Restless Shadows
515 Words
Adrian pov
I rarely lose sleep.
But that night, long after I left the café, I lay in my penthouse staring at the ceiling.
I replayed the scene again and again: the man’s grip on her wrist, the fear in her eyes, the way her voice trembled when she insisted she was fine.
She wasn’t fine.
And what unsettled me most wasn’t the memory of the attack. It was her.
The girl.
There was something about the raw determination in her gaze, something that clung to me like smoke. I had built my empire on dismissing distractions, yet for the first time in years, I couldn't let this one go.
With a sharp exhale, I reached for my phone and called my friend.
“Do you ever sleep, Blackwood?”
Christopher Miles’s amused drawl answered on the second ring.
“Not tonight,” I said flatly.
Chris was more than a friend; he was one of the few people I trusted. A former soldier turned head of a private security firm, Chris specialized in uncovering what others wanted to keep buried.
“I need a background check,” I said without a thought.
“On who?”
“A girl. Early twenties. Dark hair. Works nights at a café on 8th and Ridge.”
There was a pause, then a low chuckle. “That’s specific, even for you. Don’t tell me Adrian Blackwood finally noticed a woman?”
My jaw tightened. “Just get me the file.”
By dawn, the report was in my inbox. I read it twice, each word striking deeper than the last.
Elena Rivera.
Orphaned young. Stayed at the orphanage, no one wanted to adopt her, not even her extended family. No family, no support system. Works menial jobs just to keep a roof over her head. Barely scraping by.
And yet no arrests, no scandals, no wasted potential. Her school records showed intelligence. Her references were few as they praised her for resilience, for stubborn determination.
A survivor.
I closed the file, but the weight of it lingered. I saw her again in my mind, standing in that café, trembling but unbroken.
The world had given her nothing. Yet she still fought.
Something twisted in my chest.
By mid-morning, I strode into Blackwood Enterprises, my expression as cold and unreadable as ever. I summoned my head of Human Resources.
“I want a new assistant,” I said quickly.
The HR manager blinked. “Sir? You already have three assigned.”
“Not them. Me,” I cut in sharply. “Post the opening immediately. Make the requirements broad. Discretion, adaptability. Nothing else.”
“Yes, sir,” the manager said, flustered.
I dismissed him with a wave, turning toward the window.
I told myself it was efficient. I needed someone reliable.
But deep down, I knew the truth.
I wasn't waiting for just anyone to apply.
I was waiting for her.
Elena Rivera.
The girl with fire in her eyes and scars in her soul.
The girl who, against all odds, had managed to reach past my walls.
- Writer
