CHAPTER THREE: THE NAME YOU DONT USE
258 Words
They left through the fire escape.
Rain plastered Mira’s hair to her face as Adrian guided her down into the alley, his hand firm at her elbow but never possessive. She noticed that—how careful he was not to cross a line.
“Who are they?” she asked.
“People who clean up loose ends,” Adrian said. “Your ex left more behind than you realized.”
The name sat heavy between them, unspoken. Lisbon. Blood. Love.
“You could’ve warned me,” she said.
“I couldn’t find you,” he replied. “You’re very good at disappearing.”
A flicker of admiration warmed his tone, and she hated that her pulse responded.
They ducked into a car—a dark sedan already running. Adrian drove like someone accustomed to being chased, smooth and precise.
“You can call me Mira,” she said suddenly.
He glanced at her. “That’s not what you go by now.”
Her fingers curled. “No.”
“What name do you use?”
She hesitated. “Elena.”
He nodded, accepting it without comment. Trust, she realized, didn’t arrive in grand gestures. It crept in through moments like that.
As the city lights blurred past, Adrian said quietly, “You still wake up at 3:17, don’t you?”
Her breath hitched.
“How do you—”
“Because so do I,” he said. “Ever since Lisbon.”
She turned to him then, really looked at him.
Whatever this was—it wasn’t coincidence.
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