UNKNOWN THREAT

~~WARD~~

The locker room lights were dimmed low, casting long shadows across the benches.

I sat alone, elbows braced on my knees, head bowed so low my forehead nearly touched my clasped hands.

The tape on my fingers felt too tight, snipping into my skin, but I didn’t loosen it. Pain was good, it was what kept me grounded when everything else inside me was spinning out of control.

I saw her again today after three years.

The image wouldn’t leave me, her standing in the hallway with Lena, head tilted back in a real laugh, shoulders relaxed for just a moment. That sound had hit me like a blindside hit.

My chest had tightened so hard I couldn’t breathe for a second. She looked different now. More sure of herself. The kind of woman who had rebuilt her life after I had torn it apart and knowing I was the reason she had to rebuild at all made something deep in my gut twist painfully.

I rubbed my face with both hands, pressing my palms hard against my eyes until spots danced behind my lids. My throat burned. Three years of carrying this alone, and one glimpse of her smile had ripped every scar open again.

My phone sat heavy in my hoodie pocket. I pulled it out slowly, thumb hovering over the screen before I finally dialed.

Marcus answered on the third ring, voice thick with sleep. “Ward? It’s late. What’s going on?”

I swallowed once, twice, trying to stabilize my voice. But it still came out rough and low.

“I saw her today. I really saw her. She was laughing with her friend. Looking… whole. Like she didn’t need me anymore while I just stood there, frozen against the wall, feeling like the biggest fool alive.”

Marcus let out a long breath. “You knew going back was going to hurt, so why accept the contract… You have better offers here." I sighed again.

“I just felt I needed to see her again,” I replied truthfully.

“So tell me why didn’t you just tell her the truth back then?”

The words landed like a blade between my ribs. I hunched forward even more, shoulders curling in as if I could protect myself from the guilt.

My hands shook slightly as I gripped the phone tighter. Tears pricked hot at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them back hard, jaw clenched until it ached.

“I wanted to tell her,” I whispered, voice cracking. “Every single night I lay awake wanting to tell her everything… but… Marcus, I just don't know.”

My breath hitched as I pressed my fist against my mouth, trying to hold back the sound rising in my throat.

“Seeing her today… It reminded me how much I lost. How much I hurt her. I would give anything for one real chance to make it right.”

Marcus was quiet for a long moment. “You still love her that much?”

“More than I can stand,” I admitted, the confession tearing out of me. My shoulders slumped, the fight draining from my body. “I never stopped. Not for one day.”

Marcus and I talked for a while before he hung up. When I finally ended the call, the locker room felt colder. I sat there for several minutes, just breathing, trying to steady the heavy ache in my chest.

Eventually, I stood, moving carefully because of my hip. I grabbed my bag and walked out toward the parking garage, my footsteps slow on the concrete. The night air was cool against my skin as I stepped outside.

I reached my car and tossed the bag into the back seat. Just as I opened the driver’s door, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out and opened the message. The words hit me like a slapshot to the throat.

“Heard you back, don't forget a single mistake could end her.”

My heart slammed violently against my ribs. The phone slipped slightly in my suddenly sweaty palm.

I stared at the screen, breath coming short and sharp, chest rising and falling too fast. Cold dread pooled low in my stomach, spreading through my veins like ice water. My free hand gripped the top of the car door until my knuckles turned bone-white, the metal creaking under the pressure.

How closely were they watching? This is one reason why I had come back, getting g strange messages that made me terrified of losing her every time. Knowing fully well that if I stayed away I just got the news that I wouldn't be able to take in one day.

I quickly typed a reply with shaking fingers: “I am in the country now. I would like a face-to-face conversation.”

My thumb tapped the send button repeatedly, heart pounding as I waited. The message failed to deliver. A cold notification appeared instead, Blocked. Sorry, you can’t text this number.

A surge of frustration and fear crashed over me. “Damn it!” I growled, slamming my fist hard against the steering wheel. The impact sent a sharp jolt up my arm, but I barely felt the pain. “Fuck it…”

My hands were trembling so badly I could hardly type as I opened a new message to my private investigator.

“Send me..”

Before I could finish, the phone buzzed again. Another unknown number.

My stomach dropped like a stone. I clicked on the message with dread curling tight in my chest.

It was a photo.

Aria, curled up on her bed, fast asleep in the same clothes she had worn today. She looked exhausted, vulnerable, her face soft in a way that made my throat tighten painfully. She had no idea anyone was watching her.

My hands shook violently now, the phone nearly slipping from my grip. The next text followed immediately:

“Chill. I won’t hurt her… yet. But who knows what might happen in the next few minutes.”

Pure terror flooded my veins, cold and suffocating. My breath came in short, ragged gasps. The thought of someone standing outside her window right now, watching her sleep, made my chest constrict so tightly I thought I might be sick and she was alone. I couldn’t sit here any longer.

With unsteady legs, I dropped into the driver’s seat, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs. My fingers trembled so badly that it took three tries to open the chat with my private investigator. I typed frantically.

“Send me her current home address. Now.”

The reply came within seconds. The moment the address appeared on my screen, I started the engine. Tires screeched loudly as I sped out of the parking lot, the car lurching forward into the night.

I had to get to her.

I had to make sure she was safe tonight even though I knew my face was the last thing she wanted to see tonight.