Chapter 11: The Vulnerable Moment
272 Words
The safe house was little more than a one-room cabin with a fireplace and a single, narrow bed. It was dusty and smelled of cedar, but to me, it felt like a palace compared to the cold ocean we had just escaped.
Silas moved with practiced efficiency, starting a fire until the room began to glow with orange light. He didn't say much until he handed me a dry, oversized shirt from a trunk in the corner.
"Change into this," he said, turning his back to give me privacy. "Hypothermia is a bigger threat than Julian Thorne right now."
I changed quickly, the thick cotton of his shirt reaching down to my knees. As I sat by the fire, shivering, I watched Silas. He was staring into the flames, his shoulders finally losing some of the tension he’d carried since the night we met.
"Silas?" I asked softly. "What happened to your father? You said he was partners with my mother."
He was silent for a long time. "Thorne didn't just want the chip, Ava. He wanted to send a message. My father refused to betray your mother’s trust, so Thorne made sure his business failed. He died thinking he was a failure. I’ve spent every day since then building an empire just so I could be strong enough to tear Thorne’s down."
He turned to look at me, and for the first time, he didn't look like 'The Vulture.' He looked like a man who had been alone for a very long time. "I brought you into this because I needed the locket. But I didn't expect you to be... you."
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