Three days into her training, Clair was no longer just the "kidnapped girl."
She moved like a threat now.
Her grip on the Glock was steady. Her punches didn't tremble. Even Marco, who prided himself on being unshakable, had to admit, Clair was becoming dangerous in her own right.
And it scared Austin more than he cared to admit.
Not because she was growing stronger.
But because he was starting to picture a future where she ruled beside him.
The security team updated Austin that morning: movement from the Blackson cartel had been spotted in Chicago, close to one of his safehouses.
Austin's jaw tightened. "Pull my men. Don't engage."
Marco frowned. "That's risky. If they think we're backing down..."
"They'll get bold. I want them bold. That's when they make mistakes."
"And if they come for Clair again?"
Austin's eyes darkened. "They won't get close."
But deep down, he wasn't so sure.
Clair knew something was off the second she entered the east hallway.
One of the guards, Trevor, she thought, jerked slightly when she passed.
She turned back. "You okay?"
He forced a smile. "All good, ma'am."
She nodded, kept walking… but her instincts buzzed.
Something about his eyes. Too shifty. Like he was waiting for something.
She kept walking but doubled back after turning the corner, pressing her back against the wall. She peeked.
Trevor was on a burner phone.
She strained to listen.
"…tonight… no, she's here alone in the garden at nine… yeah, I'll make sure the cameras go dark for five minutes. Just be ready."
Clair's blood ran cold.
They're planning to grab me. From inside.
She didn't tell Austin immediately.
Instead, she went to Marco first.
He paced, furious. "You sure it was Trevor?"
"I know what I heard," Clair said.
"Could be a setup."
"Then let's set a trap."
Marco's face lit up with something close to admiration. "You really are one of us now."
She didn't smile.
Because this wasn't a game.
If they were going to use her as bait, she had to be ready to kill.
At 8:55 p.m., Clair walked out to the garden as planned, heart pounding in her ears.
She wore a black hoodie and jeans, hair pulled back tight, and a small blade hidden in her boot, just like Marco showed her.
All cameras were still running, but they were being monitored manually by Marco's most trusted men.
Austin didn't know the full plan.
Clair insisted.
"If he knows, he'll never let it happen. And we'll lose our shot."
So Marco reluctantly agreed.
The garden was silent.
Too silent.
Clair walked past the rose bushes, counting the seconds.
Then she heard it.
A branch snapped.
Clair spun just as a figure lunged at her, mask, black clothes, knife glinting in the moonlight.
She ducked.
Slashed upward with the blade in her boot.
Caught his arm.
He howled, grabbed her by the waist, tried to drag her into the trees.
Clair elbowed him in the throat, broke free, rolled, and pulled the gun Marco had slipped into her hoodie earlier.
The attacker charged again.
She fired once.
The shot echoed through the garden.
He dropped.
Footsteps exploded behind her, guards, Marco, two more attackers taken down by snipers.
Marco grabbed her. "You good?"
Clair was shaking, eyes wide. "I shot him. I shot him and he...he was trying to...."
"You did good," Marco said. "You did exactly what you had to."
Then Austin appeared, furious, wild-eyed.
"What the hell happened?!" he roared.
Marco glanced at Clair. She nodded.
"She saved herself," Marco said simply.
Austin's eyes scanned her, alive, but trembling.
"Who let this happen without telling me?"
"I did," Clair said. "I needed to know if I could handle it."
He stepped forward, voice low. "This is not a test you ever take alone."
"I wasn't alone. I had Marco. I had me."
"You're not a soldier."
"I don't want to be. But I'd rather fight than wait around to die."
Austin's hands were fists at his sides. "You could've been killed."
"But I wasn't."
That shut him up.
Later that night, Clair sat on her bed, still buzzing from adrenaline.
Austin entered quietly.
He didn't say anything for a long moment.
Then, "The man you shot was from Blackson's crew."
Clair nodded. "That confirms it."
"There's more," Austin added. "He wasn't alone. He had a contact inside."
"Trevor."
Austin's eyes sharpened. "You knew?"
"I overheard him. That's how this started."
He sat on the edge of her bed, hands on his knees. "I should've known. I should've protected you."
"I don't want to be protected. I want to stand beside you."
He looked up at her. "Why? Why stay in this world?"
She hesitated.
Then said softly, "Because I love what I see when you stop pretending to be a monster."
Austin's heart stopped.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then said, "I don't know how to be anything else."
Clair leaned forward.
"You already are."
The next morning, Trevor was gone.
No one said what happened to him.
But the look in Austin's eyes told her everything.
He would kill anyone, anyone, who touched what was his.
And now?
She was his.
And he was hers.
Whether they admitted it out loud or not.