There was something strange about the stillness.
Ayla stood by the window of Leon's penthouse, arms crossed, watching the city buzz below. It should've felt ordinary—traffic, sirens, horns, the occasional shouting from a street vendor. But today, the noise felt distant, hollow, like something was watching her through the cracks in reality.
Her fingers brushed her throat absentmindedly, as if searching for the echo of last night's peace.
Leon's voice broke her thoughts. "You've been quiet."
She turned. He was already dressed—black shirt, black slacks, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked dangerous and beautiful. And slightly distracted.
"Something feels wrong," she said.
He crossed the room to her in three strides. "Wrong how?"
"I don't know. Like… I'm being watched. Or something is about to fall apart."
Leon paused, then pulled her gently into his arms. "It's your instincts. You've learned to survive by trusting them. So don't ignore that now."
She closed her eyes against his shoulder. "What are you going to do?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then, quietly, "Increase security. Put men on your brother. Move our base of operations. I have a lead on Daniel's location—I'm going after it tonight."
She pulled back. "Alone?"
He smirked faintly. "I'm not reckless."
"You are. Just calculated about it."
"I'll take Victor. You trust him, right?"
"I trust you."
They stared at each other a moment too long before she leaned up and kissed him. Not rushed, but fierce. Like she needed him to carry it with him when he left.
⸻
Daniel
The warehouse was dark. Cold. Abandoned except for the low hum of the generator that powered one single bulb above the center of the room.
And beneath it, tied to a chair, was Ayla's younger brother.
His mouth was gagged. His eyes wide.
Daniel circled him slowly, calmly. "She didn't tell him about the body," he said to no one in particular. "And yet, he stays. Funny, how loyalty works when love blinds a man."
He crouched in front of the boy and removed the gag.
"You're going to help me send a message, kid."
The boy tried to spit at him, but his mouth was dry.
Daniel stood up, brushing invisible lint from his coat. "Make him bleed," he said to the man in the shadows behind him. "But not too much. Just enough for her to know he's alive."
"And if Leon finds him first?" the man asked.
Daniel smiled. "Then the war will be even bloodier."