Selene's POV
We drove in silence for twenty minutes.
Asher's hands gripped the wheel. His knuckles were white. Every few seconds, he glanced in the rearview mirror.
I knew that look. He was checking if we were being followed.
"I don't see anyone," I said quietly.
"That doesn't mean they're not there."
He was right. I had learned that lesson years ago.
Asher pulled into a cheap motel on the edge of the city. Faded sign. Empty parking lot. The kind of place where people went to disappear.
He parked away from the office. Turned to face me.
"We need to talk. Somewhere private. Somewhere safe."
"Is this safe?"
"No." He looked at the motel. "But it's anonymous. That's the best I can do right now."
We got a room under a fake name. Cash. No questions.
The room was small. One bed. Flickering lamp. Stained curtains.
Asher locked the door. Pulled the curtains closed. Sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me.
"Tell me everything."
I sat in the chair across from him. Hugged my knees to my chest.
"Where do you want me to start?"
"The beginning. Us. What happened."
I took a deep breath.
"We met in 2015. You were painting at a gallery opening. I was there with friends. You spilled coffee on my dress."
A ghost of a smile crossed his face. "I remember. You were so angry. But you laughed anyway."
I nodded. Tears pricked my eyes.
"We dated for a year. You proposed in that garden. We married there in 2016. Two years of marriage. Good years. Happy years."
Asher's jaw tightened. "Then what?"
"Then you started asking questions about your family's past. Your grandfather's business. Why he lost everything."
"I found something."
"Yes."
"What?"
I looked down at my hands. "Documents. Proof that my family. My grandfather. He destroyed your grandfather's company. Ruined him. Took everything."
Asher was quiet.
"You confronted me. I told you I didn't know. I swear, Asher, I didn't know. Not until that night."
"I believe you."
I looked up. "You do?"
"I remember your face that night. The shock. The pain." His voice cracked. "You weren't lying."
I started crying.
"You left anyway."
"I had to." He leaned forward. "I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Every time I looked at you, I saw what your family took from mine."
We sat in silence for a long moment.
Then I took a shaky breath.
"Asher. There's something else. Something I never got to tell you that night."
He looked at me. Waiting.
"That night you came home with those documents. When you were so angry. I had news. Good news. I was going to tell you as soon as you walked in."
I paused. Could not meet his eyes.
"I was pregnant."
The room went silent.
I forced myself to look at him.
His face had gone pale. His eyes wide. Frozen.
"What?" His voice was barely a whisper.
"I was pregnant. I found out that morning. I bought a test. I was going to surprise you. Make a nice dinner. Tell you together."
Asher stared at me. Not breathing.
"And then you came home. With those papers. And everything exploded. And I couldn't. You were so angry. You wouldn't listen. You just kept shouting and throwing things and then you were gone."
Tears streamed down my face.
"I never got to tell you."
Asher's hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking.
"The baby," he whispered. "What happened to the baby?"
I shook my head. Could not say the words.
But he understood.
He made a sound I had never heard before. Something broken. Something animal.
And then he was on his knees in front of me. His face in my lap. His shoulders heaving.
"I'm sorry," he choked. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. God, I didn't know."
I stroked his hair. Cried with him.
"You left a note," I whispered. "Just a few words. 'I can't do this. Goodbye, Asher.' That was it."
He looked up at me. Face ruined with tears.
"I left you alone. Pregnant. Scared. I left you to go through that alone."
"You didn't know."
"I should have been there." His voice broke. "I should have been there, Selene. You needed me and I wasn't there."
He grabbed my hands. Held them tight against his chest.
"Forgive me. Please. I know I don't deserve it. But forgive me."
I looked at this man. My husband. My ghost. The father of the child I lost.
"I forgave you years ago," I whispered.
He broke. Buried his face in my lap again. Cried like his heart was tearing apart.
I held him. Rocked him. The way I had wanted to hold him five years ago.
After a long time, he looked up. Reached up. Touched my face.
"I love you," he said. "I never stopped. Not for one second."
I leaned down. Kissed him.
Soft at first. Then deeper. Five years of grief and longing poured into that kiss.
I pulled him up. He rose from his knees. Wrapped his arms around me.
We held each other. Clung to each other. Two people who had been lost and finally found their way home.
His hands moved to my face. Cupped it like I was something precious.
"I thought I'd never feel this again," he whispered. "Never touch you again. Never hold you again."
I covered his hands with mine. Turned my face to kiss his palm.
"I dreamed about you," I told him. "So many nights. I'd wake up reaching for you. And you weren't there."
"I'm here now."
"I know."
He kissed me again. Slower this time. Deeper. Like he was memorizing me.
His hands slid down. Traced my shoulders. My arms. My waist.
"I remember this," he breathed against my lips. "The way you feel. The way you fit against me."
My skin tingled under his touch. Five years of emptiness. Five years of cold sheets and lonely nights.
I pressed closer to him. Needed to feel him. Needed to remember.
His fingers found the hem of my shirt. Lifted it slowly. Asking permission.
I nodded. Could not speak.
He pulled it off. Stood back just enough to look at me.
"Still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
I reached for his shirt. Undid the buttons one by one. Revealed his chest. His skin. The body I had traced a thousand times in memory.
"You're real," I whispered. "You're really here."
"I'm really here."
We came together again. Skin to skin. Heart to heart.
Falling onto the bed. Tangled together. Hands roaming. Lips finding every spot we used to know.
He kissed my neck. I gasped. He remembered. He remembered exactly where I was sensitive.
"You still," he murmured against my skin.
"You still remember."
"I remember everything about loving you."
His hand slid down my side. My hip. My thigh. Each touch waking up parts of me that had been asleep for years.
I pulled him closer. Wrapped my legs around him. Needed him closer. Needed him inside me.
He paused. Looked down at me.
"Are you sure?"
I laughed. Cried. Both at once.
"I've been sure for five years."
He kissed me again. And then we were moving together. Two bodies remembering a dance they had once known by heart.
It was not perfect. It was desperate and clumsy and full of tears and laughter and whispered I love yous.
It was perfect.
After, we lay tangled together in the dark. His heart pounding against my ear. My fingers tracing lazy patterns on his chest.
"I missed this," I whispered. "I missed you. Your touch. The way you hold me. The way you breathe when you're asleep."
He kissed the top of my head.
"I missed you too. Even when I didn't know you. My body knew. My skin knew."
I tilted my face up. Kissed his jaw.
"Stay with me tonight."
"I'm not going anywhere. Ever again."
We lay in silence for a while. Content. Peaceful.
Then Asher shifted. Propped himself up on one elbow.
"Selene."
I knew that tone. I kept my eyes closed.
"There's something we haven't talked about."
"Can it wait?"
"The landlord. The way you panicked at the garden. The way you rushed us out." His voice was gentle but firm. "What aren't you telling me?"
I opened my eyes. Looked at him in the dim light.
"We have so much to talk about. So much I need to tell you."
"Then tell me now."
I reached up. Touched his face.
"Not tonight."
"Why not?"
"Because tonight, I just want to be yours. No fear. No running. Just us."
He studied me for a long moment.
"You're scared of something. I can feel it."
"Yes."
"Then let me help."
"You will." I pulled him closer. "Tomorrow. I promise. Everything."
He sighed. Nodded. Lay back down and wrapped his arms around me.
"Tomorrow," he repeated. "No more running."
"No more running."
I pressed closer to him. Breathed him in.
For the first time in five years, I felt whole.
Morning light crept through the gaps in the curtains.
I woke slowly. Warm. Safe. Asher's arm still around me. His body pressed against my back.
For a moment, I forgot everything. The fear. The running. The threat.
Then I felt him stir behind me. His lips pressed to my shoulder.
"Good morning," he murmured against my skin.
I smiled. Pressed back against him.
"Good morning."
His arm tightened around my waist. Pulled me closer.
"I could get used to this," he said.
"Me too."
He propped himself up. Looked down at me. His hair messy. His eyes soft.
"You're even more beautiful in the morning than I remembered."
I laughed. "You're biased."
"Completely." He kissed my forehead. "So. What do normal couples do in the morning?"
"Normal couples?"
"We've never been normal. But I'd like to try."
I thought about it. "Breakfast? Talking? Laughing?"
"That sounds perfect."
We lay there for a while. Talking about nothing. Laughing about small things. The way he used to snore. The way I stole the covers. The time he tried to cook and almost burned down the kitchen.
"Wait," I said, turning to face him. "Do you remember the pancakes?"
His eyes lit up. "I remember pancakes?"
"You tried to make me breakfast in bed. The pancakes were black. The bacon was raw. And you were so proud of yourself."
He laughed. "I brought you that?"
"With a single rose you stole from the neighbor's garden."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. The neighbor caught you. She thought you were a thief."
"What did you do?"
"I told her you were my husband and you were just romantic and stupid. She brought us cookies the next day."
Asher was laughing now. Real laughter. The kind that crinkled his eyes.
"I miss this," he said. "Missing you."
"Missing me?"
"Before I remembered. I didn't know you. But I felt empty. Like something was missing." He touched my face. "You were the missing piece. You always were."
Tears pricked my eyes. Happy ones.
"I missed you too," I whispered. "Every single day. Every night. Every time I reached for you and you weren't there."
He kissed me. Soft. Sweet.
"I'm here now."
I nodded against his lips.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
We ignored it.
It buzzed again.
And again.
Asher pulled back. "Someone really wants your attention."
"It can wait."
Another buzz.
And another.
Asher reached for the phone. Glanced at the screen. Handed it to me.
"Unknown number. Might be important."
I took the phone. Opened the messages.
Room 8. Nice view.
My blood turned to ice.
Another.
Tell him I say hello.
Another.
Don't bother leaving. I'll find you.
I always do.
I stared at the screen. My hands started shaking.
Asher sat up. "Selene? What is it?"
I could not speak. Could only hand him the phone.
He read the messages. His face went still.
"Who sent this?"
"I don't know. Unknown number."
He looked at me. "But you know who it is."
I met his eyes. Did not answer.
Asher's jaw tightened. "Selene. Who is this?"
I took the phone back. Stared at the messages.
The warmth of the morning was gone. Replaced by cold dread.
I looked at him. This man who had just held me all night. Who had touched me like I was precious. Who had laughed with me. Who had promised me forever again.
"We need to have that talk," I whispered. "The one I promised you."
Asher was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Then talk to me. No more secrets. No more running."
I took a deep breath.
And began.