THE CHRISMAS WE LOVED.

CHAPTER 2

Into the Fire

Alexander's POV

"Why are you doing this?" I glanced at Alexander, my voice barely a whisper trapped between uncertainty and terror.

His hand still held my arm, his fingers cooled on my flesh. With the weight of our past hanging like a dense fog, the space seemed too small and too stifling.

"Because you're not safe, Sophia," Alexander continued, his voice stern yet charged with urgency. " None of us are."

I turned away from him, the nearly intolerable electric charge between us.

You are not supposed to be doing this. You cannot waltz back into my life and pretend to be the hero after everything.

Though my pulse was pounding, this was hardly the moment for the wrath I felt. Every strained muscle in my body could sense something more perilous developing.

"I'm not trying to save you, Sophia," he answered darkly and deliberately. "I aim to keep you alive."

His words knocked away my breath like a strike to the gut. I had not heard in years the anguish in his voice. Like there was more at stake than simply the two of us, he fixed me—really stared at me.

I nearly thought he was right for a moment.

"Alive?" I shook my head, laughed bitterly. "You departed once. Don't act now as though you care.

The hurt and betrayal surged out like a dam breaking before I could stop the words. Still, deep down I knew I still loved it. I could still sense our drawing apart. I still yearned to trust in the man who had once promised the planet.

He was not flinching. "I never stopped caring, Sophia," he said softly, his eyes fixed on mine in a way that set my heart racing and my chest tight with feelings I wasn't ready to confront. Still, right now, that's not the issue. I won't allow anyone to kill you; someone is trying to do so.

The words settled weighty in the air, a fresh weight I could not ignore. I started to object, but another gunshot came out, more precisely this time, nearer. I had no need to search for confirmation that the threat was passed. Deeply in my bones, I could sense it.

I took hold of his arm. "We have to leave this place. Present now.

His eyes went dark. " Stay behind me."

There was no space for debate in his voice's authority. I loathed the way I followed. I loathed not rebuffing when I ought to have. But the peril seemed too real, too instantaneous. Once full of joy and brightness, the ballroom feels like a trap now. Every shadow appeared to be a possible enemy, every corner to hold a secret hazard.

We walked fast, Alexander's hand guiding me over the sea of visitors. Every bit of me screamed at me to get away from him, to take control, yet the magnetic draw between us was indisputable. My head was whirling. It was the tempest inside me, the one I couldn't avoid, not only the threat we were fleeing.

A voice emerged out of the tumult just as we arrived at the rear entrance.

"Going Somewhere, Sophia?"

Lila stood in the door, her arms crossed and a nasty smirk curling her lips. Her presence made me shingle. I ought to have recognized she was more than simply a jealous ex-wife.

"I assumed we would have agreed if you had finished with him." Lila fixed me with malice in her voice. You will hardly last one night. You never have the strength required.

I bristled at her comments, but Alexander walked in front of me and obscured my view before I could react. "Don't start with me, Lila. This no longer relates to you.

Her eyes closed, and I sensed the flash of something black in them. "I'm not going to stand by and let you destroy everything I've worked for, Alexander," she spat, her voice full of contempt. "Not once again."

Her comments didn't make sense, not quite, but I could hear the tension in the room rising. This transcended mere love or treachery. This represented a more perilous situation.

"Let me guess," I responded, the snark in my voice covering the anxiety. "You believe you can silence us?"

Lila's smile was predatory, piercing. "Do you know anything at all? Nobody actually behind all of this is known to you. She cast a knowing glitter in her eyes from Alexander to me. "But you'll probably find out shortly enough."

There was a great crash before I could reply, and the sound of footsteps rushing down the corridor was clearly audible. Alexander's gaze fixed on the door. "Get down," he said, his voice low and focused.

I had no time to argue. Just as the door opened, he hauled me down behind a mound of goods. As I held my breath, my heart hammered against my chest, begging they hadn't spotted us.

Where are they? A loud, demanding voice yelled. "See them!"

Though Alexander's palm over my lips calmed me, I wanted to shout, to break free. He murmured frantically, "Shh." "Stay silent. They are not distant at all.

Nodding, I tried to remain still while my heart hammered in my chest. Alexander's body felt heated against me, his breath shallow and rapid. It was rather near and too much. Our proximity had enough power to cause everything else to fade away. Then, whispering harshly, he said, "I need you to believe me, Sophia. You have to trust me whatever comes next.

I didn't reply. Not could. The words caught my throat and twisted with the feelings I wasn't ready for.

Before the footsteps subsided, the sound of the men seeking faded into the distance and seemed like hours. Seconds passed.

I released a breath I had not noticed I was breathing. Alexander hauled me to my feet, his hand wrapped tightly around my waist and he did not let go of me. His eyes intensely and ineffectively probed mine. "We have to migrate. Currently,

But a huge bang rang across the room as we were about to advance, and I felt something sharp and cold pierce my shoulder. I gasped, the world slanted and my vision fuzzy. My knees gave way, and I fell with the floor rising too quickly.

'Sophia!' Alexander's voice was hysterical as he grabbed me by the arms; his face was white with terror. His hands shaking, he tore at my dress trying to stop the blood from seeping through.

His voice broke as he exhorted, "Stay with me." "I cannot lose you once more. Not like this.

Trying to concentrate, I blinked, but the blackness was pressing in. The world appeared so far away as my brain whirled. Alexander's face flashed at last, his anxious eyes fixed on mine.

I heard low, desperate Alexander's voice crying my name as the room whirled around me.

"Sophia, join me. Please. But the words were disappearing, and all I could feel was ice seeping in. The last thing I noticed before everything darkened was the form of a man observing us from the doorway. He quieted himself. He was not obliged, of course. His presence just froze the blood in my veins.

Then it all stopped.

I battled to keep my eyes open, but my shoulder hurt like scorching, consuming fire. The thunderous pulse in my ears muffled Alexander's speech, which seemed to be a distant echo. Seeking something real, something that would prevent me from sliding away, my fingers grabbed for his jacket.

Sophia! Stay with me! His sentences were rough and desperate. Though it wasn't enough, I sensed his hands pressing against the incision.

I could sense myself sliding down the slope as the blood was pooling quicker than he could stop it. The world around me began to fade, the margins of reality erasing.

"Don't... you can't......" My throat closed and I gasped. "You—"

He shook his head, his hold on me stiffening. "No, damn it! You are not withdrawing from me once more. I cannot lose you like this.

I wanted to yell, tell him I didn't want to go either. But the words froze in my throat; all I could do was stare at him, my eyesight blurring, the darkness invading.

The door burst open with great force, rocking the walls suddenly. Though I couldn't see who had entered, I sensed a change in the air. cold, threatening. One hazardous person. Someone meant not to be here.

"Leave her," a low, rough voice demanded. It was a man's voice, one I knew in an uncomfortable way. "Let her go." Your difficulty is not anymore."

My body stiffened, the uncertainty and terror whirled around me, attempting to make sense of everything. The voice sounded to be Matteo. No, that cannot be accurate either. He will not be present here. Not following all around. But his conviction made me doubt everything.

Alexander stiffened and tightened his jaw. "Get out," he said, his voice low with the kind of rage that might kill. He moved to try to protect me even more from the man waiting in the doorway.

"This falls between her and me. Stay the hell clear of it.

The man laughed a hollow, sour sound. "You still seem quite naive, Sterling. She no longer belongs to you. None of this works either. The time for yours is running out.

I laughed sharply, a broken, agonizing thing. I murmured, "You're too late," barely audible. 'Everything's already lost.'"

I could hardly keep my eyes open as Alexander struggled to raise me, to pull me away from the danger. I could sense his panic. My thoughts whirled while my body felt dead. This was how it came to end. Was this my destiny—to pass in his arms?

The man in the gateway moved forward with icy intent, his boots thudding on the floor.

Then, just before the blackness claimed me totally, I could clearly hear a gun c****d.

Before all went dark, the last sound I heard was the loud click of the gun.