:
55
55 vouchers
The bedroom <b>was </b>swallowed in shadows, the only light the faint amber glow from themp on the far table.
Alejandro lingered by the edge of the bed for a long time, staring down at Nivera. Sleep had finally imed her, but it wasn’t the peaceful sort of sleep he wanted for her.
Her body still twitched faintly from aftershocks of panic, her lips parted as if even in dreams she struggled to breathe. Her brows knitted, and her eyshes were damp. She looked fragile–something he hated to admit she even could be.
His jaw worked as his thumb brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. He had no business staying this close, not when the fury in him was barely contained. But he also couldn’t bring himself to step away.
Whoever had dared to frighten her, <i>to </i>touch her, to make her doubt her sanity—had signed their death
warrant.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, pressing a number he didn’t need to look for. The call rang once before a groggy, annoyed voice answered.
“… It’s two in the morning, boss. What-”
“Get to the house,” Alejandro cut in, his voice low and sharp, every syble a de. “Now.”
The voice on the other end scoffed. “Now? Can this not wait till morning? It’ste.”
“I don’t care if it’ste.” Alejandro’s tone dropped further,ced with steel, sharp but restrained so as not to wake the sleeping woman.
“I don’t pay you to check the clock. I pay you to be at my beck and call.”
There was a pause, then the retort came, dry and bitter: “Correction–you don’t pay me. Your family does.”
Alejandro’s hand clenched around the phone, his jaw twitching. His voice dropped into something lethal, dangerous enough to curdle the air.
“I give you bonuses worth more than your entire annual sry. Now get your ass over here and bring yourptop. Or whatever the hell you use.”
He didn’t wait for the reply. He ended the call, his thumb pressing harder than necessary against the screen.
Nivera stirred faintly, her body curling further into the sheets. He froze, then softened immediately, crouching back at the edge of the bed. Her hand twitched, searching blindly across the sheets until it brushed
his arm.
Instinctively, he caught it, letting her fingers curl weakly around his wrist. His heart twisted painfully.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered against the silence, then waited until her breathing steadied again before pulling his arm free and straightening.
:
:
55
55 vouchers
Twenty minutester, the knock came. Quiet, measured, but insistent. Alejandro rose without hesitation and strode toward the door, pulling it open in one swift motion.
His eyes narrowed. “How the hell did you get past the front door?”
A lopsided grin met him, smug and unapologetic. “I have my ways,” Martins answered casually, holding a slim ck bag at his side.
Alejandro’s expression didn’t shift, though his gaze darkened. “Should we take this to the study?” Martins then asked.
“No,” Alejandro said tly, stepping aside.
Martins raised a brow. “Are you sure? Miss Elton is asleep.”
Alejandro’s gaze flicked back to the bed, where Nivera remained motionless under the nket. “I’m not leaving her.”
The firmness in his voice left no room for argument. Martins sighed and stepped into the room, making sure his footsteps were quiet.
“Keep your voice down,” Alejandro warned, his tone like the edge of a knife. “If you wake her up, I’ll kill you.”
“Comforting as always,” Martins muttered under his breath, though he dropped his bag onto the sofa without another word.
The two men settled on the sofa in the room. Alejandro leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, his expression carved from stone. Martins wasted no time. “What happened?”
“She told me it wasn’t the first time.”
Martins straightened slightly as his brows contorted into confusion. “Not the first time?”
Alejandro sighed as he began to recount what Nivera had told him.From the restaurant to what happened when she got back home to the incident earlier that night with the unknown number, the deep distorted voice that called her by name, and the hallucination of hearing her own voice in the hallway. And finally, the terrifying moment she’d been struck by invisible hands, pushed toward the stairs, and nearly killed.
By the time he finished, Martins‘ expression was grim. His usual cocky detachment had vanished, reced by a hard, calcting frown.
“What do you think?” he asked finally.
Alejandro’s reply was immediate and unwavering. “I don’t think she’s hallucinating.”
Martins leaned back, watching him closely. “Interesting. Most people would. But you don’t.”
Alejandro’s gaze flicked to the bed, lingering on Nivera’s pale face before returning to Martins with a storm. behind his eyes.
“If she said it happened, it happened. If anything, the fact I didn’t wake when she shook me proves it. You
55
55 vouchers
know I’m not a deep sleeper. I barely sleep at all. But tonight… I was dead to the world. That wasn’t natural.”
Martins tilted his head. “Hmm. I was wondering about that. You’re not a deep sleeper, Alejandro. In fact, you’re hardly a sleeper at all.”
Alejandro exhaled slowly, his hand flexing on his thigh. “I think I was drugged. I don’t remember falling asleep. And when I woke up, it wasn’t the usual disorientation–it was heavier. Wrong.”
Martins‘ frown deepened. “Then we need to take your blood sample to be sure.”
Alejandro’s brows drew together, his expression sharp. “You’re not a doctor. How the hell are you going to get my blood?”
Martins grinned suddenly, reaching into his bag. A gleam of silver shed under the low light as he drew a knife.
Alejandro hissed under his breath, leaning back slightly as he realized what was going through Martins‘ head. “Are you fucking stupid? You’re not cutting me.”
“If you could get yourself beaten half to death just to y the martyr for her,” Martins countered smoothly, “then you can handle a small cut.”
Alejandro’s teeth clenched as he weighed his options. “Do it fast,” he agreed in the end. “But cut me deeper than you should, and I swear I’ll stab you with your own knife.”
He stretched out his arm, the muscles tense, veins taut under his skin. Martins‘ grin widened faintly, almost too satisfied, as he pressed the de against Alejandro’s flesh and drew a shallow, clean cut.
<b>10:18 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>15 </b>