Married to the enemy

The Hand I Took

Chapter Seven – The Hand I Took

The wind howled around me, rattling the fire escape like it was trying to shake me off.

Above, the boots were getting closer — metal groaning, footsteps striking faster, heavier. I could almost hear their breathing now.

Below, the stranger stood still. Too still. His voice was calm in a way that didn’t match the chaos around us.

“Choose, Ivy,” he said again.

My hand ached from gripping the railing. My knuckles had gone white, and I could feel the bite of rust digging into my palms.

Going back up meant throwing myself into the arms of the men chasing me — and maybe Killian, if he really was there.

Going down meant trusting someone who appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of a gunfight, claiming to be my savior.

I didn’t have time to figure out who was lying.

A sharp metallic ping rang out just above my head. The sound made me duck instinctively.

The man below moved then — just one step closer, his voice cutting through the wind.

“They won’t take you alive, Ivy. I’m your only way out.”

Something inside me snapped. I climbed down fast, each step screaming under my weight, the fire escape swaying more violently now.

The stranger reached up, catching my wrist with a grip that was far stronger than I’d expected. He hauled me onto his landing like I weighed nothing, his movements practiced and sure.

Up close, I saw more of him — the faint smell of leather and gun oil, the deep lines around his eyes that didn’t come from smiling.

“We have to move,” he said, already pulling me toward the narrow catwalk leading into the building.

I yanked my arm back. “Who are you?”

“Call me Rafe.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s all you’re getting right now.”

We slipped inside through a broken window, crunching over glass. The hallway was narrow and dark, the wallpaper peeling in long, curling strips.

Somewhere outside, a door slammed. Then voices — closer than they should have been.

Rafe moved quickly, navigating the building like he’d been here before. I followed because there wasn’t much else to do. Every turn he took seemed intentional, every corner he checked before stepping through.

Finally, he ducked into a half-collapsed warehouse space, the air thick with dust and the faint hum of electricity from somewhere unseen.

Only then did he turn to face me.

“You don’t know the truth about Killian,” he said.

I folded my arms. “And you do?”

“I know he’s not your savior. He’s the reason they were coming for you tonight.”

My chest tightened. “That’s not true—”

“It is.” His tone was flat, certain. “You’ve seen the photos, haven’t you? Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed the way he’s always there — in the background, watching. He’s been tracking you for months. Tonight wasn’t luck. It wasn’t an accident. He set you up.”

I shook my head, but his words sank in like hooks. “You’re saying… he staged it?”

“Yes. He needed you to run to him. He needed you tied to him. And not because he cares — because you’re leverage.”

Something in my stomach turned cold, and for a moment I forgot about the pounding boots outside.

“Leverage for what?” I demanded.

Rafe stepped closer, lowering his voice until it was just above a whisper.

“You’re the daughter of Adrian Vale. And Adrian Vale is the only man alive who can expose Killian Cross for what he really is.”

Before I could even process the words, the air in the room shifted — a subtle sense that someone else was there.

I turned toward the shadow in the doorway.

Killian.

No gun this time. No visible weapon at all. Just him, standing in the gloom, his coat collar turned up, his eyes locked on Rafe like he was calculating exactly how to kill him.

“Step away from her,” he said.

Rafe didn’t move. “Tell her the truth, Cross. Or I will.”

Killian’s jaw flexed, a muscle ticking just once. He looked at me then — not with the cold detachment he usually wore, but with something heavier.

“Ivy,” he said quietly. “If I tell you… you’ll never forgive me.”

The boots outside were getting closer. The building creaked under the weight of approaching men.

Two choices, again.

The man who had just saved me, but told me Killian was the enemy.

Or the man who had saved me before… but might have been the reason I was in danger in the first place.