Chapter 1
Two months ago...
My heart pounded in my ribs, my hands shaking, my breathing uneven. Realization dawned after the adrenaline faded.
Dad placed his hands on my shoulders.
"It's okay, tesoro mio. Breathe, it will be alright."
I could barely hear him, my eyes were still fixed on the man whose blood was staining the marble tiles. Dad reached out and took the gun from my shaking hands.
"You need to leave," he said.
My eyes met his. He had that focused look, the look that meant he was already thinking three steps ahead.
My voice came out uneven. "What?"
"Take the exit on the east wing of the estate. Avoid all the cameras, go to my apartment, there are travel documents, get on a plane and leave."
"But—"
"There's no time to argue about this, tesoro."
My eyes welled up. "I can't leave you here."
Dad placed his hand on my cheek. "You go, I'll be right behind you."
"Promise?"
He smiled. "I promise."
I didn't believe him, not completely. I hugged him tightly, for the last time too, cause he never came.
A month later I was in a restaurant, wearing an apron, notebook in hand on my way to take another order. Dad had kept money for me in his accounts but I knew better than to touch it or use the money in my account.
I walked over to a customer's table. Jacob. He came often. Light brown hair, blue eyes, tall, charming. He smiled at me as I approached.
"Good evening, Stella."
I paused for a second before realizing that was my name now. Even after a month, it still sounded strange.
"Evening, sir, wh—"
"I told you to just call me Jacob."
I forced a small smile. "I told you I can't, you're my customer."
"You free tomorrow night?"
"Why?"
He leaned slightly closer. "I'd like to take you out tomorrow."
"I'm busy tomorrow night."
"I don't believe you."
My smile remained. "That's too bad."
He didn't take the hint. As expected. He'd been commendably persistent since the first time I served his table.
"When are you free then?"
"I'm here to take your order, sir."
He smiled. "You're avoiding the question."
The silence stretched for a second. Turning him down didn't seem to be working and he wasn't bad.
"Fine, I'm free tomorrow night."
"Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?"
"If I go out with you tomorrow night, you'll stop showing up here to ask me out."
The smile on his face widened, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. "I make no promises."
"May I take your order now?"
"Of course."
My thoughts ran wild after that, the ability to focus suddenly felt mythical. I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried. Not while taking the order, serving him, or giving him my number. Eventually I forced myself to come to terms with the fact that 'one date couldn't hurt'.
Except it kind of did, not in a bad way. Though every inch of my existence would have preferred if it were horrible.
Instead he chose a quiet place, just a little restaurant. We were on a walk in the nearby park. Jacob occasionally glancing at me like he was trying to figure me out.
"So," he said all of a sudden.
"So?"
"This date is almost over and I still don't think I know anything about you."
I glanced at him. "You know where I work."
"I'm honored you could share such important information with me."
The sarcasm dripping from his voice almost made me smile.
"Some things are better left unsaid."
He smiled. "Ah. That's what you're going for?"
"It's worked perfectly for months."
"You're what? Hiding something dangerous like some kind of movie hero?"
"I could be."
He laughed. Because he thought I was joking, people had the tendency to confuse truth for a joke. If only he knew. His fingers brushed the back of my hand once before he intertwined our fingers. I looked up at him.
"I would love to get to know you, Stella."
And he did get to know me over the next two dates, not me though... Stella. The waitress whose parents and siblings died in a car crash.
Things with Jacob were good, work was okay, more importantly, no one had any idea who I was. It was perfect, a bit too perfect considering everything I was running from.
I had a feeling it would all come crashing down.
Present day...
I sat in the bar, a glass in front of me, when I spotted a familiar figure. Jacob. His eyes moved over the room once, then landed on me. Like he knew I'd be here, which was strange, cause I never told him. He walked over to me.
"Jacob? What are you doing here?"
He dropped onto the stool beside me. The carefree expression he usually wore was replaced with a worried, nervous look. And I suddenly had that nagging feeling that something wasn't right.
"I wanted to talk to you."
One of my eyebrows went up. "You knew I'd be here?"
He hesitated. I got up. "Don't answer that. I'm leaving."
I dropped some cash on the counter, grabbed my bag, and had taken only three steps before his voice stopped me.
"Aurelia," he called out.
I froze. Shivers ran down my spine. How did he know my name? How much did he know? When did he find out? Was he lying to me all along? What did he want from me?
I didn't wait to find out. The moment my legs remembered how to function, I walked, as fast as I could without running.
His footsteps got louder as he followed me out of the bar and into the quiet street.
"Aurelia, stop," he called out.
He actually believes I'm crazy enough to stop.
"He's looking for you."
I nearly missed a step at that. There was no need to ask who. It would have been strange if he wasn't looking for me. My problem was how Jacob knew about him.
"He knows where you are, there's no point running, Aurelia."
That made me stop. I turned to him slowly.
"Explain yourself, Jacob. That's not real name, is it?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "We were sent to find you. Then after I found you, I was assigned to keep an eye on you."
A nervous laugh escaped me, raw, unfiltered.
"So you've been lying to me this whole time? You've been watching me? What exactly did you tell him?"
He took one step forward. "Don't act like I'm the only one who lied."
"Wow! Okay."
"I'm so sorry, Aurelia. You know how this works. I don't exactly get a choice in this."
"Why the hell are you apologizing? You said it yourself, you lied, I lied. We all lied."
"I'm not apologizing cause of the lies."
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "Why are you apologizing?"
No response.
The next few minutes passed in a blur. I remember the sharp sting of a needle and the guilty look on Jacob's face as my body went numb. Last thing I remember before the world went black was being carried into a car by some men.
