Chapter 6 - The Unraveling of the GhostInside the bulletproof cabin of the SUV, the heavy armor muffled the sounds of the city outside.
Aiden sat beside me, soaked to the skin, his tuxedo jacket ruined, his chest heaving as adrenaline slowly faded into cold fury. But his hand—his right hand—remained firmly wrapped around mine.
He hadn't let go since the service hallway.
“Your hand,” I whispered, looking down at our intertwined fingers.
Aiden looked down, too. A slow, bitter shadow crossed his face, and he started to pull away, muttering, “Sorry... I know you hate—.”
I tightened my grip, stopping him.
“I don't hate it, Aiden.”
He looked up, his gray eyes searching my face in the dim amber light of the cabin. “Why aren't you screaming? Why aren't you packing your bags and demanding a divorce? I brought you into a literal war zone. Men just tried to murder us because of my name.”
“Because I already knew what kind of world you lived in when I married you,” I said calmly, leaning closer to him. “And because I saw the man in Room 6 at Northlake Medical Center. The man who was terrified of being touched because of whatever scars—physical or emotional—someone carved into him long before he became Seattle’s feared boss.”
Aiden’s jaw clenched. A muscle pulsed in his cheek.
“You don't know what I am, Tessa,” he whispered, his voice cracking with a raw, ancient pain. “You don't know what these hands have done. The blood on them... I am contaminated. I swore a long time ago that I would never let anyone close enough to see the monster underneath, let alone touch it.”
“I’m a nurse, Aiden,” I replied softly, reaching up with my free hand to gently cup his stubbled cheek.
He flinched instinctively, his breath hitching, but he didn't pull away.
“I’ve seen broken bones, diseased tissue, and bodies torn apart by violence,” I whispered, letting my thumb trace his cheekbone. “I don't care about the monster. I care about the man who risked his entire empire tonight just to make sure I wasn't scratched.”
Aiden closed his eyes, a single, heavy tear finally breaking free to slide down his cheek, washing away years of cold isolation.
May you like
When he opened his eyes, the fear was gone.
The ghost of Seattle was finally laying down his weapons.
