Chapter Four (4)
970 Words
The knocking suddenly stopped as abruptly as it began.
Think silence and suffocation settled over Marlene's bedroom. She stared at her phone once again reading the last message ,saying “ please don't open the door , it's not him”
If it's not Kade, then who has been standing outside her door?
Who was watching the house?
Before she could pull herself together, a voice murmured from the hallway, “Marlene are you awake?”
Marlene wasn't sure if she should reply or not but at this point, she had no choice.
Her breath hitched .
“Kade?” she wanted to be sure he's the one. “Yes, it's me kindly open the door, Kade replied”
Her hand hovered around the door knob, fingers trembling , her legs shaking and her thoughts torn in multiple ways.
Marlene please open this door and let me come in to protect you*
Emmmmm, “Kade? Tell me something.” Her voice wavered. “Something that would make me know it's you”
Silence followed not confusion but a quiet breath which suggests Kade was carefully thinking of what to say.
“Earlier”, he said. “ When I walked you to your room, you kept touching the back of your neck with the other hand holding your phone tightly to your chest.
She froze.
She didn't even realize he had noticed how she was touching her neck, she only does that when she's nervous.
She quickly turned the lock
The door opened slowly—Kade pushing it only halfway at first, scanning the room before stepping inside. His presence filled the space instantly: tall, steady, focused entirely on her.
His eyes swept her face, and the tension in his expression softened into something close to concern.
“Marlene,” he said quietly. “You look terrified. What happened?”
She handed him the phone.
Kade read the messages, his jaw tightening—but not with anger. More like a fierce, concentrated protectiveness. When he lifted his gaze, it was sharper, more alert.
“How long ago did you see someone outside the house?”
“A few minutes,” she whispered. “Behind the palm tree.”
He nodded, already shifting into professional mode. He stepped closer—not looming, not crowding her—just close enough to lower his voice.
“Did you let anyone into the house today? Anyone new?”
“Yes,” she said. “The 10 men Joe sent over for me to choose as body guards. And Agnes for a moment.”
His eyes flickered briefly—something thoughtful, unreadable—but he said nothing.
Instead, he took a slow step toward her.
Not touching.
Not reaching.
Just… close.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he murmured.
Marlene let out a shaky laugh. “I’m trying not to be.”
“You don’t have to try,” he said, gentler now. “Not while I’m here.”
The simplicity of his words unraveled something tight in her chest.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “You barely know me.”
“I don’t need to know everything about you to want you safe,” he replied softly. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Her eyes stung unexpectedly.
“Kade…”
She couldn’t find the rest of the sentence.
Didn’t know what she was trying to say.
He seemed to understand anyway.
His hand lifted slightly—hesitating. Asking without words.
“May I?” he asked.
She nodded before thinking.
His fingers wrapped lightly around her forearm. Warm. Steady. It wasn’t a romantic touch. It wasn’t even intimate.
It was grounding.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
His thumb brushed once, gently.
“But no one is getting to you. I promise.”
Something deep inside her—some small part still capable of believing in someone—leaned toward his voice.
“Kade?” she whispered. “Do you think the messages are real? Or someone playing games?”
“I think someone wants you isolated,” he said. “And they’re hoping fear will make you trust the wrong person.”
“Or mistrust the right one,” she murmured before she realized the weight of what she’d said.
Kade went still.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes to hers. A quiet, simmering emotion passed through them—too subtle to name, too intense to ignore.
“You don’t have to trust me,” he said softly. “Not yet.”
But the way he said it—honest, unguarded—made her heart pull painfully.
“But I want you to,” he added.
Her breath stuttered.
He stepped back before the moment could deepen into something neither of them was ready for. He pulled a chair beside her bed and sat, hands clasped loosely, posture protective but respectful.
“You should try to sleep,” he said gently.
“I won’t be able to.”
“I’ll be right here.”
She hesitated.
“Kade?”
He looked up instantly.
“Yes?”
“Please don’t leave.”
His expression shifted—just slightly—but the impact hit her like the faintest touch of heat.
“I won’t,” he said quietly. “Not tonight.”
Marlene exhaled. The tension in her shoulders eased, her heartbeat slowing for the first time in hours.
She slipped under the covers, watching him as he leaned back in the chair—alert, steady, a silent sentinel in the dim room.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then, just before her exhaustion finally pulled her under, Marlene whispered:
“Kade… thank you.”
His voice reached her through the dark.
“Get some rest,” he murmured.
And she did.
- Writer
