Chapter 3 - THE PRICE OF PROTECTION
By the beginning of the third month, Aiden and I had developed a routine that made absolutely no sense.
He called after my night shifts to ask whether I'd eaten.
I reminded him to have his hand examined.
He sent photographs of disastrously burned toast.
I sent pictures of Lily's increasingly elaborate marine biology drawings.
We were not officially dating.
Not exactly.
But there was something between us that neither of us could ignore.
I knew people would judge me.
They would ask why a nursing student would involve herself with a man whose name appeared in stories about organized crime.
I asked myself the same question.
Aiden never denied his past.
He told me his family controlled shipping warehouses, entertainment venues, private security contracts, and businesses whose histories were less respectable.
He admitted he'd done things he wasn't proud of.
He wouldn't describe all of them.
That frightened me.
And I told him so.
One night, while we walked along a quiet stretch of waterfront, I stopped.
"Aiden, I can't pretend your reputation doesn't exist."
He looked at me.
"I'm not asking you to."
"People say you're dangerous."
"I am."
The admission unsettled me.
He continued.
"I can promise you I won't hurt you intentionally. But I can't promise that knowing me won't complicate your life."
I looked at the water.
"That's not exactly reassuring."
"No."
"Then why are you still here?"
He gave a sad smile.
"Because you're the first person in years who asks what I want instead of what I can give them."
I swallowed.
"And what do you want?"
He looked at me for a long time.
"Something normal."
The answer was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.
The first real threat arrived on a Friday.
I was leaving the hospital when I found a small envelope tucked beneath my windshield wiper.
Inside was a photograph of Lily.
She was standing outside her school.
The picture had been taken that morning.
On the back, someone had written:
Tell Chambers to stop searching for the boy.
My hands began shaking.
I called the police first.
Then my mother.
Then Aiden.
He answered immediately.
"Tessa?"
"Someone took a picture of Lily."
His voice changed.
"Where are you?"
"At the hospital."
"Stay inside. I'll contact the detective handling Noah's case."
I glanced around the garage.
"Aiden, what is happening?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "Someone is trying to use you to reach me."
I felt sick.
"What do they want?"
"For me to stop looking for Noah."
I closed my eyes.
"Aiden, my sister is fifteen."
"I know."
"You can't let these people near her."
"I won't ignore this."
His voice was calm.
But beneath it, I heard fear.
Not for himself.
For Lily.
Detective Rachel Monroe arrived within an hour.
She was in her forties, with short dark hair and an expression that suggested she'd spent her career listening to powerful men explain why the law didn't apply to them.
She examined the photograph.
Then looked at me.
"How long have you known Mr. Chambers?"
"Almost three months."
"Has he threatened you?"
"No."
"Has he pressured you to do anything?"
"No."
She studied my face.
"Are you afraid of him?"
I considered the question carefully.
"I'm afraid of the world he comes from."
She nodded.
"That's a distinction worth remembering."
Aiden arrived while she was speaking.
He stopped several feet away.
"Detective."
"Mr. Chambers."
They clearly knew each other.
Rachel folded her arms.
"Another photograph?"
Aiden nodded.
Her expression hardened.
"Then this isn't a coincidence."
I looked between them.
"What do you mean, another photograph?"
Rachel turned toward me.
"Aiden has received several anonymous messages concerning his missing brother."
I stared at him.
He looked ashamed.
"I didn't want to involve you."
"But someone already has."
"I know."
Rachel interrupted.
"We need both of you to understand that personal security measures are not a substitute for reporting threats and preserving evidence."
Aiden nodded.
"I understand."
I looked at him.
"Do you?"
His jaw tightened.
Then he said, "Yes."
The detective arranged for the photograph to be collected.
She also recommended that Lily's school and my family take appropriate safety precautions.
I drove home that evening with my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly they hurt.
For the first time, I wondered whether knowing Aiden had been a terrible mistake.
Two days later, Lily asked me to stop seeing him.
We were sitting in her hospital room after a scheduled treatment.
She looked pale.
Her favorite book rested beside her.
"Tess, I know you like him."
I looked down.
"It's complicated."
"Everything with you is complicated."
I smiled weakly.
She didn't.
"I'm scared."
My heart broke.
"Of him?"
"Of what happens around him."
I reached for her hand.
"Lily—"
"I don't want to be the reason you stay away from someone you care about."
"You're not."
"But I don't want someone taking pictures of me outside school either."
I swallowed.
"You're right."
Her eyes filled.
"Are you mad?"
"No, sweetheart."
I hugged her.
"I'm proud of you for telling me."
That evening, I called Aiden.
He answered with a warmth that made what I had to say harder.
"Hello, Tessa."
"Aiden, we need some distance."
Silence.
Then, "Because of Lily."
"Yes."
"I understand."
"I care about you."
His breathing changed.
"But I can't let my family become collateral damage."
"You shouldn't."
I closed my eyes.
"Please don't make this harder."
"I won't."
He paused.
Then said, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
"I know."
We ended the call.
I thought that would be the end.
It wasn't.
Five nights later, the fire alarm sounded at our apartment building.
Mom and Lily were asleep.
I ran into the hallway and smelled smoke.
Not much.
Just enough to make my heart stop.
I woke them immediately.
We took the stairs.
By the time firefighters arrived, flames were spreading from a storage room near the ground floor.
Everyone escaped.
The fire was contained.
But investigators later found evidence that it might have been deliberately started.
The next morning, Detective Monroe called.
"Tessa, I need you to come to the station."
I arrived terrified.
She showed me surveillance photographs from a nearby business.
A man had entered our building shortly before the alarm.
He wore a dark cap.
His face was partially obscured.
But the detective had identified the vehicle he used.
It belonged to a private security contractor.
One connected to a company controlled by Aiden's uncle.
I stared at the screen.
"His uncle?"
"Victor Chambers."
I'd heard the name before.
Aiden rarely mentioned him.
When he did, his voice became cold.
Rachel leaned forward.
"Tessa, I think someone inside the Chambers organization wants you frightened."
"Why?"
"Because Aiden is getting close to something."
I looked at the photograph again.
Then whispered, "Noah."
Rachel nodded.
"Possibly."
That afternoon, I went to Aiden's office.
His building overlooked the waterfront.
The receptionist looked horrified when I demanded to see him.
But Aiden appeared within minutes.
When he saw my expression, he dismissed everyone.
"Tessa?"
I stood in the middle of his office.
"Your uncle."
His face changed.
"What about him?"
"Detective Monroe says a company linked to him owns the vehicle used by the man suspected of setting the fire."
Aiden went completely still.
Then he whispered, "Victor."
I stared at him.
"You knew?"
"I suspected something."
"Something?"
He closed his eyes.
"I didn't think he'd go after your family."
My anger erupted.
"My fifteen-year-old sister could have died!"
Aiden flinched.
Not from my volume.
From the truth.
I stepped closer.
"You told me you wanted something normal."
"I did."
"Then why is everyone around you dangerous?"
He stared at the floor.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Finally, he whispered, "Because I let the wrong people control my life for too long."
I felt tears burning my eyes.
"Then stop."
He looked up.
I wiped my cheeks.
"Stop letting them decide who gets hurt."
Aiden's expression changed.
Not into the cold mask I recognized from the hospital.
Into something harder.
Resolve.
He walked to his desk and picked up his phone.
"Marcus, suspend Victor's access to every company facility. Preserve the records and contact our attorneys."
He paused.
"No. I don't care what he threatens."
He ended the call.
Then looked at me.
"I'm going to tell Detective Monroe everything I know about Noah."
I stared at him.
"Everything?"
May you like
His eyes filled.
"Even the things I've spent twenty-four years trying to forget."
