Chapter 9 The Ghosts We Choose

CHAPTER NINE

The days that followed blurred into golden mornings and quiet, candlelit evenings. Elias was no longer a shadow in the house. He was presence. He was touch. He was warmth in the places Anika never realized had gone cold.

But even peace has a price.

And ghosts, no matter how long buried, always claw back to the surface.

It began with a phone call.

The old landline on the kitchen wall rang for the first time in months.

Elias stiffened as soon as it rang. He answered after three rings, voice tight.

"Black."

Anika stood at the doorway, towel in hand from drying dishes, watching the way his expression darkened with every second.

"No, she's not involved," he snapped. "You promised that part was done. If this gets near her-"

He stopped.

Then listened.

And slowly, something like pain mixed with fury filled his eyes.

He ended the call. Didn't speak.

Anika stepped forward. "Elias?"

He didn't look at her.

"It was a mistake," he said finally. "Letting myself feel like this was real."

"Don't," she said sharply. "Don't pull away from me now."

"I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice."

He turned, his voice a low growl. "I made enemies. Real ones. The kind that wait years to strike. And I gave them a weakness-you."

She stared at him, heart pounding. "You think I regret loving you?"

His jaw tightened. "You shouldn't have to pay for who I was."

"Maybe I want to. Maybe I'm not scared."

"You should be."

Then he walked away.

Packed a bag.

And vanished.

Anika searched every room of the estate, every hallway, every door he never let her open. Nothing.

By midnight, the house felt like it did the first time she arrived.

Cold.

Empty.

She stood on the porch, rain misting across her skin, her heart a tight ache in her chest.

"You don't get to disappear," she whispered. "Not after everything."

And somewhere in the darkness beyond the gates, Elias watched.

He hadn't gone far.

But the ghosts he carried had come calling.

And Anika wasn't safe.

Not yet.