The thought never left me either, it settled in my mind the moment I saw the shift in her, the moment her eyes started searching for something she could not name, and instead of fading it rooted itself deeper with every passing hour until it became something constant, something quiet and certain that followed me even when I turned my attention elsewhere, because I knew what she was thinking without needing to hear it, fear always circles the same places, always reaches for something familiar when the unknown presses too close, and I could see it forming in her, that pull back toward her past, toward the man she had run from, and a slow, dark satisfaction settled under my skin at the realization that she was beginning to break exactly the way I wanted her to, she thinks it is him, I exhaled quietly at the thought, my voice slipping out under it, "Thats Good." as I stood by the window of my office, the city spread beneath me like something already owned, my gaze unfocused as her image settled into place again, the way she moved, the way she hesitated, the way she checked every reflection like she could catch me if she looked hard enough, and I turned slightly when the door opened behind me, Lucas stepping in without hesitation, his presence sharp, controlled, exactly where it was supposed to be, "She changed her name ten times five years back." he said, his voice precise, and I listened without interrupting, because this was what I had been waiting for, the pieces of her past laid out in a way that could be taken, understood, owned, "Different cities, clean breaks." he added, and a faint smile touched my lips at that, slow and deliberate, "And before that." I asked quietly, and Lucas hesitated just slightly before answering, "Her father, she was trying to get away from him." and that was enough, it always came back to that, I turned then, finally looking at him, my expression calm but my eyes darker now, more focused, "Keep digging I want names." I said simply, my tone leaving no room for failure, and he nodded before leaving, the door closing behind him as my phone rang, I answered without looking, "Talk." I said, and a voice came through tight and controlled, "Shipment got hit, three down, one talking." I was silent for a second, my gaze drifting back to the city, already deciding, already moving ahead of the moment, "Make sure he keeps talking." I replied calmly, like it meant nothing, "and when he's done… make it slow." there was a pause, then "Yes boss." and I ended the call, the silence settling back like nothing had happened, like blood and pain were just another part of the rhythm I lived in, but even then my thoughts didn't stay there, they went back to her, always back to her, I could see her even now, the way she moved through her apartment, checking doors, windows, trying to prove something that couldn't be proven anymore, and I leaned slightly forward, my hand resting against the glass as I murmured quietly, "You think it's him… but it's not." because whatever had owned her before didn't matter now, she was already inside something else, something worse, and the next day I stood across the street again, the same place, the same distance, still while the world moved around me like it didn't exist, watching her step into the café, watching the way her eyes scanned everything the moment she walked in, the way she wasn't the same anymore, and when her gaze found me through the glass, when her breath caught and her body stilled in that exact way I had already memorized, I didn't move, not even slightly, my attention locked onto her completely as I spoke under my breath, "There you are." and then I stepped back, gone before she could hold onto it, before she could be sure, leaving nothing behind but the certainty that I had been there, and later, when night settled over the city again, I stood outside her building, unseen, untouched, my gaze fixed on the faint light of her window as my voice slipped into the darkness, low and certain, "You're running out of time." because she was, and the most interesting part wasn't that she feared being found, it was that she didn't know which part of it was woShe was driving me insane, and the worst part was she wasn't even trying, there was something about her that went beyond beauty, something quieter, deeper, something that didn't demand attention and yet pulled it anyway, dragging me closer with a force I didn't question and didn't fight, I had seen beautiful women before, more than I could count, but this was different, this wasn't surface, this wasn't something that faded the longer you looked, it only got worse, sharper, more consuming, like the more I saw of her the more I needed, and I wanted her in a way that didn't leave room for doubt or restraint, a certainty so absolute that nothing in this world could change it, not distance, not time, and certainly not the man who thought he had a place beside her, that so-called boyfriend was nothing, a temporary presence, a mistake waiting to be corrected, I had already set it in motion the moment I told Lucas to look into him, and Lucas never failed me, not when it mattered, not when I gave an order that carried weight, and soon I would have everything I needed, every weakness, every flaw, every detail that could be turned against him, and when I did, I wouldn't rush it, I wouldn't make it clean, because men like him didn't deserve quick endings, they deserved to understand exactly what they had lost and why, he looked at her like he would die for her, pathetic, because dying for someone was easy, anyone could do that, but destroying everything for someone, burning entire worlds to the ground just to make sure nothing and no one could take her away, that was something else entirely, something he couldn't even begin to understand, I would erase anyone who touched her, anyone who looked at her too long, anyone who thought they had the right to stand where I had already decided they didn't belong, and I wouldn't hesitate, not for a second, because she wasn't something to be shared, wasn't something to be protected gently like he tried to do, she was something to be claimed completely, something to be held so tightly that nothing could ever reach her again, and she would fight it at first, of course she would, that was part of it, part of what made this worth it, the way she resisted without understanding, the way she tried to hold onto a life that was already slipping out of her hands, the way she looked at me like I was something dangerous, something she should run from even when she couldn't, and I could already see how it would unfold, how slowly, carefully, everything around her would change until there was nothing left but me, because in the end I would be the only one she turned to, the only one she needed, the only one she had left, and when I brought her to that point, when I stripped everything else away piece by piece until she had no choice but to face what was already there between us, I wouldn't need to force anything, she would feel it, she would understand it, and she would give in to it.rse, the past she had escaped, or me.She was driving me insane, and the worst part was she wasn't even trying, there was something about her that went beyond beauty, something quieter, deeper, something that didn't demand attention and yet pulled it anyway, dragging me closer with a force I didn't question and didn't fight, I had seen beautiful women before, more than I could count, but this was different, this wasn't surface, this wasn't something that faded the longer you looked, it only got worse, sharper, more consuming, like the more I saw of her the more I needed, and I wanted her in a way that didn't leave room for doubt or restraint, a certainty so absolute that nothing in this world could change it, not distance, not time, and certainly not the man who thought he had a place beside her, that so-called boyfriend was nothing, a temporary presence, a mistake waiting to be corrected, I had already set it in motion the moment I told Lucas to look into him, and Lucas never failed me, not when it mattered, not when I gave an order that carried weight, and soon I would have everything I needed, every weakness, every flaw, every detail that could be turned against him, and when I did, I wouldn't rush it, I wouldn't make it clean, because men like him didn't deserve quick endings, they deserved to understand exactly what they had lost and why, he looked at her like he would die for her, pathetic, because dying for someone was easy, anyone could do that, but destroying everything for someone, burning entire worlds to the ground just to make sure nothing and no one could take her away, that was something else entirely, something he couldn't even begin to understand, I would erase anyone who touched her, anyone who looked at her too long, anyone who thought they had the right to stand where I had already decided they didn't belong, and I wouldn't hesitate, not for a second, because she wasn't something to be shared, wasn't something to be protected gently like he tried to do, she was something to be claimed completely, something to be held so tightly that nothing could ever reach her again, and she would fight it at first, of course she would, that was part of it, part of what made this worth it, the way she resisted without understanding, the way she tried to hold onto a life that was already slipping out of her hands, the way she looked at me like I was something dangerous, something she should run from even when she couldn't, and I could already see how it would unfold, how slowly, carefully, everything around her would change until there was nothing left but me, because in the end I would be the only one she turned to, the only one she needed, the only one she had left, and when I brought her to that point, when I stripped everything else away piece by piece until she had no choice but to face what was already there between us, I wouldn't need to force anything, she would feel it, she would understand it, and she would give in to it.
