The message

Annatasia POV

“Who sent it?” My voice came out sharper than I intended and Jaxon stopped in the middle of the hallway. His phone was still pressed against his ear, his back to me. For a second, he said nothing.Then he ended the call.

I stared at him.

“What message?”

He turned slowly and something in his face made my stomach tighten. It wasn’t the cold expression I’d seen when he gave orders to his men. This was different. He looked like a man who had just heard something he desperately wished he hadn’t.

“Go back to your room, Anastasia.”

I almost laughed. “Seriously?”

His jaw tightened. “I’m not in the mood for an argument.”

“Neither am I.”

I stepped closer.

“You just told someone on the phone to read a message. Then you looked at me like someone had died. So tell me what it said.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” 

“That’s a lie.”  His eyes narrowed.

“Anastasia…”

“No. Stop doing that” I said as I shook my head.

“Doing what?”

“Talking to me like I’m a child who needs to be sent away whenever something dangerous happens.” His expression hardened.

“You have no idea how dangerous this is.” He replied.

“Then explain it to me.” I said then everywhere went silent for a second. I could hear voices downstairs and the distant sound of footsteps moving across the compound. Everything felt strangely tense. I folded my arms and continued. 

“Whatever that message said, it was about me.” Jaxon looked away and that was all the answer I needed.

He didn’t respond but I stepped closer.

“Jaxon.”

His eyes came back to mine.

“You may not like the answer Anastasia.” He said coldly looking away.

“I haven’t liked anything about the last twenty-four hours.” Something flickered across his face. Pain, maybe guilt. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.For a moment, he simply stared at the screen, then he held it out to me. I took it and read the message. 

“You promised to protect her. Now let’s see how far you’re willing to go.”

I read it again and again. The hallway suddenly felt colder. My breath start to shake

“H..how did they know about your promise to my mother?” I asked him as my eyes lifted to his. “Am I still safe here, did you tell someone?” I continued with my cracked voice. 

“Calm down Anastasia, I don’t make promises like that in front of people.” He replied but I wasn’t satisfied with his response. I swallowed. 

The message wasn’t just a threat against me. It was personal. Whoever had written it knew about Clara. They knew about Jaxon and the promise he had made before I had even known his name.

“How long have they known about me?” I asked but Jaxon didn’t answer. My chest tightened.

“How long?”

“I don’t know.” He said

“But they were watching me before you came.”

His silence confirmed it. I looked down at the phone again. A horrible thought entered my mind.

“Were they watching me because of my mother?” Jaxon took the phone from my hand.

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

His eyes met mine.

“Your mother spent twenty-seven years keeping you hidden. Someone spent those same twenty-seven years trying to find out where you were.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. My entire life. I had spent those years believing my mother was simply private. Maybe afraid of my father or ashamed of something that happened before I was born. But this was different. She had been hiding me and someone had been looking for me. I pressed my fingers against my temples.

“I don’t understand.”

My voice cracked.

“You know pieces of my mother’s life. You know people I have never met. You know why men are trying to kill me. You know why my mother trusted you.” I looked directly at him but at this moment trying to be strong and hold my tears.

“And I know nothing. Jaxon can you please can you please tell me what we’re dealing with, I need to know why I’m being hunted!” My voice echoed down the hallway.

Jaxon stepped closer.

“I understand Anastasia but I just have to do my part by keeping you alive.” Jaxon responded with a very calm voice looking straight to my eyes. 

“You don’t get to understand. You aren’t the one who woke up yesterday thinking your biggest problem was getting to work on time, and now you’re being told your mother spent your entire life hiding you from people who want you dead.”

He didn’t respond.My eyes burned.

“I don’t even know who I am anymore.” The words escaped before I could stop them.

Jaxon stared at me. Something changed in his expression and he  reached toward me, then stopped himself. His hand fell back to his side.

“You’re still Anastasia.”

I looked at him.

“You’re still the woman who spent yesterday worrying about children fighting over crayons.” He continued.

Despite everything, a small, broken laugh escaped me.

“And you’re still the man who thinks ordering people around solves everything.” His mouth almost curved.

“Usually does.”

“Not with me.”

“No, not with you.” His voice was quieter.

For one second, the fear between us eased. Then his phone rang again. Jaxon answered immediately.

“What?” His face changed as he listened.

“Lock down the east entrance and double the guards.”Another pause before he continued, “No one leaves the compound without my permission.”

He ended the call. I stared at him.

“What happened?”my curiosity wouldn’t let me ignore the instructions he gave. 

“Someone was seen near the outer fence.”

My stomach dropped.

“Was it them?”

“We don’t know.” His words were calm, but something underneath them wasn’t. Fear. For the first time, I wondered if Jaxon was actually afraid. Maybe not for himself, for me. 

He walked past me toward the stairs. “Where are you going?” 

“To make sure my men understand what happens if anyone gets near this compound.”

“You’re increasing security because of the message?” I asked as I followed him.

“Because of everything.” He said as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at me.

“From now on, you don’t go anywhere alone.” I opened my mouth and he raised a hand. “I’m not asking.”

I frowned.

“You just told me protecting me doesn’t mean controlling me.”

His eyes held mine.

“I said I was learning.”

I stared at him. There was something strangely vulnerable about the admission. Jaxon Cross didn’t look like a man who admitted he was still learning anything. He looked like a man who believed he already knew how the world worked. But with me, he didn’t and somehow, that scared me almost as much as the message.

By nightfall, the compound had changed. Men stood near every entrance.The gates remained closed. Motorcycles that usually came and went freely stayed parked. Even the casual laughter I’d heard earlier had disappeared. Everyone was watching and waiting. For what, I didn’t know.

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the dark window. I couldn’t stop thinking about the message. “You promised to protect her.” Who were they? How did they know Jaxon? How did they know Clara? And what exactly had my mother been running from?

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. I looked toward the door.

“Come in.” I said and the door opened. Jaxon stood there. He had changed into a black T-shirt, his tattoos disappearing beneath the fabric around his shoulders. His hair was slightly messy, and there was a tiredness around his eyes that hadn’t been there when I first met him.

“Are you okay?” I almost smiled.

“You’re asking me that?” He nodded. I looked down at my hands.

“Well Uhmm, I keep thinking about my mother.” He leaned against the doorframe.

“What about her?”

“She knew someone might come for me and she never told me.” I looked up at him. “Why?”

Jaxon held my gaze. “Because she believed keeping you ignorant was safer than letting you know the truth.”

“That doesn’t make it easier.”

“I know.”

My eyes filled with tears. “I wish she had trusted me.”

Jaxon looked at me for a long moment.

“She trusted you enough to sacrifice everything for you.”

I swallowed hard.

“You really knew her.”

“Yes.” He pushed away from the doorframe.

“You should sleep.”

I nodded.He turned to leave.

“Jaxon.”

He stopped.

“Thank you.” He looked back.

“For what?”

“For staying.” His eyes held mine.

“I promised your mother.” He replied. Something in my chest tightened. “That isn’t the only reason anymore, is it?” He went completely still. Neither of us spoke. His eyes moved over my face, and I knew immediately that It had nothing to do with Clara’s promise. Something warmer, something dangerous. He looked away first.

“Goodnight, Anastasia.” Then he walked out. The door didn’t close completely.I could see his shadow beneath it.He stayed there for almost a minute.Some minutes later he was standing outside my room guarding me,  maybe making sure I was still there. I didn’t know which possibility unsettled me more.

I finally lay down, but sleep refused to come. Then

Buzz. My phone vibrated on the bedside table. I froze. I hadn’t given my number to anyone in the compound. Slowly, I reached for it. Unknown number message. I opened it. My heart stopped.I stared at the message 

“She never told you everything, Anastasia.”

My hands began to shake because whoever was texting me wasn’t asking about Jaxon. They weren’t asking about the Black Vipers. They weren’t even asking about my father. They were asking about my mother. And suddenly, I remembered the old wooden box, the one my mother had hidden beneath her bed.The one someone had stolen. My breath caught.

What had Clara left behind?