CHAPTER 6 — MARKED
Ariel had never felt so exposed in her life.
Despite the blinds now drawn and security personnel sweeping the entire building, she still felt him—
the man outside,
the watcher,
the one who knew her name before she even met Kade.
Her palms were clammy. Her breath shallow. Her heartbeat uneven.
Kade stood in front of her, shoulders tight, jaw clenched, phone pressed to his ear.
"Noah, get the police here now," he ordered. "And get facial recognition running. I don't care how many hours of footage you have to scrub through."
His tone was sharp enough to cut glass.
Cold enough to freeze blood.
But beneath it…
Ariel sensed fear.
Real fear.
"For me?" she whispered without meaning to.
Kade lowered the phone slowly.
His gray eyes locked onto hers—fierce, controlled, but softer than anyone else ever saw.
"Yes," he said. "For you."
Her chest tightened in a way that frightened her more than the man with the sign.
No one had ever worried for her.
Not like this.
Not with this intensity.
Noah returned minutes later, moving with quiet urgency.
"He's gone."
Ariel's breath hitched.
"What do you mean gone?" Kade demanded.
"Gone," Noah repeated. "By the time the guards reached the front entrance, he'd disappeared. No sign of him in the surrounding buildings. Cameras picked him up walking into an alley — but he never came out."
Ariel felt her body sway with sickness.
"He's playing with us," Noah muttered. "He wants to be seen. Then vanish. Control the rhythm. Build the fear."
Ariel grabbed the edge of the desk to steady herself.
Kade shot to her side instantly, hand hovering near her back but not touching.
Almost touching.
Like he wanted to but forced himself not to.
"Sit," he said quietly.
She obeyed, sinking onto the edge of the sofa.
Noah paced. "This isn't random. He's watching the cameras. He chooses times with blind spots. Someone with intelligence training—"
"No," Kade cut sharply. "Not him. He's smart, but not that smart."
Noah raised a brow. "Grief changes people, Kade."
Ariel's stomach twisted.
Grief?
This was about grief?
Kade exhaled tightly, raking a hand through his hair—a gesture so human and unguarded that Ariel forgot how powerful he was.
"We can't let Ariel go home," Noah said bluntly.
Ariel's head snapped up.
"What?"
Kade's voice was soft, but absolute.
"You're not staying at your apartment tonight."
Her pulse jumped. "You can't just decide that—"
"I'm not deciding it," Kade said. "The situation is."
Ariel stood, fists trembling. "I'm not helpless. I've lived alone for years. I can protect myself."
Noah gave a humorless laugh. "Protect yourself from someone who took surveillance photos of you sleeping inside your own home?"
Her breath stopped.
Kade shot Noah a sharp glare. "Enough."
"No, she needs to hear it," Noah insisted. "The man who's targeting her isn't just stalking. He already breached her life. Places he shouldn't have access to."
Noah's voice lowered.
"This isn't fear. It's obsession."
Ariel felt cold.
Kade approached her carefully, as if she was something fragile that needed steady hands.
"You're not safe there," he said quietly. "Not even for one night."
"So what— I stay in a hotel?" Ariel whispered.
"No," Noah answered. "Hotels are easier to infiltrate than apartments."
Ariel blinked. "Then where—"
Kade didn't flinch.
Didn't hesitate.
"With me."
Silence filled the room like smoke—dense, suffocating, charged.
Ariel's throat dried. "What?"
Kade's voice was steady, but she heard the strain under it.
"I live in a penthouse with biometric locks, guarded elevators, and private security on every floor. You'll be safe there."
Ariel shook her head, panic swelling.
Staying in his home? His private world? With a man she barely knew?
"I can't," she whispered. "People will talk… and—"
"I don't care what people talk about," Kade said sharply.
His eyes bore into hers.
"I care about keeping you alive."
Her chest rose and fell too quickly.
"Kade…" Her voice trembled. "This is too much. This is—"
"Ariel."
Her name left his mouth like a command—quiet, firm, unshakeable.
"You nearly died twice in two days. I'm not giving your stalker another chance."
Her knees weakened.
Somewhere between fear and something she refused to name.
Noah cleared his throat, breaking the moment.
"Kade isn't asking," Noah said. "He's telling you the safest option. If you leave this building tonight without protection, you are giving the stalker exactly what he wants."
Ariel covered her face with her hands, overwhelmed.
This wasn't the life she signed up for.
She only wanted a job. Stability. Rent money. Peace.
Instead she had—
A stalker.
A dead woman hanging over her head.
Threats painted in ink.
A powerful man trying to shield her from ghosts in his past.
Finally, she lowered her hands.
"Okay," she whispered. "Just for tonight."
Kade nodded once—relief barely flickering across his expression.
Noah smirked faintly. "I'll inform the car."
Ariel exhaled shakily.
This was happening.
She was going home with Kade Blackwood .
But as Noah left the office, something lingered in his eyes.
A silent question.
A warning.
And the moment the door closed behind him, Kade stepped closer, voice low.
"Ariel… whoever is after me will come after you again."
Her breath caught.
"This won't be easy," he said. "And I won't lie to you—it may get worse before it gets better."
Ariel swallowed hard.
"Then why help me at all?"
Kade's eyes darkened—shadowed with something she didn't understand.
"Because," he said quietly,
"someone else paid the price for my mistakes.
And it won't happen again."
Ariel's heart twisted painfully.
She didn't know what the tr
uth was,
or who the woman before her had been,
or why someone wanted her gone.
But one thing was clear:
She was now a piece on a board she didn't understand.
And the game had only just begun.