CHAPTER THREE: THE SHADOWS THAT FOLLOW

I didn't sleep, I couldn't, not when it felt like a sword was hanging over me and I could not take it off my neck. This man had claimed that he did not know what was happening and I needed to figure it out before this mess would affect me as well. 

The flash drive was still burning a hole in my dresser drawer after all and everytime Jace snored, the realization that he was Liam Steele the prodigal heir to a multi million dollar tech empire dawned heavier on me. Even though he had vanished, I knew that very soon people, dangerous people would come looking for him and I could not have that. 

Especially since I was the one who had brought him home. "God, Amara!" I exclaimed as I rubbed my temples, trying my best to be calm. I stared at my ceiling, wondering what I should do. Should I wake him and kick him out or allow him to stay a bit longer? 

Before I could make a decision, his voice cut through. “Amara…?”

I turned my head to his direction, said a light "yeah" before sitting him to look at him. He was exceptionally handsome, it still did not make sense to me why anyone would want him dead. 

He winced while trying his best to sit up, as he tried, he began to rub the back of his neck. 

"Nightmare, right? Sorry about that," I said softly before adding. "Do you remember anything else?" 

"Not really," he said and looked down at his hands, as if the answers to my questions were written on them. "All I remember is a woman’s voice, she was extremely angry and then a man saying "it is done"." 

I shivered at his words, this could only mean that what I was guessing was probably the truth. "Hold on, do you think someone actually tried to kill you?" I was afraid to know what the answer would be but I needed to know. 

His jaw tightened. “Don’t you?”

I didn't know what to think anymore. "I'm confused but I do know that someone like you, rich and powerful, does not just crash and burn by accident. It's very viable to think that maybe someone did try to end you once and for all. The question is why?" 

"I think you are asking the wrong questions, beautiful," he responded before I could say anything else. 

My breath got stuck in my throat, the way he said the endearing name was beautiful. It moved smoothly out of his mouth, it was obvious that he had said it before to a lot of women but it still felt like it was special. I sat in silence for a while before I finally snapped out of it and asked. 

"So what sort of question should I be asking?" 

"Why did you really save me? You were not forced to, you could have left me to die, why did you feel the need to pull me out of that car?" He asked the one question I did not expect. 

I took a deep breath in knowing that I was caught off guard and I always hated that. "I have no idea actually. I probably did it because you looked like you needed saving or maybe it's because I just knew the horror it is when you are burned by something bigger than you." 

The pain in my voice was mild but evident and Liam did not miss it

"What happened to you?" He asked, sincerely curious and eager to help. 

I looked at him for a split second, hesitating and then finally, I opened up to him. 

"My parents were scientists, the best in their field and by that time, they were working on a government-funded AI security protocol. Seven years ago, the lab exploded. Everyone said it was a gas leak but that story never added up. Every file they had worked on, every trace of their work just disappeared. So did my parents." 

“That’s why you don’t trust anyone.”

"Not just anyone. A person that has too many secrets." I said softly and watched as he stood up and walked closer to me and then he knelt in front of me. 

His gaze had locked mine and he asked, 'when you look at me, what do you see?' 

“A walking secret with a concussion and good cheekbones.”

He laughed — soft, real. I did not expect the laughter to make me smile, but its warmth made me do. 

He went silent for a while before finally asked the question I knew he was scared to. "But what if I am not someone worth saving?"

I paused. “Then be someone new.” At that moment, something shifted in us. It was not quite a romance but something moved and it was beautiful. 

KuraTech — Ava’s Private Office

AVA

"Fuck," I muttered under my breath as I looked at the surveillance footage that Cassian dropped on my desk. It was a bit blurry but it was all out there for everyone to see. "He's alive." 

The words fell out of my mouth and I shivered. Cassian just leaned against the door and crossed his arms. "I told you didnt I? That girl, whoever she is, dragged him out but I am very sure that she does not know who he is." 

Of course she didn't but even if she was an idiot, it would not take long before she figured out that she had just saved Liam Steele. 

"You told me that the car exploded. He was supposed to burn." 

"Well, he didn't. Now what?" Cassian shrugged like this was not going to be the end of us both if it ever came out. 

"You were supposed to  make this look like an accident," I insisted while curling my hands into a fist. 

"Listen, this isn't my fault, okay. It was an accident, it just wasn't a complete one." 

I had gotten sick and tired of his lukewarm responses. He needed to know the gravity of his mistake. "Do you have any idea what will happen to us if the board finds out that we tried to kill Liam?" 

His smirk faltered and he sighed. "I know, that's why it's important that we finish what we started." 

"This time, do not make a single mistake." I added.

"Hold on, what if we don't actually kill him yet. What if we just watch and see exactly what he will remember and the people he will trust. Cause we both know that the only reason he isn't back is probably because he had forgotten who he is, so why don't we just wait and when he does come back..."

"We can bury him properly,' I completed and smiled at what he said. 

---

Amara

Finally, I had summoned up enough courage to pull the flash drive inside. It was encrypted, like I expected it to be but I also knew that it would not be beyond me. 

I tried my best to be silent while Jace slept in the other room. After one hour, I decrypted one layer and then, I moved on to the next layer and then another till finally, I opened a folder: Project Helix. 

I skimmed through lines of codes and each was a fragment of tech specs, none of them caught my attention and I didnt even know what I was looking for but I knew I would know once I saw it and then I saw a name that made my stomach turn. 

KuraTech. 

One of the things that struck me about this was not it wasn't a SteeleTech initiative, it was a shared patent between two rival firms and a third person who had tried to erase the trail. 

And then I saw another file. 

"Test Subject Protocol: L. Steele." 

Immediately, my breath caught. These people were experimenting on him? Why? 

My question could not be answered because I saw a shadow fall across the screen and when I looked up, Jace was standing there, barefoot and watching me. 

"Did you sneak up on me?" I asked, trying to sound angry

"What are you doing?" He asked and before I could come up with a counter attack, his eyes fell on the flash drive and he said, "you opened it?" 

“Should I not have?” I answered, finally caving in. 

He stepped forward, voice low. “What did you see?”

“Your name. A project called Helix. And KuraTech.”

When I finished talking, I watched as his entire body tensed up. "My God, so I was actually right." 

"Right about what?" I asked, eager to know.

"I was actually a target in that car and it looks like whoever tried to set me up works with KuraTech." 

I didn't know what to do but we had to address the elephant in the room and so I asked, "do you think they are still looking for you?" 

"I don't just think, I know." 

His words were being backed by the crippling sounds of the door being knocked. Three times and then it went silent. Immediately, Jace grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the bathroom. "Be quiet," 

Even in the midst of trouble, his hand still made me feel warm. I could not settle with that emotion and so I yanked myself free and asked, "what if it's just a neighbor? Don't you think you are being paranoid?" 

He looked at me, eyes blazing. “It’s not.”

We waited for a while, holding our breath and then we saw a single envelope being slid under the door. Jace tiptoed to carry it and open it up. 

Inside was a picture of me dragging him out of the car and written in blood red ink across the photo was the words: she dies next.