Hired To Protect Him, Falling For Him

Chapter 10: Lights Out

Ding.

The elevator.

In the pitch black, that sound was the loudest sound in the world.

My gun was already up. I shoved Elias behind me, my back against the shattered terrace door, rain soaking my red dress. My eyes were useless. I couldn't see anything. Only sound.

Footsteps. One person. Slow. Calm. Wet shoes squeaking on marble. Coming from the living room toward the bedroom.

Clara grabbed my arm. "It's him! It's Marcus! He's going to kill us!"

"Shut up and get down!" I hissed. I pushed her to the floor.

I clicked my flashlight on my Glock. The beam cut through the dark, shaking.

The hallway was empty.

the beam caught something on the floor. Not footprints. A phone. Face down, lit up. Ringing.

Jonah's ringtone.

Elias saw it at the same time I did. "Jonah?"

He started to move forward. I held him back.

"Stay behind me. That's an order."

I moved forward, gun and light up, Elias right behind me holding onto the back of my dress so he wouldn't get lost in the dark. Clara crawled behind us like a child.

We reached the living room.

The phone on the floor was Jonah's. Cracked screen. Still ringing. Elias Thorne is calling on the screen.

But Jonah wasn't here to answer it.

Because on the couch, sitting perfectly still in the dark like he had been waiting for us, was a man in a black raincoat, completely dry except for his shoes.

Not Marcus.

Jonah.

His face was bruised. His lip split. His hands zip-tied in front of him. And duct tape over his mouth. But his eyes were alive. And angry.

Behind him, standing in the shadows by the elevator, holding Jonah's gun, was Marcus Thorne.

He looked exactly like Elias. Same height. Same suit. But his hair was wet, his smile was wrong. And on his wrist was a tattoo Elias never had. Lena's name. LENA in black ink with a line through it.

"Finally," Marcus said, his voice identical to Elias's but colder. "The family reunion. Took you long enough. I've been sitting in the dark for ten minutes listening to you three screams."

Elias went rigid behind me. "Marcus."

"Brother," Marcus smiled. He didn't point the gun at us. He pointed it at Jonah's head. "You shot my camera, Nova. That was rude. That camera was two thousand dollars. And Clara, darling, you were supposed to keep them busy on the terrace, not hide behind the bodyguard."

Clara burst into tears. "You said you wouldn't hurt me! You promised!"

"I lied," Marcus said simply. "Like you lied to Elias for two years."

He looked at me then. Really looked at me, up and down, my wet red dress, my gun, my bare feet.

"Nova. The famous bodyguard who thinks she's in love with my brother. Do you know what Elias did to Lena? Do you know why I have her name crossed out?"

"Don't listen to him, Nova!" Elias shouted. He tried to pull me back.

But Marcus was already talking. His voice rose over the rain.

"He didn't save her! He left her in that car! He watched her burn because she found out what he did to Clara eight months ago! Ask him! Ask him why Clara really left!"

He watched her burn because Clara only found out EIGHT MONTHS AGO what he really did! That's why she really left! Ask him why Clara really ran away!

The lights flickered.

Once. Twice.

Then they went completely black.

A breaker box sparked behind Marcus.

Then — ding.

The service elevator behind us opened in the dark.

Someone breathing inside.

Marcus lifted his phone light toward it.

On the elevator floor, in a little blood, was a jade bracelet.

Exact same green as my mother's. As mine.

Elias squeezed my hand. "Nova... where did your mother get that bracelet?"

Marcus didn't turn around. He just smiled at me. "Ask her."