Chapter 2 - Three Seconds Between Life and Death
The first thing I noticed about Marcus Cole was that he was smiling.
Not because he was happy to see me.
Because he thought he had finally won.
He leaned against the black SUV in the underground garage, his hands resting casually in his jacket pockets, like he wasn’t the same man who had once made me afraid to walk through my own front door.
The years had changed him.
But not enough.
His hair was shorter now.
His face looked harder.
His eyes looked exactly the same.
Cold.
Calculating.
Waiting for me to break.
"Sadie."
He said my name like he owned it.
I stopped walking.
Behind me, Tanner Vale stood near the elevator, watching.
That was when everything clicked.
The broken communication.
The fake security issue.
The private garage.
This was never about reviewing the attack.
It was about bringing me here.
I looked at Tanner.
"What is this?"
He didn’t answer.
Marcus stepped forward instead.
"You look different."
I said nothing.
He looked me up and down, then gave a small laugh.
"Still playing soldier?"
My hands tightened.
Years ago, I would have lowered my eyes.
Years ago, I would have apologized for being there.
For taking up space.
For existing.
But I wasn’t that woman anymore.
"I’m working."
Marcus smiled.
"Working for him?"
His eyes moved toward the ballroom above us.
"Declan Hayes?"
There was disgust in his voice.
"You really climbed higher than I expected."
I stared at him.
"You don’t know anything about me."
"Oh, I know plenty."
He stepped closer.
"I know you still think protecting people makes you valuable."
The words hit harder than I wanted them to.
Not because I believed him.
Because I remembered hearing them before.
From him.
From people like him.
People who believed kindness was weakness.
Marcus had spent three years convincing me that I was lucky anyone tolerated me.
That nobody else would want me.
That I should be grateful he stayed.
I believed him once.
Only once.
Then I left.
And I never looked back.
Until now.
"You’re done here," I said.
Marcus laughed.
Tanner finally spoke.
"Careful, Brooks."
I turned toward him.
"You brought him here."
His expression didn’t change.
"Don’t make accusations you can’t prove."
I looked around the garage.
No cameras.
No guards.
No witnesses.
That was not an accident.
"You planned this."
Tanner walked closer.
"You have a habit of thinking you’re smarter than everyone else."
"No."
I looked directly at him.
"I have a habit of noticing when people are lying."
For a moment, Tanner’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Anger.
Then fear.
He recovered quickly.
"Do you know what happens to people who embarrass powerful men?"
I looked at him.
"Are you threatening me?"
Marcus stepped between us.
"No."
He smiled.
"I’m reminding you where you came from."
I felt something inside me go completely quiet.
That was always how it happened.
The moment before danger.
The moment when fear disappeared.
When instincts took over.
I had spent years training my body to react before my emotions could interfere.
Marcus didn’t know that.
Neither did Tanner.
They still saw the woman they thought they could control.
They didn’t see the person who had just stepped in front of three armed men without hesitation.
"You made a mistake bringing me here," I said.
Marcus tilted his head.
"Why?"
I looked toward the elevator.
"Because now I know exactly who was involved."
His smile disappeared.
A second later, Tanner grabbed my arm.
Not hard enough to injure.
Just hard enough to send a message.
I looked down at his hand.
Then back at his face.
"Let go."
He didn’t.
"You’re going to listen."
I slowly pulled my arm free.
His expression changed.
He wasn’t expecting resistance.
Nobody ever did.
Marcus moved closer.
"You always had that attitude."
"What attitude?"
"Like you were better than everyone."
I almost laughed.
Because that was the lie people always told.
They called confidence arrogance when it came from someone they underestimated.
They called strength a problem when they couldn’t control it.
"I never thought I was better than anyone," I said.
I looked at him.
"I just stopped believing I was less."
The garage went silent.
Then Marcus’s expression hardened.
"That’s your problem."
He stepped closer.
"You forgot who helped you become who you are."
I stared at him.
"No."
My voice was calm.
"I remember exactly who tried to destroy me."
Something flashed across his face.
Something ugly.
Before he could answer, Tanner’s phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Only for a second.
But that second told me everything.
He was receiving instructions.
Not sending them.
Someone else was controlling this.
Tanner looked at the screen.
Then at me.
The confidence returned.
"You shouldn’t have survived tonight."
My stomach tightened.
Not because of the threat.
Because of what he revealed.
He had just admitted he knew I was supposed to die.
Marcus looked at him sharply.
"Tanner."
Too late.
The words were already out.
I took one slow step backward.
"You knew about the attack."
Neither man answered.
That was answer enough.
My mind started moving faster.
The gala.
The attackers.
The security blind spot.
The disabled earpiece.
Me being sent here.
It wasn’t random.
It was connected.
Someone had planned every step.
Someone wanted Declan dead.
And someone wanted me blamed.
"You’re going to explain everything," I said.
Marcus laughed quietly.
"You still don’t understand."
"What?"
"You think this is about you."
I watched him carefully.
He walked around me slowly.
"This was never about punishing you."
A pause.
"It was about making sure Declan Hayes trusted the wrong person."
The words landed.
I felt the pieces shifting.
Marcus wasn’t just here because of our past.
He was part of something bigger.
I looked at Tanner.
"Who hired you?"
Silence.
Then Tanner smiled.
That was worse.
Because it meant he knew something I didn’t.
"You really think Declan brought you into his world because he trusted you?"
I didn’t answer.
"He brought you in because you were useful."
I felt anger rise.
But I controlled it.
Because there was one thing Tanner didn’t understand.
I didn’t need Declan’s approval.
I needed the truth.
And I was close.
"Where is Declan?" I asked.
Neither man responded.
That worried me more than any threat.
Then my earpiece suddenly came alive.
Static.
A broken signal.
Then a voice.
Not Tanner.
Not Marcus.
Declan.
"Sadie?"
My eyes widened.
For the first time that night, Marcus looked nervous.
Declan’s voice came again.
"Loud and clear. I heard everything."
Tanner immediately reached for my earpiece.
I moved first.
I stepped away.
Marcus grabbed my shoulder.
I reacted instantly.
I twisted free and pushed him back.
He stumbled.
Not because I was stronger.
Because he wasn’t prepared for me to fight back.
The garage erupted into chaos.
Tanner shouted something.
Marcus reached for me.
I moved toward the elevator.
Toward safety.
Toward the only person who now knew the truth.
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
But before the doors closed, I saw Tanner pull something from his jacket.
A phone.
A second phone.
One he had hidden.
The screen lit up.
A single message appeared.
I only saw five words.
But they were enough to freeze me.
"Don’t let her reach Hayes."
The elevator doors began closing.
Then Marcus whispered something from the garage.
A name.
A name I never expected to hear.
Because the person behind everything wasn’t a stranger.
It was someone standing beside Declan all night.
May you like
Someone I had trusted.
The elevator stopped between floors.
