Chapter 3 The Wrong Kind Of Attention
I couldn’t breathe.
Alex stood in the doorway calmly, one hand resting against the frame as though he’d just caught me doing something mildly disappointing instead of discovering a literal wall of surveillance photos.
My legs felt weak.
“What is this?” My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
He didn’t answer immediately.
That terrified me more.
Because normal people rushed to explain things normal people denied being creepy.
Alex Laurent watched me panic in silence.
The dim lights inside the hidden room cast shadows across his face, sharpening every cold angle.
My eyes darted back toward the photographs.
There were too many some were recent others weren’t.
One picture showed me carrying grocery bags outside my old apartment building, but I moved out of that apartment almost eight months ago.
A chill spread through my chest.
“How long…” I whispered.
Alex stepped into the room slowly.
“You shouldn’t be in here.”
“That’s your response?”
My voice cracked this time.
Good. Let him hear the fear.
“Why do you have pictures of me?”
Still terrifyingly calm.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“You’re stalking me!”
For the first time, his expression shifted slightly not with guilt or with embarrassment but something darker.
“You say that as if I intend to harm you.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Oh my God.”
I backed away instantly.
“I need to leave.”
The moment I moved toward the door, Alex reached for my wrist.
Not rough, but firm enough to stop me.
My pulse exploded.
“Let go of me.”
His eyes dropped briefly to my trembling hand before returning to my face.
“If I wanted to hurt you, Blair, I would not have spent years protecting you.”
Everything inside me froze.
Years? Years?
I yanked my hand away immediately.
“What does that even mean?”
Silence again.
“You’re frightened.”
“Obviously!”
His gaze lingered on my face for a moment too long.
Almost regretful.
“I didn’t want you finding out like this.”
Finding out WHAT?
Nothing he said made sense.
My chest rose and fell rapidly as panic started clawing deeper into me.
I grabbed the nearest file from the desk beside me and flipped it open.
Inside were pages filled with information.
Places I visited, my old workplaces, dates, and observations.
One sentence near the bottom made my stomach twist violently.
Subject appears happier after interactions with Naomi Reyes.
Subject?
SUBJECT?
I looked up sharply.
“You followed my best friend too?”
Alex’s jaw tightened slightly.
“She’s loud.”
“That’s not the point!”
I threw the file back onto the desk.
“You had no right to do this!”
His eyes darkened instantly.
“You think rights matter?”
The room fell silent.
Something about the way he said it sent genuine fear through me.
Not playful dark-romance fear.
Real fear.
I stepped back carefully.
“You’re insane.”
That finally got a reaction a dangerous one.
His expression hardened immediately.
“Be careful what words you use around me.”
I swallowed hard.
Every instinct screamed at me to leave now.
Before this situation became worse.
But another part of me—the stupid, curious part—needed answers.
“Why me?” I asked quietly.
Alex looked at me for so long I thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then finally:
“Because you were never supposed to survive that night.”
My heartbeat stopped.
“What?”
But before he could continue, the office door outside burst open suddenly.
“Alex, the investors are—”
The voice cut off. A blond man stood frozen near the entrance, probably in his late twenties, in an expensive suit.
Sharp features and very familiar eyes.
His gaze shifted between Alex and me before landing on the photographs surrounding us.
Then he sighed heavily.
“Oh.”
The man rubbed his face tiredly.
“So she found the room.”
Alex’s expression became unreadable again.
“Leave, Daniel.”
Interesting.
So this was Daniel Laurent. The younger brother.
Daniel ignored him completely and looked directly at me instead.
“You should go home.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Trust me.” His voice lowered carefully. “This family becomes dangerous when emotions are involved.”
Family?
Before I could ask another question, Alex stepped forward.
The tension between the brothers instantly thickened.
“Enough,” Alex said coldly.
Daniel laughed softly without humor.
“She deserves honesty.”
“She deserves safety.”
“And this is your version of safety?” Daniel gestured toward the walls. “Surveillance photos?”
My breathing became uneven again.
Good.
Maybe somebody here still understood how insane this looked.
Daniel’s eyes softened slightly when he looked at me.
“You’re scared.”
“Yes,” I admitted immediately.
“Good.”
I frowned.
“That’s a weird response.”
“You should be scared of this place.”
Alex’s voice dropped dangerously low.
“Daniel.”
The warning inside his tone was sharp enough to cut glass.
But Daniel only smirked faintly.
Then he walked toward me slowly.
Unlike Alex, his presence felt warm, chaotic, and human.
“You should leave before he decides to tell you the full story,” Daniel said quietly.
“What story?”
His expression darkened slightly.
“The story about why people around you keep disappearing.”
My stomach dropped instantly.
“What?”
But Daniel stepped away before I could stop him.
“See you around, Blair.”
Then he left.
Just like that.
Leaving silence behind again.
I turned slowly toward Alex.
“What did he mean by that?”
“He talks too much.”
“That’s your answer to everything!”
Frustration burst through my fear now because nothing made sense.
Every answer only created more questions.
Alex watched me carefully.
Then unexpectedly—
“You should go home early today.”
I stared at him suspiciously.
“…Why?”
“Because someone has been following you.”
Ice flooded my veins.
“What?”
He walked toward the photographs on the wall calmly.
“There’s been increased activity recently.”
“Increased activity?” My voice rose. “Are you hearing yourself right now?”
“You are safer here than outside.”
I laughed nervously.
Actually laughed.
Because this situation had officially become insane.
“You have a room full of surveillance pictures of me, but somehow I’m supposed to believe YOU’RE the safe option?”
His gaze locked onto mine.
“Yes.”
The confidence in his answer unsettled me deeply.
Like he genuinely believed it.
And somehow…
A tiny part of me believed it too.
That was the worst part.
I hated how calm he stayed.
How controlled he remained while my entire world tilted sideways.
My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket.
The sound made me jump.
Slowly, I pulled it out.
Unknown Number again.
Alex’s expression changed instantly the moment he saw my face pale.
“Show me.”
I hesitated before handing him the phone.
His jaw tightened as he read the message.
Then for the first time since meeting him—
He looked angry, not cold, not controlled a dangerous kind of anger.
My voice came out shaky.
“What does it say?”
Alex looked up slowly.
Then handed the phone back to me.
The message contained only one sentence.
You were easier to watch before he found you.
My blood ran cold.
And beneath the message…
Was a photograph.
Taken seconds ago.
Of me standing inside Alex’s hidden room.
