LiaWinters

She was only fifteen when I found her—broken, terrified, and barely alive.
I didn’t plan to keep her.
I was a special ops officer—trained to kill, not to care.
But she clung to me like I was her last light.
And I couldn’t let go.

I raised her like a sister.
Protected her. Watched her heal, grow, and fight her demons.
For five years, I told myself I was doing the right thing.

Until one day…
She looked at me—not as a guardian.
But as a woman in love.

I tried to push her away.
I was too old. Too dangerous.

But she’d already made up her mind.
And I was never strong enough to say no.

She thought her life ended the day she was taken.
But when he saved her, it wasn’t just her body that began to heal—
It was her soul’s second chance.

He saved her.
She became his reason to live.

A slow-burn, age-gap romance about trauma, survival, and the kind of love that takes years to grow—but never fades.

Saving Her Broke Me

It's really happening.

But the tension in the house hadn't lifted.

They still ate breakfast together.

Still watched the same news channel.

Still passed each other in the hallway with the same soft "hey" and "morning."

It sat between them like a locked door.

So when Elias mentioned it at work, it wasn't intentional.

They were sitting in the squad lounge, eating reheated burritos and pretending not to be exhausted.

"I think she's serious," Elias said, eyes fixed on his coffee. "About moving out."

Alex, seated across from him polishing a spare vest, glanced up. "She say where?"

Elias shook his head. "She doesn't have a plan. But she's working. Teaching online. Quiet about it."

Alex raised a brow. "She's tougher than you give her credit for."

"You just don't like watching it," Luca added, smirking.

That's when Alex spoke again. "Actually… might be perfect timing."

"My roommate's moving in with her boyfriend next month. Two-bedroom in Highland Park. Quiet street. Half-hour drive from here. Rent's decent, and I'm barely home anyway."

"Why not? Liana knows me. She wouldn't be alone. You'd still be close. And it's not like I'm a raging party animal."

Luca snorted. "You are worse than that"

Alex ignored him. "She'll have her own space. But you won't have to worry."

Which meant it was probably right.

That night, Elias found her in the kitchen, drying her hands.

She looked at him when he didn't say anything right away.

He cleared his throat."I talked to Alex."

"She said her roommate's moving out. It's a quiet place. Half hour from here. You'd have your own room."

Her fingers curled slightly around the edge of the towel.

He wasn't sure if that meant she was ready—or just willing.

"Alex is solid," he added. "You already know that."

Liana's voice was quiet when she spoke.

It slipped out before she could guard it.

But after he left the room, she stayed by the sink for a while.

Letting the warm steam from the water rise past her cheeks.

But not in the same way it had been.

She was scared.

Moving out meant changing everything.

But she whispered to herself, under her breath:

And for once, she almost believed it.

Chapter 27: A Place Between