Alex didn’t move. Not for a full three seconds. He just stood there, one hand on the door, the other gripping his gun so tight his knuckles had gone white. The knock had come again. A slower, heavier sound this time. A sound that dared him to open it.

I hovered behind him, heart in my throat. My entire body felt frozen. And then Alex turned slightly, his voice low but sharp.

"Get upstairs. Now."

"Alex—"

"Do not argue with me, Millie. Go."

I backed away, every instinct in me screaming to stay, to listen, to understand what was happening. But I obeyed. I moved up the stairs, crouching low beside the railing where I could still see the entryway without being seen myself.

The door creaked open. Just a few inches.

Alex did not lower the gun.

"Mateo," he said flatly. "You have sixty seconds to tell me why you're at my door without calling first."

"Relax, cousin," Mateo's voice was smooth. Too smooth. "I just wanted to congratulate you. Marriage looks good on you."

"I don't remember inviting you."

"No one ever invites me," he said with a little chuckle. "But I show up anyway. You know how it is."

That’s when I saw the second man. He shifted slightly into the porch light. His face came into focus and my entire body locked.

Dan.

I bit down on a gasp so hard I tasted blood.

Dan’s face had changed. He looked older somehow. Thinner. There was a scar on his chin I did not remember. But the eyes were the same. Dead and gleaming. Like something hollow was watching you from behind them.

"Thought you’d want to see who I ran into," Mateo said casually. "Imagine my surprise when I found your wife’s dad sniffing around the docks. Looking for her."

Alex didn’t say anything. But the silence was heavy. Threatening.

Dan stepped forward. "You’ve been busy," he said. "Millie always liked nice things. Guess that includes tough husbands."

Alex cocked the gun. "Say her name again and I’ll blow your teeth through the back of your skull."

Dan laughed. Like it was a game. Like none of this was real.

Mateo held up his hands. "Easy now. We're all friends here. Or we could be. Think of this as a business opportunity."

"The only business I have with either of you is reminding you whose territory this is," Alex said, voice low and dangerous.

Dan shifted again, his eyes sweeping the hallway. I ducked lower, pulse pounding in my ears.

"She upstairs?" he said quietly. "Tell her I said hi."

Alex lunged. The door flew open and he grabbed Dan by the collar, slamming him against the frame so hard the wood cracked. Mateo stepped back quickly, hands still raised but smirking like a man enjoying the show.

"You come near her again," Alex growled, "I will make sure they find your body floating in six different rivers. Do you understand me?"

Dan’s smile never faded. "You think she’s yours? You think paper makes her safe from me?"

Alex drove his fist into Dan's gut. Hard. Dan wheezed, but still didn’t stop smiling. Like he wanted the hit. Like he was enjoying it.

Mateo finally stepped between them, tugging at Dan’s arm. "All right, all right. Message received. No need to kill the messenger."

Alex shoved Dan back onto the porch. "Get off my property. Next time you won’t walk away."

They walked off into the night like they hadn’t just dropped a bomb at our doorstep. The door shut with a heavy click.

I came down slowly. My knees felt like rubber.

Alex was still staring at the door, chest rising and falling with tight, controlled fury.

"How did he find us?" I whispered.

"Mateo led him. That bastard's trying to push me into a corner."

"Why? What does he want?"

Alex finally looked at me. "Leverage. Maybe you. He knows you’re the one thing I can’t let go of. He can try but he will never win."

I nodded, but my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. That was the thing with monsters. You thought you had escaped them. But they always knew how to find you again.

By morning, a message arrived for me.

There was no sender. No return address.

Just a single photograph slipped under the front door.

It was a picture of me. Taken from outside the bedroom window. While I was sleeping.