The smell of fresh coffee filled the safehouse kitchen, but my mind was miles away, stuck on the glowing screen of the phone I had just put down. The second ledger. If there was a name in there that could shock a private investigator, it meant our war wasn't over. It meant the "Ice Queen" was still standing on thin ice.
I felt two soft arms wrap around my waist from behind. Alexandra pressed her cheek against my back, her hair still messy from sleep.
"You're overthinking again," she whispered, her voice vibrating against my spine. "I can hear your brain working from across the room. Stop being a protector for five minutes and just be my husband."
I turned around in her arms, looking down at her. She was wearing one of my oversized white shirts, the sleeves rolled up, looking so small and perfect that I felt a physical ache in my chest. I set the coffee mugs down and pulled her flush against me, my hands resting on her waist.
"I can't help it," I said, my voice low. "When you grow up with nothing, you learn to wait for the other shoe to drop. I just want to make sure no one ever takes this away from us."
She reached up, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of my neck, pulling me down for a soft, lingering kiss. "No one is going to take anything. Catherine is in a cell, the Auditor is handled, and The Sector is sealed. For the first time in my life, I feel... safe."
I kissed her back, deeper this time, trying to drown out the memory of that text message. I wanted to tell her. I wanted to show her the phone. But seeing the light in her eyes—the first bit of real happiness she had felt since her father died—I couldn't do it. Not yet.
I lifted her up onto the marble kitchen counter, my hands sliding up her thighs. She let out a small, surprised gasp that quickly turned into a soft moan as I kissed the sensitive skin of her neck.
"Alexandra," I breathed against her skin. "I would do anything to keep you smiling like this."
"Then stay here," she whispered, her hands gripping my shoulders. "Don't go to the office today. Don't answer the door. Just... stay."
For a moment, I almost said yes. I wanted to forget the ledger, the mystery, and the enemies. But I knew that a man from the streets of Onitsha only survives because he sees the trap before it snaps. If I didn't handle this new secret, it would eventually find us.
I pulled back just an inch, my forehead resting against hers. "I have to run one errand. Just one. I need to check on my brother at the hospital and make sure the guards are rotated."
She pouted, a playful, beautiful look I had never seen on the 'Ice Queen' before. "One hour. If you aren't back in sixty minutes, I'm sending the company helicopter to find you."
"Deal," I said, giving her one last, slow kiss that left us both breathless.
I grabbed my jacket and slipped out the door. But as I reached the car, my face went cold. I didn't head for the hospital. I pulled up the address the investigator had sent. I had to see that ledger. I had to know whose name was powerful enough to threaten our new life.
Because if I had to go back to being the 'Hidden Husband' to protect her, I would do it in a heartbeat.
***"Things are finally heating up between them! 🔥 But can their new love survive a secret from the past? I'm so happy to see the comments coming in—thank you Eld_Elder for the kind words!
Question for you guys: Should he have told Alexandra about the text message, or is he right to protect her? Let me know what you think!"