Chapter 4: Drop The Guns. Now!

Alexander’s POV

I leaned my head back against the chair, closing my eyes.

Inside this room, I had spent the last four hours staring at both Isabella Grey file records, a spy who once worked for a syndicate and Aria Bennett file records, a top-tier architect from New York.

The dates didn't make sense. The records for Aria Bennett started exactly six months after Isabella’s car went over that cliff.

Six months of silence, then a new woman suddenly appeared.

"How?" I whispered to the empty hallway.

The body I found in the ocean? Was it a trick?

How was she able to survive and become an Architect in New York? Architect? A career she doesn't know but yet she's so good at it.

I was confused, caught between a desperate hope that she had returned and a terrifying fear that I was being played by a master of disguise. But the mole behind her ear... the tiny scar on her chin... those weren't things a surgeon could just recreate perfectly.

Earlier, when I went to her room to check on her. I found her on the floor, looking so pale. Then I regretted locking her up.

My heart beat nonstop just remembering losing her for the second time. I can't bear it. I might die if I didn't see her face again.

Thinking about her again, I stood up, picking my glass of whisky on the table. I opened my study door, when I heard a soft sound.

Scuff!

The sound of bare feet on the cold marble floor. I moved into the shadows of a large stone pillar, my hand going to my gun at my waist. I watched as a figure moved through the dark hallway.

Isabella.

She wasn't wearing the nightgown I gave her. She was in her dark travel clothes, moving fast and quiet toward the stairs.

Was she trying to escape?

I waited until she reached the middle of the hall before I stepped out. "Going somewhere, Aria?"

She jumped, spinning around so fast, almost falling. She backed up until she hit a pillar, her blue eyes wide and full of anger.

"I'm leaving," she snapped. Her voice was shaking, but she looked ready to fight. "I'm finding the guys, and we’re getting out of here. You can't keep us here like prisoners, Mr Sterling."

I walked toward her slowly. I didn't feel angry. I felt a deep, burning need to keep her close.

"The gates are locked, the guards are armed, and the nearest town is twenty miles away," I said softly, stopping just inches from her. I could smell the jasmine on her skin.

“So, where exactly do you plan on going?"

"Anywhere but not here," she snapped, trying to push past me.

But I moved faster before she could resist. I shot my hand out, pinning her against the wall with my hand right next to her head.

"Why are you so afraid, Isabel?" I whispered.

"My name is Aria!" she yelled, her voice echoing through the empty hallway. "Why can't you get that through your thick head? I’m an architect from New York! I have a life! I’m not some property you can just lock up in a room.”

"Then tell me why you know this house," I challenged. "You took the shortcut through the west wing. You’ve never been to Sydney before, right? So how did you know the way?"

She froze. Her eyes darted around, looking for a lie. "I... I just guessed."

"You didn't guess," I said, leaning closer to her

"That... that was nothing. You’re just gaslighting me."

"Am I?" I reached out, my thumb grazing the line of her jaw, right where the small scar sat. “I’ve missed you so much, so much that… at one point I almost ended my life. I had no reason to live on but something kept me going.”

I leaned closer to her again, my forehead resting against hers

"Let me go, Mr Sterling," she whispered on my face.

"I can't," I murmured. "I’ve spent five years in the dark. Now that I’ve found the light, I’m never letting it go again."

I wasn't planning on doing this but my body was in control as my lips were reaching to hers, when suddenly, a loud crash echoed from the floor below, the sound of breaking glass and a woman’s scream.

"Mila!" Aria cried out, pushing me away with all her strength.

I didn't waste time. I pulled her back to my body behind my back as I pulled my gun out, my eyes turning cold.

"Stay behind me," I ordered.

We ran to the balcony and looked down at the foyer. My beautiful marble entrance was covered in broken glass. Four men in black outfits and masks were standing there. One of them was holding Mila on the floor with a gun to her head.

"Mr Alexander Sterling!" the leader shouted, looking up at us. "Give us the girl, and the architect lives."

I felt Aria go stiff behind me. I expected her to be crying, but when I looked back, she wasn't. Her eyes were dark and cold. She looked like she was studying them, indeed this was my Isabella.

"Who are they?" she whispered, looking at me now, the coldness in her eyes was gone, replaced by a new spark of fear.

"People who are about to die," I growled, facing them.

But then the leader did something strange. He didn't look at me. He looked straight at Aria.

"Come on, Aria. Our Boss is tired of waiting. It’s time to come home."

My heart felt like it stopped. Our Boss?

"Mr Sterling," she whispered again. "Who are these people? And how did they know me as Aria and not Isabella?"

I looked at her, searching for a lie, but she looked genuinely confused and scared. "I don’t know yet."

The leader laughed and pressed his gun harder against Mila’s head who was shivering nonstop.

"Don't play games, Mr Sterling! You know she belongs to us. Give her up, and the girl lives."

Ignoring him, I raised my hand and gave a sharp signal to the shadows of the hallway.

Fifteen of my best security men appeared from the wings of the mansion. They moved like shadows, their laser sights painting red dots on the chests of the four intruders. My men were elite, battle-trained in the Australian outback. They didn't miss any targets.

"Drop the guns," I roared, my voice echoing like thunder. "Now!”