Some men protect because they care.

Others protect because they can’t survive the thought of losing what’s theirs.

I didn’t know which one I was anymore.

But I knew this no one would hurt Elena Dawson again.

---

The video ended, and for a long moment, there was only silence.

Elena’s breath came in shallow bursts. Her hands trembled where they gripped the phone, eyes locked on the dark screen as if willing it to come back to life.

“Ellie… please. Help me.”

The echo of her sister’s voice still hung in the air.

“Elena,” I said quietly.

She didn’t respond.

Her pupils were blown wide, her lips parted, color draining from her face. Every instinct in me screamed to do something, to pull her back from the edge she’d been thrown onto.

“Elena,” I repeated, firmer now, stepping closer.

She jerked, like she’d forgotten I was there. “It was her,” she whispered. “Alexander, that was Calla. My sister. She’s alive—she’s—”

Her voice broke.

I caught the phone before it slipped from her hands. “Let me see.”

“No!” She snatched it back, holding it against her chest. “Don’t you dare take this from me. Not this.”

The panic in her tone sliced through me.

“Elena,” I said, steadying my voice. “I’m not taking it away. I just need to make sure it’s real.”

“It was real!” she cried. “You saw her you heard her!”

“I saw a video,” I said evenly. “And you and I both know Richard Hale would burn the world down just to make you run toward the fire.”

Her breath hitched. “You think I can’t tell my own sister’s voice?”

“No,” I said quietly. “I think grief makes monsters sound like ghosts.”

For a moment, the world seemed to still. The pain in her eyes was raw enough to make me regret the words the second they left my mouth.

But then she looked away, blinking hard, swallowing the emotion back down. “I have to find her,” she murmured.

“And walk straight into his trap?”

“If it leads me to her, yes.”

I stepped closer until I was inches away. “Not happening.”

Her head snapped up. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“The hell I don’t.” My voice came out sharper than I intended. “You want to throw yourself into danger because of him? Then I’m going with you.”

She stared at me, trembling with anger or maybe it was fear. “Why do you even care?”

The question cut deeper than it should have.

“Because someone has to,” I said finally.

---

She turned away, pacing. “You think you can protect me from everything, Alexander. But this—this isn’t one of your boardroom wars.”

“No,” I said, “it’s worse.”

“Then why are you still here?”

I let out a breath that felt like a confession. “Because the thought of you walking into that alone makes me lose my damn mind.”

She froze, back still to me.

“Elena,” I said, softer now. “Let me help you. Let me find her.”

For a long moment, she didn’t move. Then, slowly, she turned.

“Promise me,” she whispered. “If there’s even a chance she’s alive, you’ll find her.”

I met her gaze, and something in my chest tightened.

“I swear,” I said. “On my life, I’ll bring her back to you.”

Her eyes shimmered, and for the first time since the video, I saw something flicker through the grief—trust. Fragile, trembling trust.

---

When she finally fell asleep exhausted, curled up on the couch I moved to my study.

I plugged the flash drive into my laptop. The screen flickered, lines of code filling the monitor as I ran a trace.

It wasn’t just a simple video file. It was layered multiple data points buried beneath false encryption. Someone wanted to hide where it came from.

But they hadn’t hidden it well enough.

Within minutes, the coordinates appeared.

I leaned closer, my pulse slowing to a dangerous calm.

That couldn’t be right.

The file’s metadata pointed not to Richard Hale’s known properties…

…but to one of mine.

Knight Industries, Sector 9 a private research facility I’d sealed years ago.

My jaw tightened.

“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath.

Someone inside my company had sent that video. Someone who knew exactly how to reach Elena—and how to make her run straight into the crossfire.

---

A soft sound made me glance toward the doorway.

Elena stood there, barefoot, wrapped in a throw blanket, eyes still glassy with sleep.

“You’re still working,” she said quietly.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I replied.

She moved closer, hesitant. “Did you find anything?”

I hesitated. “Maybe.”

Her voice softened. “You’re keeping something from me.”

I turned toward her. “If I tell you, you’ll run there tonight.”

“I have to know.”

Her tone left no room for argument.

So I told her.

Every word. Every coordinate. Every hidden clue that tied the video to my facility.

When I finished, she was pale. “You think this means”

“I think someone wants to break you through me,” I said flatly. “And I won’t let that happen.”

She took a step closer, anger flashing through her tears. “You think you can control everything, Alexander. But this isn’t business. This is my sister.”

“And I’m not letting you die trying to save her,” I said.

“Then who’s going to save her?”

The pain in her voice nearly undid me.

I reached out before I could stop myself, brushing my thumb across her cheek. She didn’t pull away.

“Elena,” I said softly, “I swear I’ll find out who did this. But I need you to trust me.”

Her lips parted, breath catching. “And if I can’t?”

“Then I’ll make you,” I murmured.

The tension between us pulsed like electricity.

She looked up at me, eyes full of fire and fear. “You can’t always fix everything with power, Alexander.”

“No,” I said, stepping closer. “But I can damn well try when it comes to you.”

Our faces were inches apart. Her breath trembled against my skin. The world narrowed down to the space between us—the almost that shouldn’t happen, but always did.

Her voice came out a whisper. “You can’t keep saving me.”

“Watch me,” I said.

---

The moment snapped when her phone vibrated again on the table.

We both froze.

One message.

From an unknown number.

You shouldn’t have told him. Now she’ll die faster.

Elena’s breath hitched.

I grabbed the phone, scanning the sender ID. The line was scrambled untraceable.

But the timestamp told me something else.

The message was sent from inside my system.

Knight Industries.

I looked up, meeting her terrified gaze.

“Elena,” I said slowly, “whoever’s behind this… they’re already inside my walls.”