“What about your wife?” Evan asked suddenly.
Ice flooded my limbs. “She is irrelevant,” Adrian replied quickly. “No one knows she is here.”
Evan laughed softly. “Still orbiting your world after all this time.”
Adrian remained silent. “If she becomes a problem,” Evan continued casually, “resolve it properly.”
“I will not harm her,” Adrian snapped.
“Then pray she remains silent.”
My shoe scraped against metal. Both men turned sharply. “Did you hear that?” Adrian whispered.
“Someone is there,” Evan said.
I ran. Footsteps thundered behind me. My lungs burned violently. I darted between crates, diving behind fishing nets. The footsteps halted.
Then Adrian’s voice pierced the darkness. “Madison?”
Hearing my name shattered the fragile barrier holding my composure intact. Years of grief ignited into something raw and jagged. I remained silent.
“If she heard us, we move now,” Evan said coldly.
Adrian hesitated. “I will handle it.”
They disappeared into the night, one reluctant, one resolute. I remained hidden until the harbor emptied, my body trembling uncontrollably. By the time I returned to my hotel, a single truth pulsed with terrifying clarity.
Adrian Smith had not merely abandoned his former life. He was prepared to destroy anything that threatened his new one. And he now knew I existed within that threat.