đź’Ž TAINTED HEARTS
Part 2 — The Edge of Trouble
Rafe didn't come inside. He just stood there on the curb, helmet in hand, rain glinting off his jacket like liquid silver.
Lena told herself to stay at her desk.
She lasted fifteen seconds.
By the time she reached the street, her heartbeat was louder than the traffic.
"You followed me?" she asked, half-smiling.
"Maybe," he said. "Or maybe I just knew where you'd end up if you were trying to start over."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "You looked like someone who needed a ride."
It was reckless, but the way he said it made her forget logic. She swung a leg over the bike and wrapped her arms around him. The engine roared, the world blurred, and the wind felt like freedom she hadn't tasted in years.
They stopped at the pier — an abandoned stretch of warehouses and sea wind. He killed the engine. Silence fell, heavy and intimate.
"You ever just… want to disappear?" he asked, eyes on the dark water.
"Every day since my engagement ended," she admitted.
He turned to her, surprised by her honesty. "You don't strike me as the type who runs."
"Maybe I learned from the best."
That earned a small, dangerous smile. He reached out, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. "You shouldn't be here with me, Lena."
"Why not?"
"Because I ruin things."
"Maybe I'm already ruined."
He froze at that, the muscles in his jaw tightening. For a heartbeat, the air between them was electric. Then his phone buzzed — a harsh vibration that shattered the fragile calm.
He stepped away, answering curtly. "Yeah?"
Pause.
"I told you, I'm out. Find someone else."
When he hung up, his expression was different — darker.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"No one that matters."
"Liar."
He looked at her then — the kind of look that made her shiver. "You don't want to know what I used to be mixed up in."
"Try me."
He hesitated, then said quietly, "I worked for people who fix problems. The kind that end up buried. I left. But they don't like loose ends."
Lena swallowed hard. "And now they want you back?"
"Or gone."
She should have run right then. But instead, she stepped closer. "Then don't face it alone."
He laughed, low and disbelieving. "You don't even know me."
"I know pain when I see it."
He met her eyes. "Careful, Lena. I bite."
"Maybe I'm done being careful."
Something broke in him then — or maybe healed. His hands found her waist, tentative at first, then sure. The kiss that followed wasn't gentle; it was desperate, searching, the meeting of two people who'd been starved of warmth for too long.
When they finally pulled apart, she whispered, "Was that a mistake?"
"Probably," he said. "But I'd make it again."
They stayed like that, breathing each other in while the city lights shimmered on the water.
Then Rafe's phone buzzed again — this time a message. One glance, and his face hardened.
"What is it?"
"They found me."
"Who?"
"The ones I told you about. And now they know about you."
---
That night, Lena didn't sleep. Rafe insisted on taking her home, but the ride felt like a countdown. She could sense the storm building behind his silence.
When they reached her building, he walked her to the door.
"Lock it. Don't open for anyone."
"Rafe—"
He pressed a finger to her lips. "Please."
She wanted to say a thousand things — to ask him to stay, to tell him she didn't care about the danger. But before she could speak, he kissed her again — softer this time, like a promise he couldn't keep — and then he was gone into the rain.
---
By morning, she found an envelope slipped under her door. No note — just a key and an address scrawled in messy handwriting.
Against every ounce of reason, she went.
The address led to a warehouse on the edge of the docks. Inside, the air smelled of metal and gasoline.
"Lena," his voice came from the shadows.
He stepped out, bruised, blood on his knuckles.
"What happened?" she cried, running to him.
"Nothing I didn't deserve," he said with a bitter smile. "They caught me last night. I bought us time, but it won't last."
"Us?" she echoed.
He looked at her like the word meant everything. "I can't drag you into this."
"You already did."
Her defiance made him laugh through the pain. "You're insane."
"So are you," she shot back. "That's why it works."
He reached for her then, his fingers trembling as they brushed her cheek. "Lena, if this goes bad—"
"It won't."
He leaned in until their foreheads touched. "You don't know the things I've done."
"Then tell me, so I can decide if I still care."
But he didn't tell her. He just kissed her again, deeper this time, a collision of need and fear.
Outside, the sound of engines grew louder — black cars rolling down the street, headlights cutting through the fog.
Rafe's voice dropped to a whisper. "They're here."