Her Obsession (by Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 123

She Thrives In Chaos.

Conner

:.

73

By the time I finally let go, we’re both a mess of heat and quiet. Her breath is ragged against my collarbone, hair tangled, that small feral smile still lingering on her mouth like she’s stashed it away for me. I press one last kiss to the curve of her neck, slow and gentle. I shrug my shirt off and wrap it around her shoulders, the fabric swallowing her. She burrows into it, into me, and for a second the world shrinks to the hush of the room and the steady thump of my heart. I scoop her up in my arms the way I’ve carried her through worse things than a day without a plan and head back to our room. She’s heavy and soft in all the right places, and the weight of her fits against me like she was made just for me. I lay her down on the bed, tuck the covers up around her chin, and brush a hand along her cheek until her lashes flutter. She murmurs something useless and blissful, and then she’s asleep, proper and deep, like she’s finally allowed herself to stop fighting for a little while.

I sit on the edge of the mattress and just watch her breathe for a while. There’s a freckle by her ear; there’s a white scar at her jaw. Little things that mean the world to me because they’re hers. She’s going to struggle with this quiet, I know that. Her instincts are laced with readiness; stillness will feel like a loss at first. If she needs me to knock the edge off so she can rest, if she needs the kind of reckless, fierce lovemaking that buries the noise and leaves her smiling and emptied, I’ll do that. Not because I want to possess her or silence her, but because I’ll do whatever keeps her whole. I love this girl, and I don’t want her to change. I love everything about her just the way it is, but I know that she’ll also learn to enjoy some peace eventually, maybe she will soften in a way that’s just for me. I could love that too.

By the time morning rolls around, the other half of the bed is cold and empty. For a second, I lie there, staring at the ceiling, listening to the faint sounds drifting up through the floorboards, laughter, pans clattering, someone yelling something about eggs. I drag on a shirt and wander downstairs, half–expecting to find Sage hiding in some corner of the house, but she’s not hiding at all. She’s right in the middle of the chaos, barefoot on the porch, hair a tangled halo around her head, cooking breakfast over the barbecue like she was born to do it. She’s got half the ghosts helping. One kid’s scrambling eggs, another’s flipping pancakes, and a handful of recruits are setting up long tables out on the grass. It’s loud, it’s messy, it’s alive. And Sage, my crazy little storm, is smiling.

I’m still watching her when Nico strolls up beside me, a mug of coffee in one hand and a knowing look on his face. He passes me the mug. “Got something you might want to see,” he says, like it’s casual, like the world isn’t just barely holding itself together.

I huff out a breath, rubbing a hand over my jaw. “One day, Nico. Just one more bloody day of peace, yeah?”

He grins, unbothered as always. “No can do, boss. Come on.”

I follow him through the hall and into what used to be his office but now looks more like a bombsite made of paperwork and wires. The server racks hum low in the corner, lights blinking. The desk is buried in folders and half–empty mugs. He kicks a chair clear for me, and I drop into it with a sip of coffee.

“Alright,” I mutter, raising an eyebrow. “What’s got you so eager to ruin my morning?”

He doesn’t answer right away, he just pulls up a screen full of lists, photos, and documents. Kids‘ names, file numbers, and attached reports. His face shifts, the grin fading to something heavier.

“I’ve found families,” he says finally. “For the kids. Well… for most of them.”

My stomach knots. I lean forward, watching the screen as he scrolls.

“Some of them have no trace back to anyone,” he goes on quietly. “Burned records, false IDs, the works. And some of the ones I did track down…” He pauses, jaw tight. “I’ve already reached out to a few. A lot of them don’t want them back. Whatever Yakov did to those kids, what he made them into…It’s too much for some people to look at.”

He exhales hard, dragging a hand down his face. “Most of the people who gave them up in the first place weren’t good people, Conner. Some of these kids were sold off willingly and just… forgotten.”

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12:31 Wed, Oct 22

She Thrives In Chaos.

73

I stare at the screen, the rows of names and faces. Kids who laugh now, who play in the sunlight outside like they’ve never seen the dark. Kids who still flinch when a door slams too hard. And I know it then, deep in my chest, those kids aren’t going anywhere. Not until they’re ready. Not until they choose.

I take another long sip of coffee, set the mug down, and look at Nico. “Then we’ll be their family,” I say quietly. “Until they find another, or until they don’t need one.”

He nods slowly, something like pride flickering in his eyes. “I figured you’d say that, boss.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, standing. “You did.”

“There’s more.”

The way Nico says it makes something in me tighten. His voice has dropped, low and careful, like he’s about to step on a landmine and he

knows it.

He clicks open another folder on the mess of screens in front of us. The files flicker as they scroll through lists of names, half–redacted reports, and numbers that mean nothing to me. And then he stops. One photo. One name. And my blood goes cold. It’s her. A younger version, but it’s her. Same sharp eyes, same defiance in her chin, even at that age, just a little softer, less guarded. Her hair’s shorter, a shade darker, her face still caught somewhere between a kid and a fighter. The file name reads in bold black text:

ANGELICA ROMANERO.

I stare at it, my chest heavy.

Nico shifts in his seat, eyes flicking to me like he’s not sure whether to keep talking. “I found this buried in one of Yakov’s old encrypted archives,” he says quietly. “It was hidden deep, like buried

deep. She wasn’t just another recruit, Conner. She was one of the originals. Yakov didn’t find her; someone gave her to him.”

“Can you print all of this out for me?” I ask softly. “I’d like to show her myself.”

“Yeah, of course. I’ve got ones for Naomi too if you want to pass those on to Liam or whatever.”

I nod and wait as the printer whirs to life. Well, little ghost…you do thrive in chaos.

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