Chapter 2 - The Man Behind The Wrong Number
The first thing I noticed after leaving my apartment was that nobody looked surprised.
Not the men surrounding Adrian.
Not the driver waiting beside the black SUV.
Not even Adrian himself.
They moved like this was normal.
Like rescuing an injured woman from a dangerous apartment in the middle of the night was just another part of their routine.
But for me, nothing about that night was normal.
My entire body hurt.
Every step sent pain through my side.
I held onto Adrian’s arm because I had no other choice.
I hated that.
I hated needing someone.
I hated feeling weak.
Especially in front of a stranger.
Especially in front of a man whose name made grown men go silent.
When we reached the SUV, one of the bodyguards opened the door.
I stopped.
My eyes looked back at my apartment.
The place where I had lived for almost two years.
The place where I had laughed.
The place where I had cried.
The place where I thought I was safe.
Now it looked like a crime scene.
The broken window.
The damaged furniture.
The darkness behind the door.
A reminder that everything I believed was gone in less than ten minutes.
"Mara."
Adrian’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him.
"Get in."
His tone wasn't a command.
Not exactly.
It sounded like a promise.
Like he was saying if I stepped into that car, nobody would touch me again.
I didn't know why I believed him.
Maybe because the last man who promised to protect me was the reason I needed protection.
Maybe because Adrian Voss was the first person that night who looked at my injuries and became angry instead of blaming me.
I sat inside the SUV.
The door closed.
The world outside became quiet.
Adrian sat across from me.
He didn't look like someone who had just rescued a stranger.
He looked like someone trying to solve a problem.
A dangerous one.
The bodyguard in the front seat turned around.
"Boss, should we take her to the usual location?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
His eyes stayed on me.
"No."
The man frowned slightly.
"No?"
"Take her somewhere nobody knows."
The bodyguard nodded.
That was when I understood something.
Adrian Voss didn't trust people.
Not even his own.
The SUV started moving.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
I watched the city lights pass through the window.
My hands were wrapped around Adrian's jacket.
I realized I was still wearing it.
I moved to take it off.
"You can keep it."
I looked up.
"I don't want to ruin it."
Adrian glanced at the blood on the sleeve.
"Trust me. I've ruined more expensive things."
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then pain reminded me not to.
Adrian noticed.
"You need a doctor."
"No."
His expression hardened.
"That wasn't a question."
I looked away.
"I can't go to a hospital."
"Why?"
Because Ethan knew people everywhere.
Because he had friends who wore uniforms.
Because every time I tried to escape him, somehow he found me.
Because I had learned that asking for help sometimes made things worse.
But I couldn't explain all of that.
Not yet.
"I just can't."
Adrian studied me.
He wasn't angry.
That somehow made it worse.
Because he was patient.
And patient people were harder to lie to.
"Who is Ethan?"
My fingers tightened.
I looked at him.
"How do you know his name?"
"Because you looked at your phone when I mentioned the message."
I said nothing.
Adrian leaned back.
"He hurt you."
It wasn't a question.
I swallowed.
"Yes."
The single word changed the atmosphere inside the car.
The man sitting across from me became different.
The calm disappeared.
Not completely.
But enough.
"What did he do?"
I stared at my hands.
I didn't want to remember.
But memories didn't need permission.
The shouting.
The accusations.
The way he grabbed my arm.
The way he smiled afterward and told me nobody would believe me.
"He said nobody would come."
My voice cracked.
Adrian looked away for a moment.
Like he needed that second to control his reaction.
Then he asked softly.
"Did he always say things like that?"
I nodded.
"Everyone thinks he's charming."
"Everyone is wrong."
I looked at him.
"You don't even know him."
Adrian looked out the window.
"People show their real selves when they think nobody is watching."
The words stayed with me.
Because he sounded like he wasn't talking about Ethan.
He sounded like he was talking about himself.
The SUV finally stopped.
I expected a hospital.
Instead, we arrived at a private building.
No signs.
No people.
Just security.
Too much security.
I looked at Adrian.
"Where are we?"
"Somewhere safe."
I almost laughed.
Safe.
That word had lost its meaning.
But before I could answer, the doors opened.
A woman in her fifties approached quickly.
She carried a medical bag.
Adrian stepped aside.
"This is Dr. Lena."
The woman looked at me.
Her expression softened.
"Come with me."
I hesitated.
Adrian noticed.
"Mara."
I looked at him.
"You have my word."
I didn't know why that mattered.
But it did.
I followed the doctor inside.
The examination was painful.
But not as painful as explaining what happened.
The doctor was careful.
Gentle.
She didn't ask why I stayed.
She didn't ask why I didn't leave sooner.
She just helped.
When she finished, she looked at Adrian.
"The injuries are serious, but she will recover."
Adrian nodded.
Then the doctor lowered her voice.
"But there is something else."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
The doctor looked at me.
"You weren't the only person attacked tonight."
The room went silent.
"What do you mean?"
She glanced at Adrian.
He already knew.
I could tell.
"Mara," Adrian said.
His voice was different.
Careful.
"Before you sent that message..."
He paused.
"What happened before Ethan arrived?"
I looked down.
I tried to remember.
Everything had happened so fast.
But then something came back.
A sound.
A voice.
Not Ethan's.
Another man's voice.
Someone had been in the apartment before him.
Someone who had whispered something near the door.
I looked up slowly.
"There was someone else."
Adrian became completely still.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"What did he say?"
I closed my eyes.
I remembered the words.
A sentence that made no sense at the time.
A sentence I thought was part of my fear.
"He said..."
My voice trembled.
"He said he finally found the girl from the photograph."
Nobody moved.
Adrian's face changed.
Not anger.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
"What photograph?"
I looked at him.
"I don't know."
A silence followed.
Then Adrian walked away.
He pulled out his phone.
Made a call.
"Find every file connected to Mara."
The person on the other end answered.
Adrian's eyes stayed on me.
"And find out who had access to her apartment tonight."
He ended the call.
I watched him.
"Why do you know my name?"
For a moment, Adrian didn't answer.
Then he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small black card.
Old.
Worn.
He placed it on the table.
My breath stopped.
Because I recognized it.
Not because I had seen it recently.
Because I had seen it once.
A long time ago.
Before I lost my mother.
Before I moved away.
Before I learned to forget.
I picked up the card.
My fingers shook.
On the back was a handwritten message.
Four words.
The same four words that had been carved into my phone case.
"For Mara. Always."
I looked at Adrian.
"Where did you get this?"
His expression became unreadable.
"Your mother gave it to my father twenty years ago."
My heart stopped.
"My mother?"
Adrian nodded slowly.
"And she wasn't running from Ethan."
I stared at him.
"Then who was she running from?"
Before he could answer, every light inside the building suddenly went out.
Darkness filled the room.
The emergency lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
Because the caller ID showed a name he had not seen in fifteen years.
A name that should have been impossible.
Adrian answered.
May you like
And the voice on the other end whispered only one sentence.
"Tell Mara her mother never died..."
