Blake stepped away and pulled out his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first call went to his assistant. \u201cCome to Muskat Street,\u201d he said, tone clipped. \u201cImmediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next came the tow trucks. Fifteen minutes. Both vehicles to his mechanic\u2019s garage. Done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The police were quick \u2014 no injuries, no property damage. Blake\u2019s voice was steady, decisive. \u201cDriver swerved to avoid a pedestrian.\u201d That was the version that would stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, a call to his mechanic: two cars arriving, urgent priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lily sat quietly on the bench, her eyes half-closed, but her ears caught every word. His tone never wavered \u2014 calm, steady, commanding. He explained things so clearly, so naturally, it almost sounded routine. Like he solved problems like this every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when he told the police she wasn\u2019t at fault, that she had swerved to avoid a pedestrian, something in her chest ached. He hadn\u2019t even hesitated to protect her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moments later, a sleek figure strode up. Blake\u2019s assistant \u2014 navy suit, crisp lines, expression brisk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSir, how can I help?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blake shook his head once. \u201cJust handle the paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The assistant nodded, already making notes and collecting both sets of keys from him. Efficient. Professional. But it was clear who held the real command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As his assistant walked away, Blake turned back to Lily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need a break,\u201d he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. \u201cThere\u2019s a caf\u00e9 around the corner. Quiet. Private. You\u2019ll sit, breathe, and have a tea before heading home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thought of returning to her apartment made her chest tighten. A tea \u2014 somewhere away from the twisted metal and the judgmental looks of strangers \u2014 sounded like relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure,\u201d she whispered, nodding. \u201cThat would be nice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blake gave a single nod, gesturing for her to stand. \u201cRizadachi Caf\u00e9. Just around the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She managed a small, tired smile as she rose to walk beside him. For the first time since the crash, she felt the faintest thread of calm \u2014 because he was there, steady beside her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blake stepped away and pulled out his phone. His first call went to his assistant. \u201cCome to Muskat Street,\u201d he said, tone clipped. \u201cImmediately.\u201d Next came the tow trucks. Fifteen minutes. Both vehicles to his mechanic\u2019s garage. Done. The police were quick \u2014 no injuries, no property damage. Blake\u2019s voice was steady, decisive. \u201cDriver swerved…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-beast","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":966,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions\/966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sensualtrio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}