Black card

The morning light spilled softly into the bedroom, wrapping everything in a deceptive calm. I woke to the lingering warmth of Alexander’s embrace from the night before, but the space beside me was already cold. My hand stretched across the sheets, finding nothing but emptiness. My heart sank. He was gone again, just like he often was, swept away into the shadows of his empire.

When I finally pulled myself from bed, I noticed the subtle signs that something had shifted. Two more guards were stationed at the gate when I looked down from the balcony. The usual quiet confidence of Alexander’s security team was replaced by a rigid unease. Men who normally blended into the background now stood with their shoulders taut and eyes scanning every corner. I wrapped my robe tighter around me as if it could shield me from the sudden weight pressing down on my chest.

At breakfast, Alexander was there, but he wasn’t really there. His sharp jaw was set, his eyes scanning messages on his phone with the kind of focus that excluded everything else. When I touched his wrist lightly, he finally looked up, his expression softening for me—but only for a moment.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, unable to keep the tremor out of my voice.

His hand covered mine briefly, reassuring but fleeting. “Nothing you need to worry about, Isabella. Just business.”

Business. That word had begun to carry the taste of danger on my tongue. I wanted to push him, to demand the truth, but I saw the iron wall in his eyes. He wasn’t ready to let me in—not into that world. So I stayed quiet, even as my stomach twisted with unease.

Later that day, I found myself with a rare moment alone. Alexander had been pulled into another urgent meeting, leaving me in the garden with a book I wasn’t really reading. The air was crisp, and for a moment, I let myself believe everything was fine. Until I noticed them.

Two men, dressed sharply but wrong for the setting, leaned casually against the far gate. They weren’t Alexander’s men. I knew it instinctively. Something in the way their eyes lingered on me too long, too steady, made the hairs on my neck rise. I tried to focus on my book, but when I looked again, they were closer.

I stood, intending to retreat back inside, but one of them stepped forward. He was tall, his hair slicked back, his smile too smooth. The kind of smile that held no warmth.

“Mrs. Knight,” he said softly, though I had never given anyone that title aloud. My blood froze. “You’re even more beautiful in person.”

My throat went dry. “I think you’re mistaken.”

His companion chuckled low, shaking his head. “We don’t make mistakes.”

The first man stepped closer, his voice still calm, too calm. “You see, our employer takes great interest in Alexander Knight’s… attachments. Especially the secret ones. Secrets are fragile things, Mrs. Knight. They can be broken so easily.”

I stumbled back, my heart thundering. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. For now.” He reached into his jacket, pulling out a sleek black card. He slipped it into the pages of my book with the precision of someone planting a seed. “A little reminder. You are seen. He cannot shield you forever.”

The silver letters gleamed against the matte black surface as I glanced down: *We see you. He can’t protect you forever.*

I wanted to throw the card away, to scream, but my voice was trapped in my throat. By the time I lifted my head, the two men were already walking away, disappearing as quietly as they had arrived. The only proof they had ever been there was the weight of the card pressing against my trembling fingers.

My knees felt weak. I barely made it back inside before collapsing against the wall. My chest rose and fell in shallow gasps. I didn’t realize tears had blurred my vision until the door opened and Alexander was suddenly there, striding toward me with urgency.

“Isabella,” his voice cut sharp as he took in my state. He was kneeling before me in seconds, his hands firm on my shoulders. “What happened?”

I wanted to hide it, to pretend nothing was wrong, but my shaking betrayed me. With trembling hands, I pressed the black card into his palm. His face changed instantly. The softness vanished, replaced by something cold and lethal. His jaw tightened, his grip on the card so hard it crumpled slightly at the edges.

“Who gave you this?” His voice was low, dangerous. The kind of tone that could freeze a man in place.

“T-two men,” I whispered. “At the gate. They—they knew me. They called me Mrs. Knight. They said… they said you can’t protect me forever.”

The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. Alexander stood, towering, his entire presence shifting into something terrifying. Not for me, never for me, but for them—for whoever dared to touch me with their shadows.

“They will regret this,” he said finally, his voice a dark promise. His eyes burned with fury, his control terrifying in its precision. He didn’t rage or shout; he simply turned, pulling out his phone, already issuing orders in clipped, merciless tones. I caught fragments—find them, make an example, no second chances. Words that made my skin crawl, even as a small part of me felt safer knowing he was unleashing his storm.

But when his eyes turned back to me, some of that coldness lingered, and it frightened me. Not because I thought he would hurt me, but because I finally understood the depth of the world he lived in. A world where threats like this weren’t rare—they were inevitable.

He crouched before me again, softer this time, brushing a hand against my cheek. “You’re safe with me. Do you believe that?”

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to fall into his reassurance and believe he could shield me from everything. But the words stuck in my throat, tangled with fear. Because as much as I loved him, as much as I trusted him, the card still burned against my skin like a brand. *We see you.*

That night, long after Alexander left to handle things in his world, I sat alone in the darkened bedroom. The black card lay on the nightstand, its silver letters gleaming faintly in the moonlight. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking no matter how tightly I wrapped them around myself.

For the first time since stepping into Alexander’s arms, I wondered if I had stepped into something far beyond my control. Love had carried me this far, but love couldn’t erase the fear coiling in my chest.

And as I stared at the card, one truth became impossible to deny—I was no longer invisible. I was a target.