Dangerous Sin

Chapter 10: The Shadow

The days after their night together were a blur of happiness. Elena and Alexander were inseparable, their relationship no longer a contract but something real, something growing. They spent their days exploring the estate, their nights in each other's arms.

But Elena couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Alexander was hiding something, something that went beyond the secrets of the past. She could feel it in the way he sometimes disappeared for hours, in the phone calls he took in private, in the shadows that flickered behind his eyes.

One night, unable to sleep, she went looking for him. She found him in his study, the door slightly ajar. He was on the phone, his voice low and urgent.

"I don't care what it costs," he was saying. "Just find him. Find him before he finds us."

Elena's blood ran cold. Who was he looking for? And why did it sound like a threat?

She pushed open the door. Alexander looked up, his face going pale.

"Elena. I thought you were asleep."

"Who are you looking for?"

He ended the call, his expression guarded. "It's nothing. Business."

"Don't lie to me. Not now. Not after everything."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "There's something I haven't told you. Something about your father's death."

"What about it?"

"The man who killed him—Vincent Castellan—he didn't act alone. There was someone else. Someone who helped him. Someone who was never caught."

"Who?"

"I don't know. But I've been trying to find him for fifteen years. And now that the Castellans are in prison, I'm afraid he'll come after us. After you."

Elena felt the blood drain from her face. "Why me?"

"Because you're the last link to your father. The last person who knows what he was working on. If this man is still out there, he'll want to eliminate the threat. And that threat is you."

Elena sank into a chair, her mind reeling. She had thought the nightmare was over. But it was just beginning.

"What do we do?"

"We find him first. Before he finds us."

"And if we can't?"

Alexander's eyes hardened. "Then we protect you. Whatever it takes."

He took her hand, his grip firm. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Elena. I promise."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to feel safe. But the fear was still there, a cold knot in her stomach.

The danger wasn't over. It was just beginning.

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