Chapter 6: Hide You in the Storm
Bang!
A second shot cracked through the air.
Ares lunged forward, wrapping his arm around Elira's waist and yanking her to safety behind the granite kitchen island. Glass from the shattered windows sparkled like falling stars around them. Elira's breath came fast, heart galloping.
"Who the hell is shooting at us?" she hissed.
Ares didn't answer—he was already sliding a drawer open, retrieving a second pistol, and loading it without flinching.
"Stay down," he growled. "I've got this."
"I'm not some damsel, Ares!" she snapped, grabbing a marble vase and hurling it toward the window to distract whoever was out there.
Footsteps echoed from the hall outside the penthouse. Heavy. Calculated.
They were inside.
Ares pulled her up by the wrist and bolted toward the back corridor. "Move."
They weaved through the hallway, past abstract paintings and floor-to-ceiling windows now riddled with bullet holes. Elira's pulse beat like a war drum. This wasn't just business anymore.
This was personal.
They ducked into a hidden steel elevator only accessible through a biometric panel in Ares's study. He slammed his hand onto the scanner. The doors whooshed shut just as footsteps rounded the corner.
Elira sank to the floor, gasping.
"Why are they targeting us?" she asked. "Who did this?"
Ares didn't speak for a moment. His eyes were fixed on the blinking emergency light.
Then he said, "It wasn't Crane."
Elira blinked. "What?"
"If Crane wanted you dead, you'd be dead. He prefers cleaner kills—financial ruin, lawsuits, disgrace."
"Then who?"
Ares clenched his fists. "Someone else who knows we're working together."
Elira stared at him. "You mean someone who knows we trust each other?"
Ares didn't answer.
But the look in his eyes said enough.
---
Safehouse #2 – Upstate New York, 2 Hours Later
The black SUV skidded off the highway and wound into the forest. The roads here were narrow, damp with rain and blanketed in mist.
Elira stared out the window in silence as Ares drove.
She was still shaken.
Not from the gunfire—but from what she had seen in Ares's face. Real fear. Not for himself. For her.
They stopped at an old, wood-and-stone cabin buried in trees. The air smelled like moss and pine. Ares killed the engine and turned to her.
"We'll stay here for two days. Until I figure out who tried to kill us."
Elira folded her arms. "Just us? No guards? No staff?"
Ares gave a crooked half-smile. "I only bring people here I trust. Which, apparently, is just you."
Elira raised an eyebrow. "Should I be flattered or terrified?"
He got out of the car without answering.
---
Inside the Cabin
It was rustic but elegant—wooden beams, soft lighting, leather-bound books, and a fireplace already glowing.
Elira peeled off her soaked jacket and tossed it over the couch.
"I still think we're safer surrounded by allies."
"We have no allies," Ares said as he poured her a glass of bourbon. "Not when the board is divided and someone inside wants you silenced permanently."
She took the glass and sipped it slowly. "Then maybe we stop playing defense."
He met her eyes.
"We go on the offensive," she said. "Expose everything. Use what Dr. Delgado gave us. Hit first."
Ares leaned on the mantle, jaw tight. "If we do that, we'll burn Valen Corp to the ground. My life's work. Everything I built."
She stared at him for a moment.
"Then you need to choose. Power, or redemption."
---
Flashback – Three Years Ago
The first time Elira saw Ares cry, she had been hiding behind the greenhouse of her old florist shop, knees scraped, dress torn, mascara streaked.
She had just been evicted.
Her father had died in prison.
Everything was gone.
And then Ares had walked into the alley—his shirt wrinkled, eyes red, a funeral invitation still in his pocket.
"Liana left me," he said softly.
Elira hadn't spoken.
She just offered him the last lily in her pocket.
They didn't say another word.
That night, they shared their first kiss.
It had tasted like grief and truth.
---
Back in the Present – Cabin Fireplace
The silence in the room thickened as rain began to fall outside again.
Ares sat across from her on the old velvet couch, his eyes shadowed. The fire danced between them like a warning—or a dare.
"I'm not proud of what I've become," he admitted. "But I was raised to survive, not feel."
Elira looked into the flames.
"I used to think feelings made me weak," she said. "Now I think silence is worse."
Their eyes met.
And something shifted.
The distance between them wasn't filled with bullets or bitterness anymore.
It was filled with understanding. Unspoken. Sharp.
And dangerous.
---
Meanwhile – Manhattan
Selene D'Amour stormed into Vincent Crane's office, slamming a file onto his desk.
"You tried to kill her?" she hissed.
Vincent didn't look surprised. "Don't be naive, Selene. You know what she is—Ares's leash. As long as she's alive, he won't act rationally."
Selene's jaw clenched. "He's more dangerous when cornered."
Vincent smiled thinly. "Exactly. And I like him dangerous. It makes him easier to control."
Selene's face hardened. "I'll deal with Elira my own way. Touch her again, and I'll turn the press on you."
He chuckled. "Careful, Selene. You're sounding awfully emotional."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Maybe that's because I remember what it's like to be in love."
---
Cabin – Later That Night
Elira stood at the window, watching the rain turn to sleet. Her phone had no signal. No news. No distractions.
Just silence.
Behind her, Ares had fallen asleep on the couch, head tilted back, breath even. The fire cast flickering shadows across his face, softening the edges that usually looked carved from stone.
She crossed the room and gently draped a blanket over him.
And just as she turned—
He opened his eyes.
Their faces were inches apart.
"Elira," he murmured, voice hoarse.
Her breath caught.
Neither of them moved.
Until—
He sat up, catching her wrist.
"Stay."
She hesitated. "Why?"
"Because when you're near me, the noise in my head finally stops."
Her heart thudded.
She sank down beside him.
And for the first time in years, they didn't fight, didn't argue, didn't run.
They simply existed.
Together.
---
The Next Morning
Ares was up early, typing on a secure laptop. The scent of black coffee and pine filled the air.
Elira walked in, hair messy, sweater slipping off one shoulder. "You look like you haven't slept."
"I didn't," he said without looking up. "I traced the attack."
She blinked. "What?"
"There was a fake security clearance used to access the penthouse elevators. I ran it through an old military database. Guess whose name showed up?"
Elira sat down slowly.
"Colonel Lucien Kai. Mercenary. Former CIA. Works freelance now—for whoever pays him most."
Her heart sank. "So someone hired a killer to take us out?"
Ares nodded. "And guess who approved a recent payment to a shell company he owns?"
"Crane."
"No," Ares said quietly. "Selene."
Elira's stomach twisted.
"I trusted her," Ares muttered. "She's been with
me for years."
Elira leaned forward. "Then this is bigger than just money. She's scared. She thinks I'm replacing her."
Ares locked eyes with her. "Are you?"
Silence.
Then Elira said softly, "You already replaced her the moment you let me in."