Chapter 4 - Adrian Finally Told Me How Our Mothers Were Connected, and I Realized the Man I Feared Had Been Protecting Me for YearsAdrian told me everything.
Our mothers had known each other.
They had been partners.
Both were investigating the same criminal network.
My mother had discovered money laundering.
Adrian's mother had discovered weapons trafficking.
They tried to expose it.
They failed.
Both were threatened.
My mother died.
Adrian's mother survived but disappeared.
The network remained.
My sister found out years later.
She contacted Adrian.
He helped her disappear.
But Malcolm Voss found her.
He used me as leverage.
That was why Emma vanished again.
I couldn't breathe.
“So you were protecting her.”
“Yes.”
“And me.”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell me?”
“Because every person who knew became a target.”
I stared.
“Am I a target?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since the night you entered the bus shelter.”
I looked away.
The snow.
The cookie.
The little girl.
Everything that had felt like coincidence had been watched.
Then Adrian said something I never expected.
“I didn't bring you home because I needed a woman.”
I looked at him.
“I brought you home because Lila chose you.”
“And because?”
He hesitated.
“Because when you said your sister's name, I realized you were the person she had spent a year protecting.”
My heart tightened.
“You knew Emma loved me.”
“Yes.”
“So did you.”
He stepped closer.
“I grew up believing love was weakness.”
He looked at Lila.
“Then my daughter taught me otherwise.”
Lila smiled.
She climbed into my lap again.
She was becoming attached.
So was I.
That frightened me.
Because there was another problem.
Adrian had enemies.
People wanted him dead.
People wanted the trust.
People wanted my sister.
And now I had become the link between all of them.
We moved to a second property.
A private house outside the city.
Lila hated it.
She wanted the mansion.
I laughed.
“She likes the mansion.”
Adrian smiled.
“She likes you.”
The bond between us grew.
Every night, he stayed nearby.
Every morning, he made coffee.
One afternoon, Lila fell asleep against me.
Adrian sat across from us.
“You would be a good mother.”
I smiled sadly.
“I don't know.”
“You are.”
“I've never had a child.”
“You don't need to.”
He paused.
“You take care of people.”
I looked at him.
“Who takes care of you?”
He laughed quietly.
“Nobody.”
I shook my head.
“That needs to change.”
He stared at me.
Then he kissed me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
I kissed him back.
It was the first time since my sister disappeared that I felt something other than fear.
But happiness lasted only one night.
The next morning, a message arrived.
A video.
Emma.
She was in a locked room.
Alive.
She looked directly at the camera.
“Grace, leave Adrian.”
I stopped breathing.
Then a man stepped behind her.
Malcolm Voss.
He smiled.
“You have forty-eight hours.”
“For what?”
“Your trust.”
I froze.
“And if I refuse?”
He leaned toward Emma.
“Then you lose your sister.”
The video ended.
Adrian watched my face.
“No.”
“I have to.”
“You're not going.”
“My sister is there.”
“I know.”
“Then you understand.”
He grabbed my hands.
“Grace.”
“I can't lose her again.”
“You don't know what he wants.”
“My trust.”
“Yes.”
“He'll kill her.”
“Maybe.”
I pulled away.
“You're supposed to protect people.”
“I will.”
“How?”
“I'll trade.”
I stared.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“I'll trade myself.”
I froze.
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because I love you.”
The words broke me.
He continued.
“And because Lila loves you.”
I cried.
“You don't get to die for me.”
He smiled sadly.
“Then don't let me.”
We created a plan.
I would pretend to surrender the trust.
Adrian would move against Voss.
Emma would escape.
Everything would happen simultaneously.
The plan failed.
Voss knew.
He had someone inside Adrian's organization.
May you like
A traitor.
The traitor was Adrian's brother.
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