📖 Chapter 3: Conflicted Loyalties
Aria wasn't used to sleeping with one eye open—but ever since she started guarding Aiden Black, sleep came in fragments.
The man had a routine as sharp as her instincts. Up at 5. Coffee by 5:15. Strategy meetings. Security drills. Business briefings. And despite his wealth, Aiden trusted no one.
Except, maybe… her.
"You're jumpy," Aiden said, sipping coffee on the penthouse balcony. His gaze didn't leave the skyline.
Aria didn't look at him. "I'm always jumpy."
He turned. "No. I've worked with mercs, ex-military, war dogs. You're something else. Clean. Precise. Dangerous. But distracted."
Her hand twitched near her belt.
"Are you reading me now?" she asked coolly.
"I read people. It's why I'm alive," he replied. "But you… You're hard to pin."
Aria met his eyes then—just for a second. It felt like falling into a storm.
Before she could answer, a voice crackled through her earpiece.
> "Security breach. Basement servers. Internal access attempt."
Aiden's eyes narrowed. "Find out who it was."
She nodded and rushed inside.
---
The server room was cold, humming with machines and secrets. Aria scanned the logs. The breach wasn't from the outside. Someone inside the building had tried to tap into Aiden's encrypted files.
Her own encrypted files.
She clenched her jaw. They're testing me.
Back upstairs, Aiden was still on the balcony, phone in hand.
"Three weeks ago," he said, "a senator died in his sleep. Perfect health. No signs of a struggle. Just… gone."
Aria blinked. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because he was one of five names on a list I'm protecting. All of them have died except me."
Her throat tightened. "What list?"
He looked at her, hard. "The list you're looking for."
The words hit her like a punch to the gut.
"I'm not stupid, Aria. I don't know who sent you—but I know you're not here just to guard me."
Silence.
"I should fire you," he added. "But I won't."
"Why not?"
Aiden stepped closer. "Because for some reason… I trust you."
Aria didn't move. Her chest was tight. Her thoughts tangled.
He knows. And he still trusts me.
She could hear her handler's voice in her head:
> "When the moment comes, finish the job."
But now, with Aiden just inches away, staring at her not like a target—but like a person…
She wasn't sure if she could pull the trigger anymore.