Chapter 6
Chapter 006
Simon's Point of View
The cold air hit me more forcefully than I had anticipated when we got off the plane. It was not just the weather that struck me, but also her silence. quiet. With her chin up and shoulders high, Juliana took two steps forward without turning around. She hadn't talked to me since we landed. She didn't even exchange a glance. Exchange a glance. Exchange a glance. Exchange a glance. Exchange a glance. Exchange a glance. Exchange a glance. exchange a glance.
Stiff and keen-eyed, I trailed behind her, taking deliberate steps. She wore her stiletto as if it were a part of her ancestry, and she moved as if she had been born here. She didn't, however, walk like she was proud of that today. She walked as if she had something to prove and no one to prove it to.
A wall of flash exploded in our faces as the glass doors slid open.
"Come on, Miss Hartmann!"
"Juliana! Is the engagement still going strong?
"Are you really staying at the Schlosshof estate?"
They continued to yell. Like machine guns, cameras clicked. She continued. didn't recoil. wore the She wore that well-practiced smile as if it had been in her pocket the entire time. Unreadable and lethal, it was the same one she used with murderers and politicians.
I positioned myself behind her. Even though I knew we had passed security, my hand lingered near my holster. When you do what I've done, you never truly break the habit. t. Her blood-red coat and bone-splitting heels made her stand out like an obvious target. et.
Then I caught sight of him.
Fischer, Tobias.
Like he owned it, he sliced through the crowd. He had flawless hair, a flawless face, and a fake smile. The cameras didn't even cause him to blink.
She also allowed him to kiss her.
It's as simple as that.
He was speaking directly to the press. The gesture was not a mere act of courtesy. testy.testy.y. A kiss. He dipped his head close and put his arm around her waist.
I felt something grind in the back of my jaw as I clenched it so tightly. Just out of sight, my fists curled.
Was that for real? Did she allow him to? Or was the event a press show of some sort?
She didn't back off.
She didn't back off.
He smiled as if he had just won something as he withdrew. Her eyes appeared lifeless if you looked closely, but her smile remained fine and flawless.
Then he spoke softly as he leaned in once more and touched her ear.
"We must speak. privately.
Without thinking, I stepped forward.
She looked back at me.
No grin. Not rage. Not regret.
There was nothing at all.
She glanced back at Tobias, gave him a nod, and they proceeded past the reporters to the black car with tinted windows that was waiting.
I took a step forward to follow.
A bodyguard that I had never seen before moved in front of me.
"Don't follow," she said.
I said, "Move."
"Orders. Can't."
I gave him a stern look. His eyes twitched. He wasn't accustomed to men like me. He was not accustomed to men like me at all.
"You believe that orders are important to me?"
He remained motionless.
However, I did.
I lowered my voice. "This is less than what I've killed for. Move aside.
He hesitated. His eyes flicked toward the car, then back at me.
“I’m not afraid of you,” he said. unspoken
"You ought to be."
I left the words hanging. Not yelled. Just flat. measured.
I didn't force it, though.
because she instructed him to keep me out.
That was her decision. It was she who called.
Not Tobias. Her.
Before my anger could overcome me, I turned away and made my way to the second car, my fists still trembling.
I saw her face through the black car's window before it took off.
Still no The text is currently unreadable.
as of yet.
She still has it.
And as I watched her get into the car with another man, I couldn't tell which hurt more.
or recognizing that perhaps she no longer felt anything at all.
Back in the secondary vehicle, the driver waited for my signal.
“Where to, sir?”
"Just take a drive. Rema Don't leave't leave't leave't leavebehind them. Stay away. Not just yet.
After giving a nod, he left the terminal.
I reclined in the leather seat and gazed up at the car's roof.
Since our landing, she had remained silent. Perhaps she didn't have to.
Perhaps she told him everything when she allowed him to touch her.
I shut my eyes.
Her lips were still on mine from that plane moment. Warmth. Hunger. Actual. It wasn't a fake. That was not a camera-staged scene. It wasn't survival. That was something else.
Which of those was the real one???
And worse—who was she when no one was watching?
The city lights blurred past the tinted window. Vienna at night looked like a dream. It appeared as if it had been a nightmare. This is determined by your memories.
She had a connection to this place.
She now appeared to be actively involved in her life.
Tobias.
He was involved in this. He must be.
What exactly was he doing here? Why now? What did he say to her?
Why did she allow him to speak?
The tension crawled down my spine like static as I shifted in the seat.
I required clarification. No guesses. Not sentiments. Not recollections of the near miss that occurred thirty thousand feet in the air.
Actual responses.
And if I was unable to obtain them from her... he would give them to me.
Because one thing was starting to become obvious—
Now, protecting her wasn't the only goal.
She needed to be saved.
even if she had no desire to be saved.
even if it meant rescuing her from herself.
even if it meant changing who I was to accomplish it.
And if Tobias Fischer believed he could reclaim something that had never been his,
He was going to discover how dangerous a man like me can be when he has nothing left to lose.
I once saw her leave.
I wasn't going to do it again.
I straightened my posture, took out my phone, and opened the encrypted folder that Clara had previously sent me.
What if Tobias wanted a private meeting?
He would get one.
Not the kind he had anticipated, though.
What was she doing with him now, behind those doors?
What did he say?
What if she did believe him?
But what if she had already?
And what if those doors reopened?
Did she not go back out on her own?
What if she never returned?