Chapter 11 :A Shadow That Won’t Leave
879 Words
——Teri’s POV – One Week Later
Teri had always been good at moving on.
She didn’t dwell. Didn’t get stuck in what-ifs.
Life was easier when you just kept going.
And yet—
It had been a week since she left that hospital bed.
A week since she forced herself to stop waiting for a text. A call. A sign that he hadn’t just disappeared.
And somehow, she was still thinking about him.
Still waking up in cold sweats, the feeling of his hands gripping her waist lingering like a phantom touch.
Still aching with the knowledge that he left without a word.
Like she had meant nothing.
It pissed her off.
And worse?
It didn’t make sense.
Because no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that he didn’t care—
Something wasn’t adding up.
It started with little things.
A half-remembered conversation she wasn’t meant to hear.
“They won’t stop looking for him.”
“Then she needs to be kept out of it.”
At the time, she had been too out of it to make sense of it.
But now?
Now, the pieces were starting to shift.
She replayed the night of the attack over and over.
The way Raf moved.
How his men—**and she was damn sure they were his men—**had responded to him like they were waiting for orders.
And that moment on the island.
When he said:
“They should have been here by now.”
Teri wasn’t an i***t.
Raf wasn’t just some rich guy on a yacht.
And whoever attacked them that night—
They weren’t just some random criminals.
There was more to this.
And she was going to find out what.
Even if it killed her.
It started with questions. Small ones, at first.
She asked Lena if she had seen anything strange that night—before the attack.
She called the hospital, trying to get a copy of her discharge records, looking for a name, a clue—but there was nothing.
She went back to the marina where the yacht had been docked. Talked to staff. Pretended she was just trying to retrieve lost belongings.
Most of them shrugged. Some gave her blank stares.
But one man—a deckhand with a nervous twitch—refused to look her in the eye.
“Yacht’s gone,” he muttered. “Left that same night. Never came back.”
Teri had expected that.
What she hadn’t expected was what he said next.
“But they weren’t just guests, were they?” The man rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around like someone might be listening. “I don’t know who your friend was, but… the way the staff reacted when they heard his name? The way security tightened before they even got here?”
He shook his head.
“That wasn’t normal.”
Teri’s stomach tightened.
Raf’s name meant something to these people.
Something big enough to make security act before the attack even happened.
Her hands clenched.
Who the hell was he?
And more importantly—
What the hell had she gotten herself into?
——Raf’s POV – Three Weeks Later
Raf had spent the last three weeks pretending she didn’t exist.
It wasn’t working.
At all.
She was everywhere.
Every time he closed his damn eyes, she was there.
Dragging him from the ocean. Glaring at him through the firelight. Grinning even as she burned up with fever.
Every time he tried to focus, his mind drifted back to her.
How small she had looked in that hospital bed.
How fragile.
How he had almost—**almost—**stayed.
It was killing him.
And then—
Then, he got the call.
“Boss,” Enzo’s voice was tight. “We have a problem.”
Raf exhaled, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “What now?”
A pause.
“She’s being watched.”
Raf went still.
Cold, slow rage curled through his veins.
“What the hell did you just say?”
“Teri, boss. She’s been asking questions.”
Raf’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Questions?” he repeated. Low. Dangerous.
“Yeah. About the attack. About you.” A pause. “She’s smart. Too smart.”
Raf cursed under his breath.
Of course she was digging.
Of course she wasn’t just letting it go.
Because she was Teri.
Because she had never known when to quit.
And now—
Now, she was on their radar.
Now, she was in danger.
Raf exhaled, forcing himself to think.
He had done the right thing.
Leaving her behind had been the right move.
But if she kept digging—if she got too close—
They wouldn’t just watch her.
They’d use her.
And that?
That was something he wouldn’t allow.
“Find out who’s watching her,” he ordered. “And tell me exactly where she is.”
A pause.
Then—
“Understood.”
The call ended.
Raf stood there, staring at the city lights.
He had tried to stay away.
He really had.
But if they thought they could touch her—
If they thought they could take her from him—
They were about to learn exactly who they were dealing with.
- Writer
