And he wasn’t alone.
Another agent waited near her apartment, ready to track her walk from the subway entrance. They rotated, shifting posts and methods, always close enough to intervene, never close enough to be seen.
A parked car.
A bench.
A camera feed from the corner bodega.
Quiet. Efficient. Unrelenting.
He tapped his earpiece, checking in with the night detail. Routine coverage. No activity. Yet.
Even so, he didn’t like the vulnerability in this new pattern.
The subway created gaps. Gaps bred risks.
And right now, Arden Rivers needed a fortress, not vulnerabilities.
Christian’s gaze lingered on the dark horizon, his instincts gnawing at him. He made a mental note to tighten the coverage. Add another post near her apartment.
Because whatever was coming for her?
It wouldn’t arrive with a bang.
It would slip in like smoke.
CHAPTER 38
Into the Fire
The streets pressed in—eerily quiet, strangely still—like the city itself had paused to listen.
Arden kept a brisk pace, shoulders hunched, her breath curling in fast white ribbons as the cold bit deeper. The scarf at her throat felt too thin. Her boots hammered the pavement, sharp warnings she couldn’t ignore. Every flicker at the edge of her vision made her spine straighten, her jaw clench.
You’re tired, she told herself. Overthinking.
But then she heard it.
A footstep. Too deliberate to be coincidence.
Her breath faltered, heart kicking hard beneath her ribs. Logic warred with instinct. Coincidence, she reasoned. Just someone else heading home.
Then she heard it again.
The same exact rhythm.
Right behind her.
Shit.
Panic snapped through her, fast and bright. Her pulse spiked. Sounds were suddenly too sharp. She picked up her pace, and forced her breathing to slow and her mind clear.
Don’t run.
If she ran, she was prey. And prey didn’t win.
Her fingers fumbled in her pocket, brushing the edge of her phone.Call Gideon. Call Penny. Call someone.Her thumb hovered, frozen. One second too slow.
