CHAPTER 7
650 Words
Elena
After a moment, I joined him outside. The wind was cold, but the view was stunning. Still, I didn’t trust it. Beauty always came with a price.
“What is this, Ronan?” I asked quietly. “You dragging me out here to impress me?”
He shook his head. “No. I brought you here to remind you that you still have a choice.”
That caught me off guard. “A choice?”
“You think I’ve trapped you. That I’m pulling you into something you can’t escape.” He looked at me, the harsh edges of his face softened by the moonlight. “Maybe I am. But I won’t lie to you about it.”
“And that makes it okay?”
“No. But it makes it real.”
The honesty in his voice was worse than any lie. It made me feel exposed. Unsteady.
“And if I walk away right now?” I asked.
He stepped closer, just enough to make my pulse skip. “Then I’ll let you go. For now.”
“For now?”
His voice dropped. “Because we both know you’ll come back. Not because of me. Because of what’s coming. Because he’s not done with you, Elena. And deep down, you know I’m the only one who can match him.”
The words lodged in my chest like glass.
Because the worst part was, I did know it.
Ronan Kane wasn’t my savior.
But he might be my only shot at survival.
And I hated how much I wanted to believe that was enough.
The city glowed beneath us, a quiet reminder of everything I’d lost, and everything I wasn’t sure I wanted to find again.
Ronan hadn’t said a word since his warning. He just stood there, close enough to touch, far enough to feel like a dare.
“I don’t want to need you,” I whispered, my arms crossed tight over my chest. “I don’t want to owe you.”
“You don’t owe me,” he said without turning. “Not yet.”
“But you plan to change that?”
He didn’t deny it.
Silence stretched between us. Heavy. Sharp.
I turned to face him, my voice low. “Why me, Ronan? There are a hundred women who would kill to be in your shadow. Why pull me into your world?”
His eyes found mine. Not amused. Not flirtatious. Just truth. “Because you’re the first woman I’ve met who doesn’t care about my power. You look me in the eye and don’t flinch. You hate me for what I am, but you’re still here.”
My breath caught. I wanted to say it was only because he dragged me into this, but it would be a lie. I could’ve run by now. I hadn’t.
Before I could respond, his phone buzzed in his coat pocket. He glanced at the screen. and his jaw tightened.
“Problem?” I asked.
“Possibly,” he muttered. “We need to go. Now.”
The ride back was fast and silent, headlights slicing through the dark. When we reached the compound, Ronan’s men were already moving like a silent storm armed, focused, tense.
Declan met us in the front hall, all business.
“Message came through the back channel,” he said. “Anonymous drop, but the seal was Damien’s.”
Ronan’s entire demeanor shifted. “What did it say?”
Declan handed him a slim black envelope.
Ronan opened it. Read once. Then again.
His eyes flicked to me.
“What?” I asked, a knot already forming in my gut.
He held up the note so I could read it for myself. Just one line, written in bold, red ink:
"You can keep her for now. But I always take back what’s mine."
My stomach dropped.
Damien had found me.
- Writer
