Chapter 3

Ghosts Don’t Stay Gone

The call came just after midnight.

Adrian had been half asleep, the city outside her bedroom window reduced to distant lights and movement she no longer needed to monitor. Her phone vibrating on the nightstand pulled her fully awake, instinct kicking in before irritation could.

She didn’t recognize the number.

That alone was enough to make her sit up.

Most people who had access to her knew better than to call this late. The few who didn’t were usually filtered out quickly by assistants, schedules, or security. An unknown number meant someone had either bypassed those layers or never respected them to begin with.

She answered on the third ring.

“Adrian.”

The voice was familiar in a way that tightened her spine instantly.

Low. Controlled. Confident in a way that didn’t ask permission.

She closed her eyes once.

“Marcus,” she said evenly.

A pause followed, heavy with history neither of them needed to explain.

“I was starting to think you’d changed your number for good,” Marcus Reyes said.

“I did,” Adrian replied. “Several times.”

He chuckled softly, like that amused him. “Still careful.”

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, grounding herself. “What do you want?”

“Straight to the point,” Marcus said. “Guess some things don’t change.”

Her gaze drifted to the window, to the city she’d built her life above, far from the places Marcus belonged. “You didn’t call to reminisce.”

“No,” he agreed. “I called because I’m back.”

Her chest tightened, just enough to notice.

“And why would that concern me?” she asked.

“Because the last time I was in this city,” Marcus said calmly, “we didn’t finish our conversation.”

Adrian exhaled slowly through her nose.

Marcus Reyes wasn’t a mistake. He was a chapter she survived. A time when survival mattered more than ambition, and loyalty was demanded instead of earned.

“I’m not that woman anymore,” she said.

“I know,” Marcus replied. “You’re better now. Smarter. Colder.”

“That’s not even a compliment.”

“It is where I come from.”

She closed her eyes again, patience thinning. “You don’t belong in my life.”

“Neither did that boardroom lawyer,” Marcus said smoothly. “But I hear he’s sitting pretty close these days.”

Her jaw tightened. “You don’t get to comment on my life.”

“I get to notice,” he said. “That’s always been my thing.”

Silence stretched between them.

“I’m hanging up,” Adrian said.

“Dinner tomorrow,” Marcus continued, ignoring her. “Eight. Same place as before.”

She ended the call.

For a long moment, she sat there, phone still in her hand, pulse steady but alert. Marcus had never called without a purpose. He didn’t believe in nostalgia. If he was back, it meant something had shifted.

Her phone buzzed again.

A text.

Marcus:

Dinner tomorrow. Eight. You owe me a conversation.

Adrian deleted it without replying.

She told herself that was the end of it…