Noah's POV The trail that had begun with the tracker buried in our luggage had led us through a maze of shadows across the continent. Every step we took seemed to tighten the noose Jasper had thrown around our lives. He was no longer a ghost haunting our memories, he was a predator who wanted us to know he was always two steps ahead. Each city we entered, each name whispered on the streets, each lead that slipped through our fingers, all carried the same echo, Jasper had been there first. But Paris was different. The moment we landed, I could feel it. The air itself seemed heavier, charged with a current of danger that thrummed beneath the beauty of the city. Adrian and I traveled under aliases again, our forged passports smooth enough to pass even the most thorough inspection. To anyone watching, we were just another pair of tourists wandering Europe, but beneath our clothes and measured smiles, we were a storm waiting to be unleashed. It didn’t take long before whispers reached
Noah’s POV The sound of the train pulling into the station was the only thing grounding me as Adrian and I stepped onto the platform in Milan. We had been moving for days, slipping from one country to another, never staying too long in one place, always wearing new faces, new names. Our passports bore identities I barely recognized when I opened them. I was Marcus Hale today, a businessman with a vague cover story. Adrian was Matthew Pierce, my partner in every sense, though no border guard would ever guess the truth in the way his hand sometimes brushed mine when we walked too close together, or in the way his eyes found mine when tension in the air became unbearable. We were in Europe now, chasing whispers of Jasper’s movements. He was smart, too smart, and each time we thought we had him cornered, he slipped out of sight. But this was the closest we had been, the sharpest lead yet. The trail smelled of him, of his arrogance, and it pulled me deeper into the hunt. The city was al
Noah’s POV The quiet hum of the city at night felt louder than the voices in my head. I had grown accustomed to moving in silence, to the shadows that stretched long across the pavement outside our apartment, yet tonight the shadows felt sharper, as if they carried warnings I wasn’t ready to hear. Inside, the glow of the lamp on the desk spilled across papers, files, and maps, each marked with the careful hand of law enforcement, but also touched by my own obsession. The world outside knew nothing of what Adrian and I were building with these people, what we were chasing, what we were about to uncover. They thought life had calmed, that danger was a fading memory. But danger never left, it lingered, it waited, it prowled. And tonight, we were closing in on Jasper. I leaned back in the chair, the stiff wood groaning beneath me as my eyes flicked across the lines of notes, times, and locations. Every piece was a breadcrumb, every clue a whisper of a trail that had led us further than
Adrian’s POV The morning light spilled across the bedroom, soft and golden, painting Noah’s face in a warmth that almost felt stolen from a dream. I should have felt nothing but peace waking up beside him, his breath steady against my shoulder, the soft curl of his fingers resting against my chest. But the shadows that Jasper left behind clung stubbornly, curling around the edges of my thoughts, whispering what-ifs that made my chest tight. I had watched Noah fight, push, and bleed to keep us safe. He had taken the weight of an old nightmare and decided to end it once and for all. That was who he was, the man who carried storms inside him yet still made space for me. But even as I pressed a kiss into his hair, even as I felt his warmth ground me, I couldn’t ignore the tension running through my own body. We deserved peace. We deserved the quiet mornings, the lazy kisses, the soft laughter that belonged only to us. Yet I knew Jasper wasn’t finished, and my heart thudded with the kn
Noah's POV The morning light seeped through the curtains, cutting across the room where Adrian still slept, his body curled slightly toward my side of the bed. I should have been lying there with him, should have let myself get lost in the steady rhythm of his breathing, but my mind wasn’t letting me rest. The bullet with his name engraved on it was still sitting inside the evidence bag I placed in my drawer last night. Every time I closed my eyes, that image burned into me, a cruel reminder that Jasper hadn’t disappeared, not even for a second. He wanted me to know he was close. He wanted me to know he still had power over us. I couldn’t let him have that power. That was the thought that had me pacing before sunrise, tugging a shirt over my head, strapping on my holster like I was going to war. And maybe I was. Adrian shifted when I leaned down and brushed my lips over his hair, whispering that I’d be back soon. He murmured something in his sleep, the sound tugging at me, making i
Noah's POV The moment we returned home from our shortened honeymoon, the world felt heavier. The silence of the apartment was comforting but also unnerving, like it was holding its breath with us. Adrian set our bags down, trying to smile, but I saw the shadow behind his eyes. We both knew we hadn’t come back early out of choice but necessity. Security threats had a way of shrinking happiness into something fragile. I didn’t want to admit how much it hurt to cut our time short. The honeymoon had been supposed to be ours, free of the world’s madness, yet the intrusion of danger found us anyway. The thought of Jasper’s hand behind it all gnawed at me. I’d seen too much of his tactics not to recognize the trail. Still, I kept my worry pressed beneath my ribs. Adrian deserved steadiness from me, not my spiraling thoughts. While Adrian unpacked, I moved through the apartment, checking cameras, double-checking sensors, reinforcing locks. The walls had always felt like home, but now I wan