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“You checked.”

“I need to check again.”

“Okay,” I say. “Once. Then tell me what you need that is not a camera.”

His jaw tics, but he reaches around me and taps the screen with one hand. Gate. Dock. East access. Clear.

I wait.

His hand returns to my hip.

“What do you need?” I ask again.

Theo stares at the hollow of my throat as if the answer is written there. “I need him not to be a file number or a case study.”

Ezra’s face softens.

“I need you not to be reduced to a bloodline in somebody’s notes.” Theo swallows. “I need our house to be safe.”

My chest aches. I kiss him. Softly first. Then again when his hands tighten and release on their own. It’s a slide of lips and the barest hint of tongue that makes up a conversation of comfort.

Ezra rests his hand on Theo’s forearm. “That isn’t unreasonable, Theo. We can make a question list before anyone gets anything.”

Theo’s eyes open.

I nod. “We can control what we send. We will read what Dr. Cole sends, then decide if Sawyer gets close.”

Theo’s throat moves. “And if I still want to say no?”

“Then you say no at the table,” Ezra says. “With us, and we come to a decision. Together.”

The room holds still around that.

Theo nods once. It doesn’t fix everything, but he’s making an effort to move beyond his fear. For me, that counts as progress.

We spend the evening drafting questions. Ezra gets crumbs on two pages. Theo writes down every Saints’ route name he remembers in blocky handwriting that presses too hard into the paper. I organize everything into piles: Sawyer questions, Dr. Cole follow-up, Jessamine, dock mark, Theo’s route list.

By eleven, my eyes burn.

Ezra yawns so hard, his whole body flickers at the edges. “If anyone asks, I’m going upstairs for scientific reasons.”

“The scientific reason is sleep,” I say.

“Exactly.”

Theo stands. “I’ll check the property and make sure we’re locked up for the night.”

I look at him.

“One round,” he says before I can speak.

I’m too tired to argue with a man who stayed at the table while every instinct told him not to. “Come up after.”

“I will.”

Ezra touches Theo’s bond scar on the way by. “Soon? Okay?”

Theo catches his hand and kisses his knuckles. “I will.”