LOGINShare
Chapter 5: The First Line
Last Updated:
2025-12-15 06:24:39Milena Dragovic
My heart climbed into my throat. I was always the kind of girl who stood her ground. Not many things shook me, but ever since the incident, confrontation scraped against a raw place inside me in ways it never used to. I’d avoided gyms for a long time. Avoided fighters. Avoided anything that smelled like sweat, adrenaline, or violence. I built an entire life on staying far, far away from the world that had taken so much from me. And now here I was. Drawn. No, pulled right back into everything I fought so hard to avoid. The hallway felt narrower than before, the dim overhead lights buzzing faintly as Alexander uncrossed his arms, rolled his shoulders back, and pushed off the wall with slow, casual ease. The faintest sheen of sweat still clung to his jawline, catching the dim hallway light. He didn’t look surprised to see me. He didn’t look curious either. He looked like a man who had already decided something. About me. About this moment. My pulse still thumped hard in my ears. The air between us felt charged. His gaze tracked me with that unsettling precision he carried even in the ring. Eyes steady. Unblinking. Like he was reading the things I hadn’t said aloud. A few feet separated us, but it felt like inches. And then he moved. Not fast. Slow. Just controlled, like every step was deliberately chosen. Somewhere behind us, the thud of gloves hitting pads echoed in bursts, distant but recognizable. He took a few steps toward me. Unhurried, deliberate, until there were only a few feet left between us. I swallowed hard, forcing my voice steady. “I was just taking a break.” I comment as he looks at me with a questionable look. He tilted his head slightly, dark hair falling into place in a careless sweep. His attention dragged down my face and back up again, slow enough to make heat crawl across my cheeks. “From what? Watching me?” My breath caught. His tone held no arrogance, just quiet certainty, the kind that made denying it feel pointless. “From the atmosphere,” I said, my words tighter than intended. “The noise.” “Mmh.” A soft, almost amused sound. He stepped even closer, and the hallway seemed to shrink further. I could smell the faint trace of soap beneath sweat, clean and warm and distracting in a way that made it hard to think straight. “I thought I heard Coach say the gym used to be like your second home,” he murmured. The breath I took afterward wasn’t steady. Because it had been my second home. Once. Before everything. “Like I said,” I managed, “I just needed a minute to take a break and freshen up.” Something flickered in his eyes. Something softer than the cold calm he carried in the ring. Almost like he noticed the way my voice dipped at the end. Almost like he understood too much without knowing anything at all. Then he leaned in. He lowered his head toward me, his mouth now almost brushing my ear. His arm came up, hand bracing against the wall just above my head, his forearm a barrier trapping me in a cage that somehow didn’t feel physical. It felt psychological. His breath brushed over my neck, warm and steady. Goosebumps raced down my spine. I tried to step back, but my shoulder hit the cold wall behind me. I glanced to the side, but the hallway was empty. Just the low buzzing lights and the distant thuds from the gym, muffled now, like they were miles away. “Looked more like running,” Alexander whispered, his voice so low it sank straight into me. I stiffened. His gaze sharpened as he stepped back, like he’d caught the exact second I tensed. Of course he noticed. He pulled back a fraction, his expression sharpening. “Let me guess,” he said softly. “Coach sent you to fix me.” “I’m not here to fix anyone,” I replied, lifting my chin. “I’m here to observe.” He smiled then. Slow. Dangerous. The kind of smile that curled at the edges like it knew too much. “Have you observed enough?” The air shifted when he stepped closer again. The warmth radiating from him made my exhale falter. I hated that he noticed it. I hated even more that a part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to step away. He lowered his voice until it settled like velvet against my skin. “Then let me make something clear…” My pulse hammered so loudly I was sure he could hear it. “You can’t help me. Not you. Not anyone.” His eyes flicked to my lips. Just for a heartbeat, but enough to steal the air from my lungs. “Don’t waste your time.” He continues. Before I could respond, before I could even scrape together a thought, he leaned past me. Close enough for the heat of him to skim across my shoulder. He reached for the bathroom door behind me. I had to step aside, breath shaky, my body moving without permission. He paused long enough to glance back at me. A smirk tugged at his mouth. Knowing. Unapologetic. “Be careful, princess.” Then he walked away. His steps silent. Shoulders relaxed. Mask firmly back in place. And I stood there, spine locked, breath trapped somewhere between outrage, fear, and something far more dangerous. Something I wasn’t ready to name.
Latest chapter
The War Between Us Chapter 67: The Line Between Courtesy and Possession
Milena DragovicThe first thing I noticed when I entered the dining room was the way my father had the chairs arranged and the way the warm light fell and lit up the place.In this dining room, no one was allowed to slouch, and no one dared to look away from the host until the proper courtesies had been performed. That was how things had always been in this house.My father was at the head of the table, my brother Nikolai at his right hand, and the guest seated on the left. A place that implied both trust and the expectation of tribute.Tonight, the guest was Marko.He wasn't a friend, but he wasn't just business either. My father only brought men like him home to show strength or play at civility.Marko had the kind of power my father admired most: quiet, calculated, and dangerous. His black suit seemed to swallow light. When he stood, his back straight as a knife, shoulders perfectly level, you could tell he knew exactly where he belonged in any room.Though I’d known Marko a decade
The War Between Us Chapter 66: The Line Drawn For Me
Milena DragovicI fled the gym like it was on fire.I showered fast, water scalding, then lukewarm, then cold as if my body couldn't decide what it needed to survive. I dressed without thought, hands moving on muscle memory. Dark clothes, clean lines, nothing that invited comment. When I caught my reflection in the locker-room mirror, I paused.My mouth still felt different.Like it remembered something my mind was trying very hard not to replay.His thumb, brushing across my lower lip. The heat of his breath. The way my body had betrayed me, leaning in when I should have pulled away.I refused to linger on it. Lingering gave dangerous things room to grow.By the time I stepped outside, night had settled into the city like a held breath. The streetlights hummed. Traffic moved with purpose. Everything looked normal in the way it always did right before it wasn’t.My phone buzzed once in my pocket.I didn’t check it.I already knew what it would say. Or what it wouldn't say. What part o
The War Between Us Chapter 65: The Line of Sight
Alexander Li ChenI didn’t leave because I wanted to.I left because the line I’d sworn never to cross was behind me now, and I couldn’t let myself linger on the wrong side of it. The air outside the gym felt colder, harsher, like the city itself had been waiting for me to slip. Everything I thought I had under control… a careful plan, a rigid code, even my goddamn pulse, was suddenly up for grabs.I wasn’t stupid. There were more people keeping an eye on Milena than she’d ever imagine, and none of them looked like the kind who’d be satisfied snapping a few photos and moving on. The numbers crept higher every afternoon I kept watch. What was worse, she didn’t even seem to notice. Milena’s defenses were all pointed inward, against her own ghosts. Out here, among people like me, that kind of blindness wasn’t innocence. It was a countdown.So I did what I always did: I built a file. Rayven and I spent nights tracing back the unfamiliar faces, the strange cars, the out-of-town plates. The
The War Between Us Chapter 64: No Safe Distance
Milena DragovicAlexander didn’t let go of my wrist right away.I registered the tremor beneath his skin, the same barely-restrained violence that made him so dangerous, but now it seemed forcibly redirected, spent not on intimidation or force but on keeping himself from flying apart. He stood directly in front of me,. Towering over me. His gaze locked to mine, and I felt, before he said a word, that whatever came next would change everything.He raised his free hand, not touching, just hovering an inch from my cheek. The gesture was careful. He wanted to say something; he was holding back a thousand things.His breathing was so controlled it was almost silent, but I could see the effort it cost him.Shoulders set, jaw flexed, the pulse at his temple.When he finally spoke, it was so quiet I had to strain to hear.“I’m not good at this.”The words landed wrong at first. Too simple. Too human.Now he stood in front of me, hands shaking, admitting the one thing I’d never thought possibl
The War Between Us Chapter 63: The Distance Between Control
Milena Dragovic“That all you’ve got?”I froze. The voice came from behind me. The rest of the gym was empty, but I didn’t need to look behind me to know who it was.“I thought you weren’t training today,” I said, the words coming out with a bite I hadn’t intended. He moved closer, footsteps slow, deliberate. I could hear the faint drag of his shoes on the mat.I’d once seen him break a man’s nose in less than a second.I’d also seen him spend thirty minutes coaxing a trembling rookie back onto the ring apron after a panic attack.He was a study in contradictions, and I hated that he was the only person who’d ever really noticed the contradictions in me, too.“I finished early,” he said. “Coach told me I could use the weights, but you’ve got the floor. Didn’t want to interrupt.” The words were perfectly neutral, but I knew better. I finally turned. He was standing by the edge of the mat, arms folded loosely across that ridiculous chest, face unreadable.He was dressed in black. The ki
The War Between Us Chapter 62: The Distance That Waited
Milena DragovicMy father didn’t call.That would’ve been too honest.Instead, Nikolai texted me a single line in the middle of my lunch break, as if it had been scheduled for maximum disruption.NIKOLAI: Dad wants dinner. Tonight. Don’t be late.No greeting. No how are you. No cushion. No you good, sis?Just the expectation.It didn’t matter that I was an adult with a career. When it came to my family, I was still a subordinate, and the chain of command was unbreakable.I’d been out of my father’s house for almost a decade, technically a full adult for several years before that, and I still flinched every time his name appeared on my screen. And it always appeared, every few weeks or so, like a pop quiz I hadn’t studied for but was required to ace or risk…what, exactly?I didn’t know.Disapproval? Disinheritance?I could have ignored the message. I could have said I was busy, or had a late client, or that I wouldn’t be able to get there on time. But the truth was, I’d never ignored a
You may also like
The Debt Collector
Angela Lynn Carver512.2K viewsThe Mafia's Dark Obsession
Bella Cupid102.2K viewsHis Broken Angel
BlueDreams288.6K viewsHer Obsessed Stepbrother
Taevya105.2K viewsStolen by the mafia king
Safina Bello 405 viewsDon Theron's Police Wife
Angel Kaidora1.0K viewsThe Mafia King’s Obsession
Najwa Ameen277 viewsBlood Ties And Silk Chains
Phylicia Ines755 views
