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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Adrian’s hand closed over Elena’s wrist as he led her down the marble corridor. His grip wasn’t harsh, but unyielding a man used to command, not request.“Where are we going?” she asked, voice clipped with nerves.His smile was faint, dry. “A meeting. You’ll sit beside me.”Her steps faltered. “Why?”“Because they need to see you,” he said simply. “They need to see that you’re mine.”The words curled around her like a chain. She swallowed hard but didn’t fight. She couldn’t not now, not when she was still weaving her web of manipulation. Still, dread coiled in her chest as they entered the grand dining hall.Men waited at the long table, their eyes sharp, calculating. The air smelled of cigar smoke and fear. Adrian guided her to the seat at his right, laying a hand briefly at her back a gesture of ownership, of dominance.The meeting began, business spoken in clipped tones about shipments, territories, betrayals. Elena sat silently, hands clenched in her lap. She told herself to sta

CHAPTER TWELVE

It happened on a night when the weight of silence grew too heavy.Adrian had come from a meeting, his shirt still smelling faintly of smoke and whiskey. He found Elena in the greenhouse, her hands buried in soil, moonlight catching the curve of her face.“You should be asleep,” he murmured, stepping into the room.“I couldn’t.” Her voice was quiet, steady, but her heart was a storm.For a long moment, they simply looked at one another. The distance between them burned hotter than any touch.When he reached for her, she didn’t move away. Not this time.His hand slid into her hair, his mouth claiming hers with a hunger that stole her breath. She should have pushed him back. She should have remembered her plan. Instead, her body betrayed her, pressing closer, craving him with the same desperation she feared.Clothes fell, whispered gasps filling the air. His dominance was unrelenting pinning her against the glass, forcing her to feel every inch of his possession. But woven into the dange

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Elena left in the hour before dawn, when even monsters slept.The mansion was quiet in a way that felt unnatural, as though the walls themselves were holding their breath. She stood barefoot on the cold marble floor, her small bag resting at her feet, her heart pounding so loudly she was certain it would wake him.Adrian.She turned slowly, her eyes drifting to the bedroom doorway.He lay sprawled across the bed, dark hair falling into his eyes, one arm flung over the empty side where she had slept only hours before. Even in sleep, he looked dangerous—too still, too controlled, like a weapon set down but never disarmed.Elena swallowed.“If I stay,” she whispered to herself, “I will disappear.”Her fingers trembled as she reached for the door handle. Memories assaulted her—his voice murmuring her name in the dark, the way his gaze stripped her bare, the way protection felt indistinguishable from possession.She loved him.That was the cruelest truth of all.But love should not feel li

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Medellín smelled nothing like home.It smelled of rain-soaked concrete, ripe fruit, gasoline, and heat thick, clinging, relentless. Elena learned that scent in her bones the same way she learned fear: slowly, painfully, and without choice.She adjusted the umbrella above her flower stall as rain drummed against the plastic canopy.“Mamá,” Mateo said, tugging at her skirt. “You said yellow ones sell better when it rains.”Elena looked down at her son and smiled, soft but tired. “You’re right. Help me move them to the front.”Mateo crouched, his small hands careful as he rearranged the bouquets. He was six now—too observant, too serious, with eyes far older than his years.Eyes that mirrored Adrian’s.She swallowed the thought before it could cut deeper.A woman stopped at the stall, studying the flowers. “How much for the orchids?”“Ten thousand pesos,” Elena replied in Spanish, her accent still faint but pa

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ADRIAN'S POVAdrian had learned many things in the years Elena was gone.He had learned how silence could rot a man from the inside.How power meant nothing when there was no one left to witness it.How obsession, when starved, sharpened into something almost holy.The photograph lay on his desk, its edges already worn from how often he had touched it.Elena stood behind a stall overflowing with flowers, her hair tied back loosely, her face thinner but unmistakable. Beside her stood a boy serious-eyed, dark-haired, his posture alert in a way no child’s should be.Adrian stared at the child the longest.“That’s my son,” he said quietly.No one contradicted him.“You’re certain?” Luca asked, cautious. “We’ve been wrong before.”Adrian’s mouth curved faintly. “I’ve never been wrong about blood.”He stood, shrugging into his coat. “How exposed is she?”“Not very,” Luca replied. “No ties to local crime. Cash transactions. A quiet life.”Adrian paused. That, more than anything, confirmed it

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Elena pov“You’re late,” Rosa said, folding her arms as Elena locked up the flower stall.“I know. I’m sorry.”“You say that every Thursday.”Elena smiled faintly. “One day it’ll stop being true.”Rosa snorted. “You always say that too.”Mateo hovered near the counter, pretending not to listen. Elena noticed anyway.“Mamá,” he said, too casually, “can I walk ahead?”“No.”“I’m not a baby.”“You’re two.”He sighed dramatically. “Almost three.”Rosa chuckled. “He gets that seriousness from you.”Elena’s fingers tightened around the keys. No, she thought. He gets it from his father.They stepped out into the street together. Traffic hummed. Music spilled from an open window somewhere above them.Rosa leaned closer. “You’ve been distracted lately.”“I’m always distracted.”“This is different,” Rosa said quietly. “You look like you’re listening for footsteps that aren’t there.”Elena stopped walking.“Has someone been bothering you?” Rosa asked.“No,” Elena said too fast. “No one.”Mateo l

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Elena“Don’t look,” Elena whispered, her fingers tightening around Mateo’s wrist.Mateo looked anyway.“Who is that mama?"Elena swallowed. Her heart felt like it was clawing its way out of her chest.“Stay behind me,” she said.She stepped forward, placing herself between her son and the street. The man hadn’t moved. He stood across the road as if he belonged there, dressed simply, nothing flashy yet everything about him screamed danger.She hadn’t seen him in two years.She hadn’t stopped seeing him for a single day in her mind.“Adrian,” she breathed.His head tilted slightly, as if he’d heard her say his name across the noise of traffic and voices.He crossed the street slowly.Every step felt deliberate. Controlled.Elena’s hands shook. “Don’t come any closer.”He stopped exactly one step too near.“You’re still telling me what to do,” Adrian said quietly.Mateo looked up at her. “mama who is this man”“nobody” Elena said, her voice unsteady. That sentence broke Adrian's heartinto

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ElenaThe first bouquet arrived with no name.Just flowers.Soft pink roses. Baby’s breath. Simple. Thoughtful. Not excessive.Rosa lifted the card and squinted. “awwwwnnnn so cute, no signature?”Elena shook her head. “None.”“That’s… actually kind of romantic,” Rosa said. “Who sends flowers without wanting credit?”Elena didn’t answer. She already knew.The second bouquet arrived an hour later.White tulips this time. Clean. Elegant.This one had a note.I’m trying. I know I don’t know how.—AElena closed her eyes.“He’s not stopping, is he?” Rosa asked gently.“No,” Elena murmured. “He never does.”Adrian didn’t come to the stall that day.That worried her more than if he had.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Alec showed up just before noon.He looked lost in the way people do when they’re pretending not to be.He stood in front of the stall for a moment, scanning the flowers like they might bite him.“H

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ElenaCoffee with Alec turned into coffee again.Not dates, nothing labeled, nothing heavy. Just mornings where the air didn’t feel like it was closing in on her.“ I know I've said this before, but you always sit like you’re guarding something,” Alec said, nudging his cup aside. “What is it today?”Elena glanced toward the window. “My peace.”He smiled. “Fair.”Mateo swung his legs under the table. “He means my mamá worries too much.”“I do not and if you are not carful i'll stop bring youwith me everywhere,” Elena said.Alec raised his hands. “I’m not getting involved.”Mateo leaned closer to him. “She won't, she loves me too much.”Alec laughed. “I can see that.”Elena watched them, something warm and uncomfortable settling in her chest. It wasn’t desire. It was ease.And ease scared her.“You don’t have to come every day,” she said, more sharply than she meant.Alec blinked. “I know.”Silence stretched.“I like it,” he added gently. “Being here. Talking. That’s all. I'll be in cha

CHAPTER TWENTY

ElenaShe didn’t expect him to actually leave.That was the strange part.When Adrian said, I’ll give you space, Elena assumed it meant distance measured in streets. Maybe days. Not oceans.“I’ll be gone a while,” he’d said, standing at the edge of her stall. “There’s something I need to handle.”“How long is a while?” she asked.He’d paused. “Long enough to miss you.”She’d folded her arms, steady. “Go, then.”He studied her face, searching for something permission, maybe. Or regret.She gave him neither.Now the stall felt quieter without him hovering across the street, without that familiar weight pressing into her day.Alec noticed first.“You’re checking the street again,” he said gently, handing her a coffee.“I’m not.”He smiled. “You are.”She sighed. “Old habits.”Mateo tugged her sleeve. “Is the tall man gone?”“Yes,” she said. “He went far away.”Mateo pouted”He said he was going to buy me nicer things than Uncle Alec"The word stung more than she expected.________________

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