ADANNA P.O.V(point of view)
I don't sleep and my eyes keep closing… but my mind refuses to rest. I keep hearing that voice in the dark.
Darian… leave now. It plays in my head over and over until it feels like the night is mocking me.
I lay on the small mattress in the corner of the room, staring at the ceiling, hugging my knees to my chest with my breath shaky and unsettled heart.
Maybe I'm dreaming...Maybe I'm breaking down.....Maybe the stress is too much, but no matter how I twist the thoughts, one thing refuses to go away....
It was him!
My Darian.... My husband....My forever is alive, bleeding, hiding and watching me but refusing to let me see him.
A tear slips down my cheek before I even feel it coming. I wipe it fast, annoyed at myself.
"Stop it," I whisper. "You're stronger than this." But my chest disagrees, it tightens, slowly, painfully and before I can fight it, my mind drifts back… back to a night I've tried so hard to forget.
The night before the wedding.... The night everything felt simple..... the night everything felt perfect..... the night love tasted real.
My heart squeezes as the memory pulls me in.
FLASHBACK (NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING)
The living room was warm with soft lights, music played quietly from the speaker....that our song he pretended not to know but always hummed to.
I remember wearing one of his shirts because he didn't want me to "stress about tomorrow." and kept teasing me that I looked better in his clothes than he did.
He stood behind me, hands on my waist, chin resting on my shoulder and his breath was warm on my neck.
"Tomorrow, you become mine," he whispered.
I laughed, soft and shy.
"Am I not already yours?"
He turned me around gently, his fingers brushing my cheek and the way he looked at me… God… like I was the only woman left on earth.
"No," he said quietly. "Tomorrow makes it official. Tomorrow, I get to call you my wife without hiding."
Without hiding…
I didn't notice the weight behind those words then. I didn't see the pain in his eyes, I didn't hear the war inside him, i only felt the love.
He pulled me closer.....to close.
Close enough to hear his heartbeat.
Slow... Deep... Controlled.....but speeding up the moment my hands touched his chest.
Then he kissed me.
Slow at first, gentle, warm, soft...like he was afraid I would break.
Then the kiss deepened, stealing my breath, my balance, my thoughts. His hands slid up my back, his fingers sinking into my hair. My knees weakened, and he smiled against my lips like he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
"Careful," he murmured. "I don't want my bride fainting before the ceremony."
I hit his chest lightly "You're the one stealing my breath."
He laughed and lifted me, pushing me gently against the wall, his forehead touching mine as if he couldn't get close enough.
His voice dropped to a whisper.... "Adanna… do you trust me?"
I remember smiling... I remember nodding.... I remember saying the words without hesitation. "With everything."
His eyes closed for a second.... that second....if I had known what I know now…
I would have opened them myself, but instead I kissed him again, slow, sweet, breathless.... completely unaware that the man holding me so tightly was planning to leave me broken before dawn.
~BACK TO PRESENT~
The memory ends, and with it, something inside me cracks open. My breath trembles out of me, hot and painful. I press both hands to my eyes.
How can someone love like that…and still still lie? Still leave me to burn?
Yet here I am… still searching for him.
Still wanting answers.....still wanting him.
My chest hurts.
I sit up sharply. The room feels too small. The walls feel too tight. I stand, pacing slowly.
"I need the truth," I whisper. "I can't keep living in this confusion."
My hands shake, but my resolve doesn't....I grab the laptop..... I grab the flash drive.
I grab the small bag with the few things I own now.
As I walk toward the window to close it, I notice something, the lock is slightly turned.
My eyes narrow " I didn't open this."
I freeze and a shiver runs through my spine.
Someone has been here,watching me.
Closer than I thought.
I swallow hard....
Darian?
Or someone hunting me?
I can't take risks anymore, not with the file I found, not with what I know now.
I take a slow breath.
Tomorrow…
I chase answers....
Tomorrow…
I stop running...
DARIAN P.O.V(point of veiw)
I made it,Barely.
The door to my hideout shuts behind me with a tired thud. My hand slides down the wood as I catch my breath.
My side burns like someone placed fire under my skin and my shirt is soaked through. My vision keeps blurring.
But I'm alive and she's alive.
I limp to the table, drop the bloody cloth, and open the metal box under it.....the first-aid kit I've built over months of hiding.
My fingers tremble as I clean the wound. Every wipe feels like punishment. I bite down hard to keep from groaning.
When the worst of the sting fades, I sit back, breathing shallow.
I should rest, but I can't, because my mind won't allow it.
Her voice keeps replaying in my head.
"Darian…?"
God.... hearing my name in her voice again… I almost stepped out of the shadows.
Almost held her....almost let her see me..... almost told her everything.
But I can't....not yet, not when the organization still wants her dead, not when my name is still on every hit list.
I rub my face with one shaky hand. This was never supposed to happen.
She was never supposed to matter,
She was a mission, Nothing more.
But from the moment I first saw her…
Everything changed.
Even now, injured, exhausted, hunted, hiding… one memory still glows in me like a stubborn flame.
The night before the wedding.
My breath catches as the flashback pulls me in.
FLASHBACK (DARIAN, NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING)
She wore my shirt and she didn't even know what that did to me.
People like me shouldn't love because, love makes you weak,love makes you reckless and love makes you betray orders.
But the moment I saw her twirling in that shirt, laughing like she had the whole world in her palm…
I knew I was already too far gone.
She ran into my arms, smiling, wrapping her hands behind my neck.
"You're staring," she teased.
I smirked. "I'm studying."
She rolled her eyes. "Studying what?"
I leaned down, brushing my nose against hers.
"How someone can be this beautiful without trying."
She blushed red, shy, perfect and I almost abandoned the entire mission right there.
I kissed her slow, then deep, then so passionate her breath broke into small gasps.
She held onto me like I was safety.....Like I was home....Like she trusted me.
And that trust…
God… it burned.
"Adanna," I whispered, holding her face gently. "Promise me something."
She nodded, smiling softly. "Anything."
"Don't ever doubt how much I love you."
Her smile grew warmer.....sweeter...brighter.
"I know," she said. "I feel it." and that was the moment I knew…
I couldn't give her up, not even if it meant betraying the very people who made me who I am,not even if it meant choosing love over duty.
Not even if it meant dying for her.
BACK TO PRESENT
I drag a hand down my face.... agents are moving again.
I saw the message on my hidden device when I got here.
"Subject A.C. is active.
Retrieve or eliminate."
They're not playing anymore.
If they reach her before I do…
It's over.
I stand, forcing my weak body into motion.
She will not die.
She will not be taken away ot while I still breathe.
I pull on my jacket, hide my weapons, and step back into the darkness.
She doesn't know it… but I'm watching her, every step, every move,every danger.
She's not alone....not anymore. And not ever again.
ADANNA P.O.V (EARLY MORNING)
Dawn creeps in through the cracked window. Soft light, pale and cold, touches my face.
I haven't slept.
I pack my things quietly, tying my hair into a messy ponytail. My movements are quick, focused, driven by something stronger than fear.
Determination.... i look at the laptop. At the flash drive,at the files I still don't understand.
Everything begins…
Everything ends…
What does it mean?
Why me?
Why Darian?
Why us?
I sling the bag over my shoulder and step outside. The morning air is cool, the streets are quiet, but something feels… off.
Like eyes are on me....watching.....Following.
I turn slowly....
Nothing, but the feeling doesn't go then I take a deep breath and keep walking.
I'm going to find the truth...wven if I don't like it, even if it hurts me,even if it changes everything. Because one thing is clear....
Darian is alive.
And if he's alive… then the story between us is not over.
Not even close.
To be continued…