Chapter Three — Secrets in the Dark

Cherry

It was nearly midnight when I woke to footsteps. Heavy, unhurried, and far too quiet for anyone who didn't know how to kill in silence.

I slipped out of bed and padded down the hallway. The house was cloaked in shadows, and somewhere beneath it… something was wrong.

Then I saw it.

A door, half-open.

Blood. A trail of it leading into Rafael's private study.

I shouldn't have followed it.

But I did.

Inside, a man lay face-down on the floor. Shot through the head. Still bleeding. I froze. Not because of the body—but because Rafael was standing over it, sleeves rolled up, his gun still smoking.

He didn't look surprised to see me.

"This is the price of betrayal," he said simply, like he was telling me the weather.

"Did he betray you too?" I asked, trying not to let my voice break.

He turned, eyes locking onto mine like a storm ready to split the sky.

"No. But he threatened you."

Silence stretched, thick and trembling.

"I handle threats personally."

I should have been afraid.

But instead, my chest ached in the worst, sweetest way.

Rafael

She wasn't supposed to see that.

But she didn't run.

She walked closer—closer to a man with blood on his hands and no soul left to lose—and looked me in the eyes.

"Why do you care if someone threatens me?" she asked, too quietly.

I didn't answer.

Because I didn't have the words for it yet.

She was a crack in my armor. A light bleeding through darkness I'd sworn would be permanent. And that scared me more than any gun.

"You should leave," I said.

"Then tell me to go."

Her voice trembled, but she stood tall.

I didn't.

Because I didn't want her gone.

Instead, I stepped forward and did the one thing I swore I wouldn't.

I touched her face. Brushed the blackberry strands behind her ear.

And kissed her.

Not gently.

Not sweetly.

But like I was drowning—and she was the only thing keeping me alive.

Cherry

His kiss tasted like danger. Like fire and pain and everything I should've run from.

But I kissed him back.

Because in that moment, nothing had ever felt more real.

When we pulled apart, I whispered,

"What are we doing?"

He rested his forehead against mine.

"Falling into something we'll never escape."

And deep down, I knew he was right