Chapter 2 Chapter Two

Chapter 2.

Genevieve's Point Of View.

"Don't Touch Me!" I spat, my voice cracking as I pressed myself harder against the brick wall.

Nilo didn't move. He stood so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body, a stark contrast to the freezing rain pouring down on us. He looked down at my hand, which was still trembling against my chest, and a slow, mocking smirk touched his lips.

"I'm not going to touch you Genevieve," he said, his voice entirely too calm for a man who had just left three bodies in the mud behind him. "If I wanted you dead, I would have let them take you. They weren't going to be gentle. Might even abuse you first before they killed you."

"I don't need your help," I said, my teeth chattering as the adrenaline began to leave my system, leaving me cold and empty. "And my name is Aveline,"

"Your name is whatever I say it is," he countered, his voice dropping to a low greater. "The Cross family didn't kill your parents, Aveline. But someone else did, and they just figured out where you've been hiding for the last five years."

My breath caught. "Who?"

"The Albano family," he said, stepping back just enough to let me breathe, though his gray eyes never left my face. "Your father owned them more than just money. He owned them the Drayne patents. The ones you currently have locked in a Swiss trust that they can't access without your signature."

"I don't have any patents," I lied, trying to keep my voice steady even though my knuckles were being clenched.

Nilo let out a dry, quiet laugh. He reached into the pocket of his wet coat and pulled out a small, black leather notebook..he opened it, his fingers tracing a page before he turned it to face me.

"You wake up at 5:00AM every morning," he read, his voice a flat terrifyingly familiar checklist of my life. "You walk three blocks to the bakery. You buy a medium coffee with honey from the cart in the center. You work until 8:00PM. And on Tuesdays, you visit the unmarked grave in the northern valley at 9:15PM."

I froze. The cold rain that had drenched my body felt like ice on my skin.

He knew.

He knew my entire routine.

"You've been watching me," I whispered, a wave of nausea washing over my stomach. "For his long? And for whom?"

"Six months," he said, sliding the notebook back into his pocket. "Ever since you accessed that trust account from a public library in Oakridge. You thought you were clever, changing your name and working for minimum wage. But you left a trail, Genevieve. And I'm the only reason the Albano soldiers didn't find you three months ago."

"You're a monster!" I yelled, my voice shaking with rage. "Your family destroyed mine. You wanted our shares, you wanted our territory-"

"My father wanted those things," Nilo interrupted, his gaze turning cold. "My father is also the one who put the bomb in your parents car. But he's dead now, Genevieve. I put him in the ground myself three months ago. I'm the head of the Cross family now, and I don't bleed for old grudges,"

He stepped closer again, his hand snapping out to grip my chin. His thumb was rough, calloused, pressing firmly against my jawline. His touch was burning, a sudden, blinding jolt of heat that made a shiver run straight down my spine.

"I'm keeping you alive because you're my leverage," Nilo whispered, his mouth inches from mine. "The Albano family is moving into my territory. If they get their hands on your patents, they will have enough power to squeeze me out. I need those shares, and I need you."

He let go of my chin, his fingers brushing against my bare neck as he pulled away. He reached into his coat again, pulling out a small silver tracking device- identical to the one I'd found on my delivery truck last week.

"This was under the bumper of your car, Genevieve," Nilo said, tossing the silver disc into the mud at my feet. "I didn't put it there. And neither did the three men I just killed," He leaned down, his gray eyes boring into mine. "Someone else is already inside, watching you closely."