LOGINMARCO’S POVThe warehouse wasn’t the problem.The problem was ‘time’……….the part that always leaked away while people pretended they were in control…..I’d picked the hideout for a reason. Because there were too many cameras where Roy’s eyes would look, too many habits where Roy’s mind would assume danger would come from the front. This place? This place was about silence.*********My men moved like they’d been cut from the same cloth…..or invented rather because i trained them……careful, quiet, deliberate.No rushing……No shouting……No heroics.Just execution.I raised my right hand up high, and they all froze at the edge of the compound.“Lights off,” I murmured. “If you have to breathe, breathe through your nose.”A couple of them smirked, like they were enjoying the discipline. I didn’t correct them. Not yet.Because the first thing you do in a night like this is remove the noise.At the back, two guards were stationed where a person could stand and feel hidden without actually earn
NAYLA’S POV.I didn’t even realize I was shaking until my phone slipped slightly in my hand.I pressed it to my ear and forced my voice to sound louder…….more controlled…….like I hadn’t watched Roy walk toward the door with anger and rage in his eyes.“Mr. Mills,” I said quickly, my breath tight in n my chest, “Roy is leaving. He’s going to look for Marco.” I said, my chest heaving deeply.There was a pause on the other end…….Then, “Miss Nayla,” he started.But I didn’t let him finish……“Tell him not to go. Marco is dangerously insane.” My voice wavered on the last word, and I hated that it sounded like I was begging instead of pleading. “Who knows what he’ll do to Roy. A man like that who kills for a living?… no!…….please, you have to stop Roy now.”I could feel my whole world crumbling again. My gut twisted with the kind of fear that didn’t wait for proof…..Like the end result was certain. Marco is a beast, and I am a witness to his cruelty. This was more like a warning than a plea
ROY’S POV.While in the car, I kept my eyes on the road…….on the curve of it, on the streetlights sliding past the windshield……..because if I let myself look anywhere else, my mind would start replaying every second I’d ever lost to Marco.I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles ached.Nayla’s face flashed in my head…,… her pleading eyes, trying to hold me back with tears and love. And my chest tightened with the kind of guilt that didn’t know how to soften.But I couldn’t go back.Not now.Not after everything.I pulled out my phone and dialed Mr. Mills number again.My jaw clenched.Tell me where you are.” I said, my voice serious.“Not far,” Mr. Mills answered. “Check your phone, I already sent you my location,” Mills said.“Alright, I am on my way…..we need to plan, I need to get to those idiotic fools as fast as possible,” I said, my anger boiling inside me.“You’ll get that,” Mr. Mills said. “But Roy…….keep your head high. Marco’s men aren’t sloppy. They’re hungry.”Hungr
ROY’S POV.(continued)I opened the entrance door, my eyes landing on Nayla as she sat quietly on the couch, her gaze drifting from the TV to me.She stood up fast……too fast…….then rushed toward me, her arms wrapping around me in a hug like she’d been holding her breath the entire time I was gone.I kissed her.I kissed her deeply……like I needed her to remind me I was still human, still capable of feeling something other than fire….other than Anger or pain.Then I pulled back slightly, keeping my hand on her shoulder.“Nayla,” I said with shaky breath.Her smile faded the moment she saw my face. “Roy… what is it?”I took a deep long breath. The words sat heavy in my throat, already prepared to cut, already prepared to hurt.“I have something I want to tell you.”She blinked, like she was trying to read the fear behind my eyes. “Okay… tell me.”I turned my head just for a second, like I needed to steady myself……..then I looked back at her fully….my eyes locked on hers.“Mr. Alexander an
ROY’S POV.I walked forward with my jaw locked, pretending my pulse was just normal excitement……like I hadn’t just swallowed a storm the moment I saw that call on my phone screen.“Collin’s father.”His voice still echoed in my bones. “You will suffer, Roy.” His words weren’t just threats…,,….they were a verdict he’d already passed before he knew the facts.I told myself I was done letting grief steer me.But when I turned deeper into the building, something in me shifted. Not calm……..no. Something sharper.A plan.And I wasn’t going to sit around anymore and wait for fate to be kind.I went through the station corridors, my mind already working in straight lines……..names, faces, how the system moved when it decided someone was guilty.I just didn’t expect it to move this quickly.Not after the way Mr Kain and Mr Alexander had been so comfortable.Not after the way they’d tried to paint me like the villain.Not when I’d watched them smile like they were untouchable.I didn’t go far be
ROY’S POV.I grabbed the wheel tightly as I parked in front of the station. My chest heaved with every breath like my body wanted to fight the moment instead of walk into it.I stepped out of the car, shutting the car door hardly……..loud enough that it felt like a way to release the pressure in my head…… The sky was still too bright for the kind of hell that had been following me lately.I was halfway to the entrance when my phone buzzed inside my pocket.I paused on my track m, pulling it out and seeing the name on the screen.“Collin’s father.”My heart stuttered. That name didn’t belong to normal days. It belonged to grief, to anger, to that look he had worn at Collin’s burial……like I’d personally killed his son with my bare hands.We hadn’t spoken since then. Not properly. Not at all.I answered anyway, because I couldn’t ignore it. Not when my body already knew what it would sound like.“Good day, Mr—” I started.His voice cut through me immediately…….cold, shaking with rage. “
MARCO’S POV.I sat on the bench at the prison cell, my fingers tapping rhythmically on the bench as I waited impatiently. “What’s taking my father so long?” I knew he would come to my aid; he always did. But every second felt like an hour as I fidgeted…fear and worry creeping in with each passing s
NAYLA’S POV.The nurse had just wrapped my leg in a bandage, her left hands moving confidently as she explained how to take the pain medication with a softness that eased my anxiety a bit….Thank God it wasn’t that bad, because I had already began to feel a bit relived. I watched her leave the room
ROY’S POV.I stood up from my seat outside Collin’s ward, my pulse quickening as the urge to check on him grew stronger. The doctor had said he would be awake by now.As I pushed open the door, my heart sank. My eyes landed on him, still sleeping… still unconscious. A tight knot formed in my chest,
NAYLA’S POV.I sat at the dining table, glancing around as I tried to soak in the familiar surroundings. It felt strange, almost like I had forgotten what my own house looked like after everything that had happened.Roy was in the kitchen, busy making breakfast, and I could hear the clattering of p







