I would find out

Chapter 8

 Lucien’s POV

Something was wrong with Elena, I could feel it.

She had lied straight to my face at the hospital. She told me that boy…Jace….was her friend’s son. She told me he was discharged, but her eyes trembled when she spoke, and her hands would not stay still.

I had seen liars before. She was one of them.

In my office, I leaned back on my chair and pressed my fingers against my forehead. Rain tapped against the windows, the storm outside refusing to die down. But the storm inside me was worse.

“Daniel,” I said.

My head of security stepped forward immediately. “Yes, sir.”

“I want everything on Elena’s movements tonight. Hospital records, surveillance, phone calls. All of it. No excuses.”

“Yes, sir.”

I watched him leave and I stood up and walked around the room.

My chest was squeezed, but I didn’t want to say why, I just knew Elena was really hiding something from me and the thought of her keeping secrets hurt more than I ever imagined it would.

After one long hour, Daniel came back with the report, he paused before he gave it to me.

That alone told me the truth would not be pleasant.

“There is no discharge record for the boy,” Daniel said carefully. “The hospital has nothing on file. No paperwork. No release form. Nothing.”

My grip on the file tightened. “Are you telling me she lied?”

Daniel nodded once. “Yes, sir.”

I opened the folder and scanned it quickly. My jaw clenched and everything I feared was here in black and white, she hadn’t told me the truth, not even close.

“And there is something else,” Daniel added, his voice low, it was almost cautious.

I lifted my eyes. “What is it?”

“She has been receiving phone calls. Late at night. From blocked numbers. We traced what we could, but the origins are hidden. Whoever is contacting her… they don’t want to be found.”

The words made my blood turn cold. Unknown numbers, hidden movements and lies.

Elena was actually in the middle of something quite dangerous and  I knew it and I also felt it deep in my bones.

I closed the file slowly and my face showed on the glass wall of my office. My face looked calm, but inside I burned like fire.

“Elena,” I whisper, my voice hard and sharp. 

“You can lie to me, but you cannot hide. I will find the truth, even if it breaks you, even if it breaks us.”

That night, I made a vow, whatever secret she hid, I would know and find out.

 No matter the cost..

I didn’t sleep that night.

I sat in front of the giant screen in my study, the security feeds playing over and over again. My team had pulled the hospital footage, but half of it was corrupted, like someone wanted it erased. Still, the pieces I saw were enough to set my chest on fire.

Elena.

She was in the frame, running down the hallway. Her face pale, her eyes wide with fear. Then…shadows. Two men, their bodies blocking the camera as they grabbed her. She fought them, wild and desperate. My jaw clenched as I watched her fall to the floor, clutching her shoulder in pain.

The tape cut off before I could see more. Jace never appeared.

But I didn’t need to see everything. I knew what I saw: Elena was in danger, and she hadn’t told me.

By dawn, the rain had stopped. The city lights faded into grey. I left the study, my body heavy but my mind sharp as a blade.

When I pushed open the penthouse door, Elena was already there, standing in the kitchen. She was in the same hoodie from the night before, her hair messy, her eyes red from crying. She froze the moment she saw me.

“Lucien,” she whispered.

I dropped my keys on the counter. The sound made her flinch.

“You lied,” I said. My voice was calm, too calm, the kind of calm that comes before fire. “You told me nothing happened. You told me he was discharged. Yet I saw you fighting for your life at the hospital.”

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

“Don’t deny it,” I cut in. “The cameras don’t lie.”

She stepped back, her hands trembling. “You don’t understand…”

“Then explain it to me.” I stepped forward, my eyes locked on hers. “Tell me why men are attacking you. Tell me why you are hiding things from me.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook her head fast, like she was trying to keep the words inside. “I can’t.”

My hands curled into fists. “You can’t? Or you won’t?”

Her breath stopped and for a moment and she hid her face in her hands, her crying felt like a pin choking my chest.

“They will hurt him,” she said in a broken voice. “If I talk, they will take everything from me.”

I stood still and my chest felt heavy.

Him.

Not me. Not us. Him.

Who was she protecting so fiercely that she would rather burn herself than let me know?

“Elena,” I said slowly, forcing my voice low. “Who is he?”

She looked up at me then, her face wet, her eyes full of pain. But still, she shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

And in that moment, I knew.

This wasn’t just about her. This wasn’t just about danger. She was protecting someone..someone who mattered more than anything in her world.

My jaw set, my heart pounding hard against my ribs. Whoever it was, I would find out. And nothing would stop me.