Chapter Three: Fire and Fog

By morning, the entire city knew.

“Killian Lennox Engaged to Mystery Woman,” one headline read.

“Who Is Ava Monroe?” asked another.

And then the more sinister ones...

“Billionaire’s Engagement a Diversion Tactic?”

“Leaked Memos Suggest Merger Turmoil at Lennox Global.”

I stared at the glowing screen of my phone as I sat in the backseat of his town car, numb. The article had a photo of Killian’s arm wrapped around my waist, his mouth grazing my cheek. I looked like I belonged there. I hated that I didn’t hate it.

He sat beside me, unmoved, dressed in gray slacks and a crisp black shirt, sleeves rolled up like he was going to break a law or rewrite one.

“You could’ve warned me,” I muttered, tossing the phone into my bag.

“I did,” he replied, calm as glass. “You just didn’t listen.”

“No, you manipulated. That’s not the same.”

He turned his head slightly, just enough for me to catch his smirk. “It worked.”

“You used me.”

He paused. “Are you used, or are you useful?”

I opened my mouth. Closed it.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

The car pulled up in front of what I expected to be Lennox Global HQ, but it wasn’t. Instead, it was a gated estate draped in vines and guarded by silence. Hidden in the hills. Like a fortress made of secrets.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“My second property. The media’s outside the tower. This is where we go when we don’t want to be seen.”

We?

I followed him through thick, automated doors that shut like a vault. The place was sleek and shadowy, black marble floors, cool lighting, curated emptiness. Everything about it screamed don’t ask questions.

He led me into a sunken lounge, placed his phone on the counter, and poured two glasses of something that looked expensive.

“You’re not just a fake fiancée,” he said, handing me a glass. “You’re a filter. People reveal who they really are when they think I’ve let my guard down.”

“So I’m a decoy.”

“You’re leverage.”

I didn’t know whether to be flattered or furious.

He took a sip and studied me. “Why are you still here?”

“Because something tells me I’m in deeper than you’re admitting. And I’m not stupid enough to walk away now.”

For a flicker of a second, something in his eyes softened. But it was gone too quickly to trust.

“I need you to memorize something,” he said, and pulled a sleek black tablet from a drawer.

It displayed a list of shell companies, encrypted servers, and color-coded names. Too detailed. Too dangerous.

“This is the real merger map,” he said. “Not what’s in the press.”

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Because someone I trusted leaked it.”

“Why me?”

“Because no one would expect I told you. Because if I disappear, you’ll know what to do.”

The chill crawled up my spine.

“Killian…”

He reached out and touched my wrist. It wasn’t romantic. It was anchoring.

“If I say run, you run. No questions. Got it?”

I nodded, pulse thudding.

He stepped back. “You start shadowing me tomorrow. Every meeting. Every call. You’re now my executive liaison.”

“That wasn’t in the contract.”

He walked to the tall window, city lights sparkling beneath a curtain of fog. “Neither was a fiancé.”

I was about to answer when his phone vibrated. He read the screen, jaw tensing.

“What is it?”

“Motion sensors triggered at the perimeter.”

My throat tightened. “Could be media?”

“No. This place doesn’t exist on public records.”

He moved fast. Activated something on the wall. Security monitors blinked to life.

“Stay behind me,” he said.

Before I could argue, the lights cut out.

Just like that.

Total blackout.

“Killian?” I whispered.

He grabbed my hand in the dark. “Don’t speak.”

Footsteps. Not his. Not mine.

Shadows moved outside the tinted glass.

Killian pressed a silent alarm. I could feel his heartbeat in his palm. It was calm. Terrifyingly calm.

And then, crash.

The back window shattered, metal clanging across the floor.

I ducked, adrenaline exploding in my veins.

“Back room,” he hissed, shoving me down a corridor.

I stumbled into a panic room. He locked the door behind us, fingers flying over a control panel.

Sirens blared outside.

We waited.

Five minutes. Ten.

When it was over, Killian emerged like a soldier. The living room was a wreck, glass, overturned furniture, a black device with wires on the floor.

“Was that a bomb?” I asked, breath catching.

“No. A scanner.” He knelt beside it, eyes cold. “Someone was trying to download internal systems. Through the air.”

“Wireless data breach.”

He looked at me. “Exactly.”

I shivered.

“Who the hell is after you?”

“I don’t know yet. But now they know you’re part of it.”

He stood, and for the first time since I’d met him, he looked… shaken.

Not afraid. But betrayed.

“I have a safe house across the river,” he said. “We’ll go tonight. You’ll be safer there.”

I didn’t move.

My mind was spinning too fast. My body wanted to shut down.

But something inside me clicked instead.

Survival mode.

“You trust me now?” I asked.

He looked over his shoulder.

“No. But I’m starting to fear what happens if I don’t.”

I grabbed my coat.

“Then let’s move.”

He paused, looked at me for a beat too long.

And then the smoke alarm went off again.