The next morning dawned crisp and silent, sunlight spilling across Lena's small apartment. For the first time in weeks, the city felt calm — or maybe it was just her heart that refused to settle.
She'd spent half the night replaying Adrian's words. Trust is a luxury I can't afford.
But the way he'd looked at her before saying it — raw, unguarded — had left something inside her trembling. She had seen through the mask for one fleeting second, and now she couldn't unsee it.
Still, she told herself it was just work. Just survival. Just another day.
Until the knock on her door shattered the quiet.
---
She froze mid-step. No one visited her this early. She peeked through the peephole — and her stomach dropped.
"Ethan?"
When she opened the door, he stood there in a leather jacket and the same sharp suit from that night, a smirk ghosting his lips.
"You look surprised."
"I told you not to come here."
"I know," he said easily, brushing past her into the apartment. "But you didn't tell me why you're working for him."
She slammed the door. "Because it's my job."
"Your job?" he repeated, turning to face her. "You think I don't know what Blackwood does to people who get too close? I've seen it, Lena. He doesn't just ruin competitors. He buries them."
She folded her arms. "You don't know him."
"I know men like him. Men who smile with their mouths and lie with their eyes."
She looked at him, trying to find the boy she once loved in the man standing before her. But the softness was gone, replaced by bitterness and something like fear.
"Why are you really here?" she asked.
He hesitated — a split second too long. "To protect you."
"From what?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small envelope. "When I say you're in danger, I mean it. Look at this."
Inside were photographs — blurry, grainy, taken from a distance.
Her. At the office. Entering Adrian's car. Walking beside him downtown.
"Someone's following you," Ethan said. "He's got enemies you don't even know exist."
Her pulse raced. "How did you get these?"
"Let's just say I have friends who like digging into secrets."
"Or enemies who pay you to find them," she snapped.
He flinched, but didn't deny it. "You think I'm lying?"
"I think you're desperate."
He stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. "You always did think the best of people. Just don't let it kill you this time."
Before she could respond, he was gone — leaving the photos scattered on her table like pieces of a puzzle she didn't want to solve.
---
Later that day, at the office, Adrian was colder than usual. Focused. Distant. The only sign of emotion was the faint crease in his brow as he scrolled through his phone.
"Everything all right?" she asked quietly.
He looked up. "Do I seem otherwise?"
"You seem… distracted."
He set the phone down. "Ethan Cruz came to see you this morning."
Her heart stopped. "How do you—"
"I told you, Lena. Nothing happens around you without me knowing."
She swallowed hard. "Then you already know he was just warning me."
"About what?"
"You," she said softly.
A muscle in his jaw tightened. "And did you believe him?"
"I don't know what to believe."
He stood then, moving closer until the air between them thinned. "Believe what you see. Not what others tell you."
"And what am I supposed to see?"
He leaned in slightly, his voice a low whisper. "That I'm the only one trying to keep you safe."
Her pulse fluttered. "From who?"
His eyes darkened. "From everyone — including him."
---
That night, she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw both men — one a ghost from her past, the other a mystery she couldn't stop reaching for.
At midnight, she finally gave in and opened her laptop, searching Ethan's name. But before the search finished loading, a message popped up on her screen:
> Adrian Blackwood: Stop digging. Go to bed.
Her heart pounded. He had access to her computer?
She slammed it shut, trembling.
And across town, in his penthouse, Adrian stared at his own monitor — watching her reaction through the live feed of a security breach she didn't know existed.
"Don't make me choose between protecting you and keeping you," he whispered to the screen.
Then, without looking away, he deleted her search history and shut down the system.
---
The next morning, Lena arrived at work determined to confront him. But as she stepped into the lobby, something in the air felt wrong.
Whispers. Stares.
When she reached her desk, an envelope sat waiting. No name. No markings. Just one photograph inside — her, standing beside Adrian at the dinner.
And scrawled across the bottom in red ink:
> He's not who you think he is.
Her breath caught. She looked up — and through the glass wall of his office, Adrian was already watching her.
Their eyes met. His expression unreadable.
But for the first time, she wondered if maybe Ethan was right.