The sleek black car glided through the quiet streets of Mumbai, cutting through the late-night hush like a whisper. Streetlights flickered across the windshield, painting golden lines on Jane's peaceful face. She sat beside Ryan, her heels off, her head gently leaning against the car seat. The city had worn its chaos like a crown all day—but now, it had quieted, giving the couple a fleeting sense of calm.
They returned to the estate well past midnight. The tall iron gates opened with a hush, and the car rolled down the gravel driveway. Security lights blinked softly around the perimeter, but inside the main house, only a few golden lamps glowed faintly in the hallways.
Jane barely muttered a word as they entered. She looked tired, yet still graceful, the evening's laughter and flirtation replaced by a quiet, satisfied calm. Without ceremony, she made her way to the closet, slipping off her heels and rubbing her neck with a soft sigh.
Ryan shut the door behind them and began unbuttoning his shirt, folding it neatly on the side chair. He heard a rustle of fabric and glanced briefly in Jane's direction. She stood by the wardrobe, back turned, letting her gown slide gracefully to the floor.
Without a word, she pulled one of his clean black T-shirts from the dresser, one she had clearly claimed as her own. She slipped it over her head with an easy motion, the fabric hanging loosely on her smaller frame. It was something she'd done before, and something Ryan had come to accept as part of their quiet, shared rhythm.
He didn't overthink it this time.
Instead, he walked over to the other side of the bed and got in, adjusting the pillows behind his back as he leaned into the headboard. He gave her a small smile when she turned, and she returned it—warm, half-asleep, but full of unspoken affection.
Jane padded barefoot to the bed, climbed in beside him, and without hesitation, lay down and rested her head on his chest.
There was no tension, no awkwardness. Just a sense of quiet comfort that had grown between them over time.
Within minutes, she was asleep—her breath slow and steady, cheek pressed to him like she had no worries, like he was her anchor in this ever-turbulent world.
Ryan lay still, eyes wide open, staring at the dark ceiling above. His arm instinctively wrapped around her, fingers brushing against the smooth fabric of his own shirt she was wearing. But his mind refused the stillness. It ran.
She trusts me enough to fall asleep like this… so easily… so openly.
He looked down at her, the way her dark lashes rested against her cheek, the soft curve of her lips, and the slight upward twitch at the corner of her mouth even in sleep. She looked calm. Safe.
But was he?
Ryan's Thoughts
When did all of this become real?
He wasn't in New York anymore. He wasn't the orphaned engineering student scrambling to build a life from scratch. He wasn't the broken soul waking up in a hospital bed after Hazel died saving him.
Hazel…
A ghost of pain flickered across his chest, not from the bullet wound—but from memory. The way Hazel had shielded him without hesitation. The way her body had crumpled in his arms. He hadn't been able to save her. And back then, he didn't even understand what life could demand of him. What love could cost.
But Jane… she waited.
She didn't just walk into his life. She stepped into the chaos after Hazel, offered him a marriage, a mission, and a path. She introduced him to combat, training, allies. She peeled back her world for him, piece by piece, without asking for anything in return.
Except maybe… his presence. His loyalty. His heart.
He looked down at her again.
I never imagined myself in this position… Married to a woman who ran empires, navigated between arms dealers and crime lords. Who could silence a room with one glance, but melt like this when lying next to him.
He hadn't kissed her. Not yet. Not truly. Not the way she probably deserved.
Because some part of him had been holding back—maybe out of guilt. Maybe out of fear that if he gave in fully, it would mean closing the door on Hazel forever. And yet, that door was already closed. Not forgotten. But sealed by time and reality.
I am married to her.She is here.And she loves me in her own way—maybe in the only way she knows how.
He thought about the life she'd lived. The loneliness behind her strength. The way her voice faltered when she spoke of losing him, of hiding their relationship from the world. She wasn't protecting herself—she was protecting him.
Even tonight, when he suggested they go public, her mind had gone straight to danger. Not image. Not pride. Just him.
She would erase my identity if it kept me alive.She would drag me into the shadows with her, just so we could stay together.
There was something terrifying and beautiful in that kind of devotion.
Ryan's fingers brushed Jane's hair gently. She shifted slightly, murmured something under her breath, and curled even closer to him, her arm draped over his chest like she was afraid he might vanish in the night.
His throat tightened.
I've never belonged to anyone like this before… and no one has ever belonged to me in this way either.
Hazel had been warmth and simplicity—love born in quiet, ordinary moments. But Jane… Jane was fire. She was war and storm. To love her meant to walk through chaos and come out reborn.
He finally exhaled, long and slow.
Maybe I didn't understand life back then. But I do now. And this woman—this fierce, stubborn, beautifully broken woman—is giving me something rare.
A second chance.
Not just to live.
But to protect.
To fight.
To become the kind of man who doesn't lose the people he loves.
Ryan looked down at her again, asleep against him, vulnerable in a way the world never saw. His pulse beat steady beneath her palm.
I swear it…
No matter what hell comes our way, I'll be the one who stands between you and it.
If the world dares to take you from me, I'll burn it to the ground before I let that happen.
With that unspoken vow sealed deep in his bones, he held Jane tighter—like she was the only real thing he had left—and finally, finally let sleep pull him under.
He does not know there is will be a day as he would just do that but that is other time story.