Chapter 4
488 Words
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
The knock didn't come.
Of course it didn't.
I had left the door ajar in my haste to lay her down
The handle moved slowly, pushing the door wider with a soft click against the wall. I didn't move away from the bed immediately. I didn't need to because I was certain they could see her from their position in the door.
And I knew exactly who it was by the weight of the silence that followed.
Heavy. Assessing. Suspicious.
The kind of silence men carry when they’re ready to draw blood.
“Who is she?”. Marco asked.
No greetings. No surprise.
He was straight with the threat.
“She needed help”.
It wasn't a reply.
It was a statement.
I had a feeling I was going to regret it.
Luca just stood behind Marco not saying a word. But his eyes were sharper. Watching me. Watching her. Watching him.
“The last time you decided to help,” Marco said evenly. “She wasn't safe”. Marco reminded me.
My jaw tightened
Not in shame.
In anger.
“I lost something too”. I said.
Because they all remembered.
I remembered.
The blood.
The betrayal.
The vow I made afterward.
No women in this house.
No attachments.
No weaknesses.
And yet here I was with one behind me
Shielding her.
Marco gazed past me, seeing the state she was in.Pale. unconscious. Bleeding.
“How long is she here for?”. He asked.
I ran my hand through my hair.
I haven't thought that far.
“I don't know, I haven't thought about that.”
That answer wasn't satisfying to him.
“I just hope you are right this time.” Marco said “We have very little to protect, especially Alba”.
At the mention of her name something shifted in me,in the room.
He turned and started down the hall.
“Marco,” I called out.
He stopped.
Didn't turn.
“The man that killed your sister is dead.”
Silence.
Heavy. Final.
Marco only nodded once before walking away.
And for the first time since I carried the girl through those gates.
I realized this wasn’t just about helping a stranger.
This was about breaking the rules I built to survive. Rules I had built to protect Alba.
“Luca, do a background check on the name Tanya McLean”.
“Yes,boss”.
Luca left without another word.
I turned back to the bed.
To the girl who had run in front of my car and begged for help. Who didn't belong here. Who doesn't belong anywhere near men like me. Like us.
And yet.
For the first time in six years.
The house didn't feel so empty anymore
Maybe it was because I broke my own rule
The realisation unsettled me more than the threat she might bring.
- Writer
