Raina's POV
The panic room door slid open with its usual soft mechanical sigh.
I wasn't expecting him so soon.
But there he was.
Ethan Hale.
Completely unharmed.
No new cuts.
No bruises.
No blood.
Only tension.
I can see some old wounds physically as well mentally..
The kind of stressthat clung to him like static
the kind that meant something dangerous had shifted outside these steel walls.
He stepped in slowly, quietly, as if he didn't want to startle me.
Too late.
Everything about him startled me.
"Raina," he said softly.
"We need to talk."
The way he said it…
careful, almost fragile…
told me everything:
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't distant.
He wasn't trying to dominate the space.
He was worried.
About me.
I stayed seated on the on the black couch i underestimated the panic room, if I notice now it's a big room well lit, legs tucked in, arms wrapped around myself like a shield.
"Did… did everything go okay?" I whispered.
He nodded.
"Yes."
He didn't elaborate.
He never does.
And that bothered me more than any bruises would have.
He stood near the doorway, slowly set on the couch keeping the distance, but what about the sexual tension thatt everything made awkward between us..
Like he wasn't sure he had the right to come closer after what happened between us.
The kiss lingered in the room ..
not spoken, not acknowledged, but breathing between us.
I looked down at my hands.
"I heard cars leaving," I murmured. "I heard voices. But I don't know what happened out there."
Ethan inhaled deeply, as if choosing his words.
"It's handled," he said.
"For now."
That wasn't reassurance.
That was a warning wrapped in calm.
I swallowed.
"Why did they come?"
My voice trembled.
"Did they want me? The Russians? The Italians? The necklace? What is happening to my life, Ethan?"
His eyes softened when he heard the fear.
Not pity.
Recognition.
He wanted to hug me.. I can sense it but he stopped..
Not enough to touch.
But enough to make the air between us shift.
"Raina," he said slowly, "I need to see the necklace."
My fingers froze.
Every nerve in my spine pulled tight.
"No," I whispered.
He didn't blink.
"I'm not asking for it. I'm asking to see it."
"No."
"Raina."
His voice dropped.
"Not the replica. The real one."
My breath stopped.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
He had always known.
Maybe the way I flinched when he mentioned it.
Maybe how protectively I kept it hidden.
Or maybe…
maybe because he knew my ex-husband better than I ever did.
His expression didn't change, but something in him sharpened.
"I know you switched them," he said softly.
"I know you've been hiding the real one."
I looked down at my hands so he wouldn't see how they shook.
"You don't understand."
"I understand exactly," he said, stepping closer.
"Your husband wasn't middle class. He wasn't harmless. He wasn't the man you thought he was."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Stop.."
"And that necklace," he continued quietly, "meant something to him. Something he never told you."
My throat tightened painfully.
I remembered Russia.
The feeling of being watched.
The strange men who treated my husband like royalty.
The way he told me, "Don't take it off, no matter what."
The night everything changed.
"I'm not giving it to you," I said.
He came closer again.
Close enough that I could feel his warmth.
Close enough that the smell of his cologne wrapped around my senses.
Rose and something darker.
My heartbeat quickened.
"Why not?" he asked softly.
"Because if anyone gets it… you die first."
The words fell out of my mouth like broken glass.
Ethan froze.
Completely.
His eyes locked onto mine ...
deep, dark, unreadable.
He didn't blink.
"What did you say?" he whispered.
Tears gathered in my eyes despite my efforts to hold them back.
"They killed him because of it," I said.
"And then they came for me. And now they're circling again. I won't let the same thing happen to you."
His jaw tightened.
Not with anger.
With something closer to heartbreak.
He reached out ... very slowly .. and placed his hand on my cheek.
Not forceful.
Not controlling.
Gentle.
Painfully gentle.
"Raina," he whispered.
"You won't lose me."
"You don't know that."
His fingers moved to my jaw, warm and steady.
"Yes," he murmured, "I do."
Silence wrapped around us.
Heavy.
Familiar.
Electric.
He leaned in a little ..
not enough to kiss me,
but enough that his breath brushed my lips.
My pulse raced.
My hands trembled.
His eyes dropped to my mouth for one second.
One dangerous second.
Then..
A vibration cut through the moment.
His phone.
He stepped back immediately and answered it.
One look at the screen drained the softness from his face.
He read the message.
His expression turned to ice.
Slowly, he held the phone out for me to see.
"We know she still has the real necklace.
Midnight.
You choose who dies first."
My breath vanished.
Ethan's voice was low.
Cold.
Final.
"They're coming."
His eyes locked onto mine, dark and furious and terrified for me.
"Raina," he whispered,
"They know."