Chapter Seven — Lover or Enemy
459 Words
The fire popped, sending a shower of sparks up the chimney, but the sound barely registered.
I stared at him, my breath shallow, my heart hammering so hard it hurt.
“You were there,” I said slowly, each word like glass in my mouth. “So what? You just watched?”
His eyes didn’t flinch from mine. “No.”
“No?” My voice cracked. “Then what? You lit the match? You—”
“I saved you.”
The words hit like a blow, knocking the air from my lungs.
“You were supposed to be in that house,” he said, stepping closer. “The people who ordered that hit wanted everyone inside dead. Including you. I pulled you out before it went up. You were unconscious. You never saw me.”
I shook my head, unable to keep still. “You expect me to believe that? That you just… happened to be there?”
His jaw tightened. “I was paid to be there. At first, yes, I was part of it. But when I found out they’d included you—” His voice broke, just for a second, before he swallowed it down. “I couldn’t do it. I got you out and I took the penalty for it.”
I didn’t move when he reached for me, but I didn’t pull away either. His fingers brushed my cheek, warm and steady despite the storm in his words.
“They’ve been hunting me ever since,” he murmured. “Every deal, every kill order… all because I chose you over them.”
---
I wanted to hate him. I wanted to scream, to shove him away, to tell him the choice he’d made didn’t erase the blood on his hands.
But all I could think about was the way his eyes had softened when he said you. The way my body still remembered the heat of his hands even now.
“You should’ve told me,” I whispered.
“If I had, you would’ve run.” His voice was low, almost a plea. “And I… couldn’t let that happen.”
The air between us was thick, charged, and I hated how much I wanted to close the distance. How much I still wanted him, even with the weight of what I’d just learned pressing on my chest.
“Tell me the rest,” I said finally.
“I will,” he promised. “But not tonight.”
---
Before I could argue, the sound of tires on gravel sliced through the air. Headlights swept across the front windows.
Adrian’s entire body shifted — from guarded to deadly in a heartbeat.
“They found us again,” he said.
TO BE CONTINUED
- Writer
