Chapter 59 Her Assailant And Her Saviour

Chapter 59 Her Assailant And Her Saviour
Alexander

Saving her should have brought me some sort of peace.

But it didn’t.

Instead, it left in its wake, a violent storm inside my chest, one I refused to acknowledge. I kept my stare fixed on the road ahead as the city blurred by, with the speed Prescott was using. I tried my hardest to not look at her.

My jaw locked as I tried to stay put, tried to fucking keep the truth buried deep underneath the armor I had fucking spent years perfecting.

I could still remember how it had happened. 

I was in the middle of an important virtual meeting when Prescott had called. Had to excuse my foreign partners to take his call, because he knew better than to call me at that moment unless it was important. 

And I was right. It was something that needed my attention.

“She's driving out, Sir. Alone." His deep voice had echoed. 

The moment he said that, I knew exactly where she was going to, and why.

Because I had seen it.

That damn message lighting up her phone last night.

I had that address burned into the back of my skull. And that damning text. 

If you want to know the truth about your father…

Someone definitely was out to tell her about what happened with Richard. It wasn't going to be on my watch. 

I didn’t hesitate that night. I had fucking memorized the phone number before my guilt could stop me. Or the memories of the night, the image of her sleeping naked, soft and vulnerable in that bed. I didn't want that to tear apart what was left of my restraint. 

She was, after all, the daughter of a dead enemy.

Nothing about her should feel precious.

And yet…

I had cracked like a fool.

I wanted to know whether or not she was unto something. So I had the investigation team to trace down the number as quickly as they could. And sure enough, I recognized the name attached to it the moment Prescott read it aloud.

He was a minor employee who was once tied to Richard Knight’s projects.
A worm who knew too much. Who had seen too much to be left alive.
Someone who should have disappeared years ago, alongside the others.

The fact he had resurfaced meant one thing.
Someone was pushing her closer to the truth.

My truth.

I wasn’t about to allow that.

As far as I knew, Elena knew almost nothing about what happened to her father. And my involvement in it. I was going to keep it that way. 

I had to go ahead of her with the aid of one of my jets to get there in time. And when we reached the Glasshouse, the fucking rat panicked when he recognized me. He was right to do so. He begged for a deal, pleading he had information and was even willing to give her the wrong information in exchange for some money. He said Elena was on her way. And we both knew why.

I didn't want to take sides with him. I refused to believe that he would tell her a lie. It was better he remained silent than do that. 

So I silenced him.
A single bullet. A clean and fast one.

When she had arrived, I noticed and hid, to turn the cleanup into a rescue operation to fucking cover my tracks. 
The mastermind that I was. The fucked of piece of shit which she didn't deserve but I was going to be with her anyway. 

By the time Elena stepped into that building, I had already killed every threat to her life, and every threat to my secrets.

The irony wasn’t lost on me, I was both her protector and her greatest enemy. 

As she cried into my chest, trembling and clinging to me like I was the one thing keeping her alive…I felt guilt clawing it's way up my throat. 

I shoved it down.

Never again.

I was doing this for the better good. To protect her. I told myself. 

I stole a quick glance at her, she was curled against the opposite side of the seat now, wrapped in my jacket and staring blankly out the window. Fragile. She probably trusted me, and was grateful I saved her. Elena had become too trusting of me. That was dangerous. But I liked it that way. It had to stay that way. 

I knew it wasn't my mind playing games with me when she had whispered my name earlier like a prayer. 

Perhaps she was becoming overly attached to me. 

She shouldn’t.
She must never.

One of my men's voice crackled through the earpiece.

“The area is secure sir.” He said. " Bodies have been concealed and there are no evidence traced back to us.” 

I glanced at her one more time then I pressed two fingers against my earpiece. 

“Good. Make sure no one ever knows that man existed.” I said softly. 

“Yes, sir.” he replied. 

I disconnected.

Elena shifted slightly and I turned to her again. She brushed a strand of hair away from her wet lashes. She looked… breakable.

And that terrified me more than any bullet could. It broke a part of me to see that she was this shaken because of me. But the asshole in me didn't want to own up to my own actions. If she found out that I was the one who silenced evidences that could have led her to answers about her father, she would hate me. Worse if she found out my role in her father's betrayal. 

“Next time, you come to me. First. Always.” I forced the words out in a low and harsh tone.  

Because if she kept chasing the past…without letting me know shit, she would eventually find me standing in the center of it.

I leaned my head back, with my eyes closing briefly as the truth loomed over me like a shadow.

If Elena ever discovered what truly happened to Richard Knight…

If she ever learned who betrayed him….

She would hate me with every drop of blood in her body.

So I made a silent vow to myself. 

As long as she was under my roof,
as long as she carried my child, and as long as I drew breath…

She would never find out.

I opened my eyes again and looked at her profile. She was soft, innocent and still trembling slightly beneath my jacket.

She believed I rescued her today.

She would never know I was also the reason she was in danger in the first place.

This was the price of keeping her close.

The price of loving her without permission.

The price of being Alexander Harrington.

I would protect her from the world.
From the truth. And from herself.

Even if she had to hate me for it.

Better her hatred…

Than her grave.
Because that would be her fate if she found out the truth. And I'm talking about the entire truth. Because if she did, if she found out the truth about her father. She would be forced to come out into the public and that would pose a danger on her life. They would find her and end her, just like they did her father. 

Because what she didn't know was that I was made to betray her father!