CHAPTER FOUR
1287 Words
“Danger Shadows Me”Elena’s POV The note under my door was the first c***k. “He’s not who you think he is.”No signature. No name. Just seven words that pulled a scream tight in my throat.I tried to ignore it. Crumpled it. Shoved it in my jeans pocket like it hadn’t just shaken my world. But that night, the messages started.Private Number: You shouldn’t trust Eduardo.Next Message: He watches you sleep. Ask him why.I dropped the phone.My skin tingled like I was being touched without permission. I checked behind the curtains. Under the bed. In the closet. Shadows crawled over the walls, and every creak of the floor made me flinch.I didn’t sleep. Not really.And in the morning, I found Eduardo staring at me from across the breakfast table. He looked… normal. Calm. Like the night hadn’t stolen every ounce of my peace.I sipped orange juice and avoided his eyes.“Rough night?” he asked.I hesitated. “Just couldn’t sleep.”His gaze held mine. “Something’s wrong.”“You think everything’s wrong,” I muttered.He stood, walked around the table, and held out something. My crumpled note.I froze.“Where did you get that?”He didn’t answer. Just stared. “Who gave this to you?”“I don’t know.”His jaw tightened. And everything changed after that.—Guards at every exit. Cameras mounted in corners. Alarms. I wasn’t allowed off the property. Eduardo’s orders. My window got reinforced glass.“This isn’t safety,” I shouted when he caught me trying the garden gate. “It’s a cage.”“You’re being hunted, Elena.”“By who?!”He didn’t answer. Not really. Just stared at me like he knew something I didn’t.“If you’d tell me the truth, maybe I wouldn’t feel like I’m suffocating!”His eyes burned. “The truth would make you run.”“Then give me the choice!”He stepped closer, jaw clenched. “Do you know what Antonio is capable of?”The name made me stiffen.Eduardo nodded slowly. “He’s not just a man. He’s a storm with no mercy. And he wants you.”My mouth went dry.“Why?”“I don’t know yet.” A beat. “But I won’t let him have you.”He touched my wrist gently. Like it would calm me. It didn’t. It burned.I pulled away. “And what if you’re the one I should be afraid of?”His hand dropped. His face turned to stone.—The silence between us stretched for days. Until I heard his voice in the study, late at night. Whispered. Urgent. “If he touch her, I swear I’ll kill him.”My blood ran cold. I pressed my ear to the door. Another voice. Old woman. “You’re getting too involved, Eduardo.”“I already am.”“You think she’ll still look at you the same when she knows everything?”“Doesn’t matter.”Footsteps approached. I barely made it to the hallway before the door opened.I didn’t look back.—The next day, everything boiled over.I was in the music room when he came in. Eyes dark. Shoulders tense. I tried to leave, but he blocked the door.“What are you doing?” I asked.“I need you to listen.”“I’ve been listening. You just don’t say anything.”“You’re right.” He stepped closer. “So listen now.”He reached into his pocket and tossed a phone onto the piano. A video played. Security footage.It showed a man slipping onto the grounds at night. Wearing a black hoodie. Standing under my window. Watching.“That’s Antonio,” he said. “He’s been here. Twice.”I stared at the screen, ice crawling up my spine.“Why me?” I whispered.Eduardo shook his head. “Because you’re the only way to break me.”I turned to him, stunned. “Why would he want to break you?”“Because he knows I’d kill for you.”The silence between us throbbed.And then he whispered, “You don’t get it, do you?”I didn’t move.He came closer. Close enough that I could feel the heat from his chest. His hand brushed mine, gently, almost accidentally.“This isn’t protection anymore,” he said softly. “It’s an obsession.”My breath caught.He touched my chin. Raised it. Eyes searching.“But I don’t know if I want you…” His fingers stroked my cheek.“…or if I want to own you.”My heart pounded. My mind screamed to run. But my body stayed.And just as his lips brushed mine—A crash echoed down the hallway.A voice shouted.“Security breach! South wing!”Eduardo spun around. Pulled out his phone. Barked orders.“Elena, stay here.”But I didn’t.Because when I ran into the hallway, I saw something that made my knees buckle.A red rose was left in the center of the corridor with a black ribbon tied around the stem.Just like the one from my dream. Just like the one from my father’s funeral. What the hell was happening?And why did I feel like I had just stepped into someone else’s nightmare?I bent slowly, staring at the rose. It wasn’t just similar to the one from my father’s funeral. It was identical. The same shade of red. The same black velvet ribbon knotted at the base. The same faint scent of ash clinging to the petals.My hand trembled as I picked it up.“Elena!” Eduardo’s voice snapped through the corridor. He was charging down the hall, a storm in human form. “I told you to stay put!”I turned, rose still in hand. “Why is this here?”His gaze dropped to the flower, and something flickered in his eyes. Recognition. Fear.“Where did you get that?” he asked sharply.“It was left here. Just now. Right in the open. Someone walked through your army of guards and left this where I’d find it.”He took the rose from me like it burned, examining it, jaw clenched. “This shouldn’t be here.”“No kidding.”He looked at me, face paler than I’d ever seen. “Whoever left this… they know everything. About your past. About your father. About you.”A cold chill cut down my spine.“You need to leave this house,” he muttered, almost to himself.I blinked. “What?”“Tonight. I’ll send you somewhere safe. Somewhere, no one will find you.”I stepped back. “You’re scaring me.”He looked up, and for once, he didn’t hide it. The fear. The panic. The truth behind his eyes. “You should be scared. Someone’s targeting you, Elena. And it’s not just Antonio.”“Then who is it?” I whispered. He hesitated. Just for a second. And that second told me everything. “You know,” I breathed. “You know exactly who it is.”His silence was confirmation. Before he could answer, a phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked it. Froze. “Elena…” he said slowly, his voice grave, “where’s your mother?”My blood ran cold. “She was in the art gallery room… why are you asking?”He showed me the screen. A photo, just sent to him. Of my mother, tied to a chair.Blindfolded. A knife pressed to her throat. Behind her, the same black velvet ribbon, tied in a bow on the wall.My scream didn’t come out. Because I couldn’t breathe.
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