“When I recovered, I realized that staying would mean dying for real. So I vanished. I changed my name. I came to Phoenix. I wanted a quiet life, something normal, something safe. Then I met you.”
Her voice trembled. “I thought the past would never find me.”
Rafael sat beside her, holding her hands. “Why did you not tell me?”
“I was afraid,” she admitted. “Afraid you would leave. Afraid danger would follow you. Afraid that I would never be free.”
Rafael exhaled slowly. “We will face it together.”
For two days, life returned to a fragile routine. Rafael went to work. Aurora tried to cook, to clean, to pretend everything was ordinary. But unease settled between them like a third presence.
On the third evening, a black SUV stopped outside their building. Three men stepped out, dressed in dark suits, scanning the entrance with deliberate precision.
Aurora’s face drained of color. “They found me.”
Rafael positioned himself between her and the door. A firm knock echoed through the apartment.
“Open up,” a voice called.
Rafael opened the door just enough to face them. “Who are you looking for?”
The tallest man smiled thinly. “We are here for Aurora Kingsley.”