“Please respect my decision.” He crossed his arms over his chest. His knuckles were pale again as his fingers bit into the flesh of his arms. “Things between us will be professional from now on. As my Captain, you have my support and loyalty. I will follow your orders, whatever they are.” He clamped his lips shut and swallowed hard. “But that is all I am to you.”

A more untrue statement had never been spoken. I hugged myself, willing myself to stop being pathetic, forcing every ounce of pride to the surface, needing it to coat me like armor.

Like I was watching from outside my body, I heard myself say, “Of course I’ll respect your decision.”

He sagged a little as I spoke, but recovered quickly. “Thank you,” he murmured. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like some privacy.”

“Yeah, sure. It’s your room.” I spun around and fled as my armor melted away, leaving only a raw lump of misery and confusion where my heart used to be.

Blinded by tears, hurting and dizzy, desperate to escape to a place where I could scream and cry without being observed, I took the stairs too quickly. My knee gave out halfway down, and I flew forward, knowing this was going to be bad.

But I never hit. Warm arms caught me and set me on my feet. “That was nearly your second stair calamity of the day,” Raphael said, holding me steady as I regained my balance.

“How did you—never mind,” I said.

“Come into the living room, Lela. You need to rest.” He put his arm around me, and I didn’t fight him. I might have fallen without his support. My knee was killing me, my head was throbbing, and my heart was shattered. He guided me to the couch. I fell onto it, pulled a cushion over my chest, and hugged it tight, needing something to contain me, to keep me from falling apart.

He squatted in front of me, dressed in plain khaki pants and a button-down. Perfectly designed to be utterly forgettable … like me, apparently. “I won’t ask what hurts,” he said gently.

“It’s been a shitty day,” I said, praying he wasn’t going to make me talk about it.

His gaze slid up the steps before returning to me. “There is so much pain in this house.”