“If something happens—if this goes bad—promise me you’ll trust that everything I do is to protect the people I care about. Promise me you’ll remember that I love you.”
The words sent ice through his veins. “Elena?—”
“Promise me.”
“I promise,” he said, though every instinct screamed he was making a vow he didn’t understand. “But nothing’s going to happen. We’ll handle this, and then we’ll figure out what comes next for us.”
Elena smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. Reed held her for a brief moment, then she pulled back. He had the strangest sensation that she was memorizing the moment.
“I need to go,” she whispered.
“I love you too,” he whispered against her forehead.
Reed walked her to the door, catching her hand as she moved to step past him. For a heartbeat, they stood frozen in his doorway, connected by touch and something deeper that neither had yet found words for.
“See you at the facility,” he said finally.
“See you there.”
Reed watched her walk down the hallway toward the elevator, still holding his coffee cup, still planning to explain to her all the ways he’d fallen for her. Still believing they had time for all the conversations that mattered.
He had no way of knowing that in less than twelve hours, Elena Vasquez would be declared dead, her body supposedly destroyed in an explosion that would level half the facility.
He had no way of knowing that the woman who had just promised to love him forever was about to make a choice that would haunt them both for the next five years.
And he had no way of knowing that the last time he would see Elena’s real smile would be in his kitchen, over coffee and promises neither of them would be able to keep.
CHAPTER 1
Elena Vasquez stood outside the gleaming glass tower that housed STAR Enterprises, her hands trembling as she gripped the leather portfolio containing five years’ worth of carefully gathered evidence. The Seattle skyline stretched before her, but all she could focus on was the building that rose thirty stories into the gray morning sky—and the man she knew was somewhere inside.
The man who thought she was dead.
She closed her eyes and whispered a quick prayer, the same words she’d been repeating since boarding the plane in Prague twelve hours ago.
Give me strength. Give me wisdom. Please let him forgive me.
The false name on her driver’s license felt foreign in her wallet—Dr. Victoria Martinez, cybersecurity consultant—but it was the only way she could get close to Reed without triggering the very people who’d forced her to disappear five years ago. The people who were still hunting her.
Elena pushed through the revolving doors into the marble and steel lobby, her heels clicking against the polished floor. The STAR Enterprises logo dominated the wall behind the receptiondesk: a stylized star that reminded her painfully of the man who’d once traced that same shape on her palm while they talked about their future.
“Dr. Martinez?” The receptionist’s voice was professional but warm. “Mr. Star is expecting you. Thirty-second floor.”
Reed.
Elena’s heart hammered against her ribs as the elevator climbed silently toward the executive floor. She’d practiced this moment a thousand times during her long, lonely nights in hiding. But now that she was here, minutes away from seeing him again, every carefully rehearsed word had fled from her mind.
The elevator chimed softly as the doors opened onto a sophisticated reception area. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a breathtaking view of Puget Sound, and Elena found herself momentarily distracted by the beauty of it. This was Reed’s world now—successful, powerful, completely different from the government facility where they’d fallen in love over stolen moments and shared coffee.
“Dr. Martinez?” A young woman with kind eyes approached her. “I’m Sarah, Mr. Star’s assistant. He’s just finishing up a call. Would you like some coffee while you wait?”
“Please,” Elena managed, her voice steadier than she felt. “Black, no sugar.”
Sarah smiled and disappeared, leaving Elena alone with her racing thoughts and the stunning view of the city Reed now commanded from his corner office. Through the glass walls, she could see his silhouette—tall, broad-shouldered, achingly familiar even from behind.
He stood at the windows with his phone pressed to his ear, one hand braced against the glass as he stared out over the cityscape. His dark hair was shorter than she remembered, moreprofessional, and he wore an expensive suit that spoke of the success he’d built in her absence.
Five years.
