Chapter 5
I knew that look.
I had seen it during our marriage whenever Adrian believed danger was close.
“Vanessa.”
The name hit harder than it should have.
For six years, I had trained myself not to care about Vanessa Hale.
She was supposed to belong to a life I had buried.
Yet the moment Adrian said her name, I saw rain hitting black pavement and taillights disappearing through a gate.
“She was watching my children?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would Vanessa know where I lived?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then ask her.”
Silence.
Too much silence.
My skin prickled.
“Adrian?”
Marcus looked away.
Adrian stepped closer but stopped before entering the space I had created around Noah and Lily.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Vanessa disappeared four days ago.”
I stared at him.
“What do you mean, disappeared?”
“No phone activity, no credit cards, no contact with anyone who usually speaks to her.”
“When did she send this?”
Adrian’s gaze held mine.
“Two hours before she disappeared.”
Suddenly the photograph felt heavier in my hand.
Vanessa had somehow found us.
She had watched us without my knowledge.
She had figured out who Noah and Lily were.
Then she had sent proof to Adrian and vanished.
I looked down at my children.
For six years, I had believed distance protected them.
I had built an entire life around that belief.
Cambridge was supposed to be far enough from Chicago.
My new name was supposed to be enough.
The university, the routines, the ordinary school mornings, the birthday parties, the weekend pancakes, the little apartment where Noah kept books under his bed and Lily covered her walls with drawings were supposed to be a world Adrian could never touch.
Someone had crossed that distance.
Someone had discovered the secret.
Adrian’s men quietly began scanning the terminal entrance.
Nobody drew a weapon.
Nobody raised a voice.
That somehow made everything more frightening.
Adrian looked at me.
For once there was no command in his expression.
No arrogance.
Only something that looked dangerously close to fear.
“Evelyn, I didn’t know they existed.”
I wanted to hate him.
I had spent six years becoming very good at it.
Then his eyes shifted toward Noah.
For one brief moment, the most feared man I had ever known looked broken.
“Someone was watching you and our children before I even knew where you were.”
Our children.
The words tightened something inside my chest.