Veil 2

The cold night air bites at my skin as I walk away from the hotel, my heels clicking against the pavement. My heart should be pounding from the encounter, from the way Helios looked at me like he’d seen a ghost. But it’s not. It’s steady. Controlled. This moment—this confrontation—I’ve played it over in my mind a thousand times.

He recognized me. I saw it in his eyes the second I spoke his name. The disbelief. The guilt. The panic. Helios Valenti, the man who once swore to protect me, had been left speechless. And that, in itself, was a small victory.

The city hums around me, neon lights flickering in the distance, the sound of traffic blending into the background. It’s all the same, yet everything feels different now that I’ve returned. My presence alone has already begun to stir the waters, and soon, the Moretti family will know the truth.

I pull my coat tighter around me as I weave through the streets, heading toward the safehouse I established weeks ago. The plan was set in motion long before tonight. Every step, every move was calculated. And Helios… well, he was always going to be my first target.

I reach the apartment complex, an inconspicuous building in a quieter part of the city. It’s nothing fancy, but it serves its purpose—an untraceable place to lay low while I put the rest of my plan into action.

Inside, I lock the door behind me and exhale slowly. My body may be still, but my mind is anything but. The past is creeping up on me, its claws digging into my thoughts, whispering memories I’ve tried to bury.

I drop onto the worn leather couch, staring at the ceiling. For years, I’ve pushed down the pain, the betrayal, the fear. But now, with Helios’s face fresh in my mind, the memories claw their way back.

Six Years Ago

I remember the gunfire. The sharp sting of betrayal. The burning pain tearing through my body.

I had trusted them. I had trusted him.

Helios had been my protector—at least, that’s what I had believed. But the night I was attacked, he wasn’t there. And when I needed him most, the people I had once called family turned their backs on me.

I was left for dead in a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, my body broken, my breath shallow. I should have died. By all accounts, I wasn’t meant to survive.

But I did.

Through sheer will and the help of someone who owed me a debt, I clawed my way back from the brink. I spent years recovering, rebuilding, reshaping myself into someone unrecognizable. The weak girl who had been betrayed? She no longer existed.

Now, I was back. And this time, I wasn’t the one running.

Present Day

A knock on the door snaps me out of my thoughts. My muscles tense immediately, my hand instinctively reaching for the gun tucked into my coat. No one should know where I am. No one except—

Another knock. Louder this time.

I slowly move to the door, pressing my ear against it. Silence follows. I grip my gun tighter before unlocking the door just enough to peer outside.

And there he is.

Helios.

His face is shadowed beneath the dim hallway light, his sharp jaw clenched, eyes dark and unreadable.

For a brief second, neither of us speak. The air between us is thick, heavy with something unspoken.

Then, he exhales sharply. “You’re alive.”

I tilt my head slightly. “Disappointed?”

He shakes his head, his expression unreadable. “I don’t know what I am.”

I step back, leaving the door open just enough for him to step inside if he dares. He does. Slowly, cautiously.

The door clicks shut behind him, sealing us in together for the first time in years.

He looks around the apartment, his sharp gaze taking in every detail—every exit point, every possible danger. He hasn’t changed. Still the enforcer. Still the man trained to see threats before they arise.

Finally, his gaze settles on me.

“You should be dead,” he says, voice low. “I went to your funeral, Elena.”

I smirk, though there’s no humor in it. “Clearly, someone lied to you.”

His jaw tightens, his hands clenching at his sides. “What happened to you?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh, now you care?”

The words hit him like a slap. He flinches, just slightly, but I see it.

“I—” He stops, exhaling. “I looked for you, Elena.”

I let out a short, bitter laugh. “Not hard enough.”

Silence stretches between us.

Then, he runs a hand down his face, looking away briefly before meeting my gaze again. “What do you want?”

Finally. The real question.

I step closer, just enough for him to feel the weight of my presence. “I want justice. I want revenge. And I want you to remember that you failed me.”

His throat bobs, his eyes darkening. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice.”

I can see the guilt in his expression, the way his shoulders tense as if carrying the weight of the past. But guilt won’t change what happened. Guilt won’t erase the years I spent in the shadows, rebuilding the life they stole from me.

He sighs, running a hand through his dark hair. “You don’t understand, Elena.”

“Then make me understand.”

He hesitates. Just for a second. And that hesitation tells me everything I need to know.

There’s more to this than I thought.

I narrow my eyes. “You knew something, didn’t you?”

He doesn’t answer.

I take another step forward, my voice dropping. “You knew something, and you still let me die.”

His gaze snaps to mine, something dangerous flickering in his expression. “It wasn’t that simple.”

“It never is.”

Another long silence.

Then, he exhales, his shoulders slumping slightly. “Elena… if you’re really back, if you’re really doing this, you need to be careful.”

I let out a short, humorless laugh. “Careful?” I shake my head. “I didn’t come back to play it safe, Helios. I came back to finish what was started.”

He looks at me for a long moment, and I can see it in his eyes—the war within him. The part of him that still sees me as the woman he once knew and the part of him that knows I’m not the same anymore.

Finally, he sighs. “You won’t stop, will you?”

“No.”

He nods slowly, as if accepting something he already knew deep down. “Then I need to know one thing.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

His jaw tightens. “Are you here to kill them?”

The question lingers in the air, heavy between us.

I take my time before answering, stepping even closer, my gaze never leaving his. “What do you think?”

His eyes search mine, looking for something. I don’t know what.

Then, after what feels like an eternity, he exhales and nods.

“Then I guess we’re on opposite sides now.”

I tilt my head, smirking slightly. “Are we?”

He doesn’t answer.

Because he doesn’t know.

And for the first time since I walked away from that hotel, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.

This is just the beginning.