Because something was shifting.

Something dangerous.

Something magnetic.

Something that had nothing to do with Bryce...

And everything to do with Cassian Ward.