Semua Bab IN LOVE WITH HIS ENEMY: Bab 61 - Bab 70

Eliza's POVThree days passed in silence.No messages. No threats. No shadows at the edge of the garden. Diana Webb was in federal custody, her assets frozen, her web of conspirators scattering like roaches in light. Reyes called twice a day with updates that weren't updates. The others—the ones Diana had warned about—had gone underground. Waiting. Watching.The silence was worse than the threats.Adam took Clara to school every morning. I watched from the window, my hand pressed against the glass, tracking the car until it disappeared. At night, I lay awake, listening to the house settle, waiting for a sound that wasn't there."You're wearing yourself out," Adam said on the third night. His voice was soft in the darkness."I can't stop.""I know." He pulled me closer. "But you need to rest. For Clara. For yourself.""I'll rest when this is over.""When will that be?"I didn't have an answ

Eliza's POVZurich was cold.The kind of cold that seeped through wool coats and settled in bones. I stood at the window of the hotel room, watching the city wake beneath a gray sky, and tried to remember the last time I'd felt warm.Adam came up behind me. His arms wrapped around my waist."You've been standing there for an hour.""I've been thinking.""About?""About my mother. About what she would have done. If she'd lived long enough to see this moment."He rested his chin on my shoulder. "She would have told you not to be afraid.""She would have told me to be smart. That fear is useful if you know how to use it.""And do you?"I turned to face him. "I'm terrified. But I know why they want me to come alone. I know what they think they're going to get. And I know—" I touched his face. "I know they don't know you're here. That's the advantage."Reyes appeared in the do

Eliza's POVThe bookstore smelled like paper and dust and something else. Something I recognized but couldn't name.Eleanor stood behind the counter, her hands folded, her eyes on my face. She was smaller than I'd imagined. Older. The photograph in my mother's box had shown a young woman with dark hair and fierce eyes. This woman was gray and soft and looked like she hadn't slept in years."You look like her," Eleanor said. "Your mother. She had the same eyes. The same way of standing. Like she was ready for anything.""I'm not ready for anything.""Neither was she." Eleanor smiled. It was sad. "But she pretended. Every day. Right up until the end."I wanted to be angry. I'd come here to be angry. But standing in this quiet bookstore, watching this old woman fold her hands and wait, the anger felt far away."Why did you do it?"Eleanor looked at the window. At the street outside, dark now, the town settling into

Eliza's POVPeace was strange at first.After years of waiting for the next blow, the silence felt like a held breath that wouldn't release. I woke each morning expecting the phone to buzz, the door to crash open, the shadows to move. But nothing came. The days stretched into weeks. The weeks into months. Clara learned to read. Eleanor planted a garden in our backyard. Adam stopped checking the security feeds every hour.Life became ordinary. I'd forgotten what ordinary felt like.The AnniversaryClara's House turned one year old in the spring.We held a celebration in the garden. The women who'd walked through our doors came back with flowers, with stories, with children who ran across the grass like they'd never known fear. Eleanor stood at the gate, greeting everyone, folding cranes for the children. My aunt was there, laughing, lighter than I'd ever seen her. Adam kept Clara on his shoulders, letting her see everything.

Eliza's POVThe headlights filled my rearview mirror.Bright. Closing fast. The voice on the phone had gone dead, but its words echoed in my skull: Pull over and hand it over. Or don't.I pressed the accelerator. The engine roared. The dark road stretched ahead, empty and endless.Behind me, the car sped up.The RoadI knew these roads. I'd driven them hours ago, in daylight, when the world had felt almost safe. Now the darkness swallowed everything. The mountains rose on either side. The curves came fast and blind.The folder sat on the passenger seat. The key was in my pocket. Forty years of truth, and someone wanted it back.They're not going to let you leave with it.I took a curve too fast. The tires skidded. I fought the wheel, straightened out, pressed harder on the gas.Behind me, the headlights stayed with me.The CallMy phone buzzed on the s