Rachel woke up to sunlight coming through her bedroom window.
For a moment, she forgot everything that happened. Then it all came back. Dominic in the bathroom. Raziel beating him. The man coming to her house. The threat. The protection. The trapped feeling.
She got out of bed and went to the window.
Marcus was still there.
He was standing across the street, looking at her house like he'd been doing it all night. He probably had. Rachel checked her phone. It was 7 AM. Had he been out there since Raziel left?
She threw on a hoodie and some sweatpants. Her hair was messy, her face was blotchy from crying last night, but she didn't care. She made coffee in the kitchen. Strong, the way she liked it. Then she made scrambled eggs and toast.
She walked outside with a plate and a cup of coffee.
Marcus looked at her like she was crazy.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"You've been standing out here all night," Rachel said. "You probably didn't eat. So I made you breakfast."
Marcus stared at the plate. The scrambled eggs, the toast, the butter on the side. The coffee was still steaming.
"You don't have to do that," he said.
"I know. But you're hungry. I can tell."
He took the plate. His hands were big, scarred. He looked like someone who'd been in a lot of fights.
"Thank you," he said. His voice was different when he said it. Not as cold.
He ate standing up, right there on her porch, never taking his eyes off the street. Rachel
"You should go back inside," he said with his mouth half full. "You shouldn't be out here."
"Why? What's going to happen?"
"Nothing. Right now. But you need to stay inside when possible. Keep the doors locked. Don't talk to neighbors. Don't tell anyone about me."
"Okay," Rachel said. "But what if you need something? Water? Food? Anything?"
Marcus looked at her. His eyes were cold, but something behind them was softer.
"I'm fine," he said.
But he wasn't fine. By noon, she could see him sweating. It was hot outside. She made more coffee and brought it to him. This time with ice.
"Thank you," he said again. That softer voice.
"What's your name?" she asked. "Your full name?"
"Marcus Stone."
"I'm Rachel Brooks."
"I know," he said.
Of course he knew. They probably knew everything about her.
Around two o'clock, she made a sandwich. Turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo. She brought it outside with chips on the side.
Marcus looked like he wanted to say no. But he was hungry. She could see it.
"You're going to spoil me," he said, but he took the plate.
"Is that bad?" Rachel asked.
"It's not what I expected," he said.
"What did you expect?"
He thought about it for a moment. "You screaming. Fighting. Trying to run."
"I thought about it," Rachel said. "Last night. But running won't help, will it? The man - Raziel - he said Dominic will find me. Is that true?"
Marcus finished chewing his sandwich before he answered. "Yes."
"So running won't work."
"No."
"Then I'm stuck here."
"Yes," Marcus said. "You're stuck here until this is over."
"How long will that take?"
"Don't know yet."
Rachel sat on the porch steps. Marcus was still standing, still watching the street. But something about him had changed. He wasn't as tense.
"Can I ask you something?" Rachel said.
"Depends on the question."
"Do you actually want to be here? Or are you being forced?"
Marcus took a long time to answer. "I'm here because my boss told me to be here. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be."
"Why would you want to be here?"
"Because you're not screaming. You're not hysterical. You're just... handling it."
Rachel hadn't thought of it that way. She wasn't handling it. She was just trying not to fall apart.
"I'm scared," she said quietly.
"I know," Marcus said. "But you're doing okay."
By evening, when Marcus's shift ended, a different guard showed up. Younger, with tattoos on his arms and a smile that actually reached his eyes.
"Hey, I'm Kai," he said, already walking toward her porch like it was normal. "Marcus says you make good sandwiches."
Rachel laughed. She actually laughed. "There's one in the fridge if you want it."
"For real?" Kai said. He looked genuinely excited.
"Yeah. Come on."
She went inside and Kai followed her into the kitchen. He ate the sandwich standing up, leaning against her counter. He talked about nothing important - the weather, the neighborhood, how quiet her street was. He didn't ask her questions. He just... talked. Like a normal person.
By the time his shift ended at midnight, Rachel felt less alone.
The next guard was different. Cold. Handsome in a dangerous way. His name was Alex, and he didn't smile. He didn't eat the food she offered. He just took his position outside and watched.
Rachel tried talking to him through the window.
He didn't respond.
After an hour, she gave up. But she left water outside for him anyway. In the morning, the bottle was empty.
This became the routine.
Marcus during the day, sometimes in the morning. Kai in the late afternoon and evening. Alex at night. They rotated. Three different men, three different energies. Marcus was protective and serious but warming up to her. Kai was friendly and funny. Alex was cold and distant.
But all of them were guarding her. All of them had orders to keep her safe. And slowly, Rachel started to understand that these men weren't her enemies.
They were just trapped with her.
On the third day, Raziel texted her.
"Don't leave your house. Don't talk to anyone. The guards are your only contact. Follow their instructions."
That was it. No explanation. No check-in. Just orders.
Rachel stared at the message for a long time. She wanted to text back, to ask him what was happening, to tell him she was scared. But she didn't. She just put her phone down and went back to making dinner.
Marcus was outside. She made extra.
When he came in to eat, she asked him, "Is he always like that?"
"Like what?"
"Cold. Just giving orders."
Marcus sat at her kitchen table. She'd offered him a chair that morning, and he'd started accepting. "He's the boss. That's how he operates."
"But he saved me. Why would he save me and then just... disappear?"
"He didn't disappear," Marcus said. "He's making sure you're protected. That's not disappearing. That's taking responsibility."
"It feels like disappearing."
Marcus looked at her. "He's attracted to you. But that doesn't change how he operates. He's a mafia boss. He doesn't do soft. He doesn't do romantic. He takes what he wants and he protects it. That's it."
Rachel felt something twist in her chest. "He wants me?"
"Yeah," Marcus said. "He wants you. But right now, he's focused on keeping you alive. Everything else comes later."
"What if he decides to just... use me? What if this is all some game?"
Marcus stood up and looked her in the eye. "He could have let Dominic hurt you. He could have ignored what happened in that bathroom. But he didn't. He beat Dominic half to death. He brought you here. He assigned me and Kai and Alex to protect you. That's not a game. That's obsession. And obsession, from a man like Raziel, is the closest thing you're going to get to love."
Rachel didn't know what to say to that.
Marcus finished his coffee and went back outside.
That night, Alex took his position by her door. Rachel still wasn't sure about him. He was too cold. Too much like Raziel, and she didn't know how to read him yet.
But she left water for him anyway. And in the morning, it was gone.
She was starting to understand that even cold men needed someone to care about them. Even dangerous men appreciated a gesture. Even guards who were ordered to protect her could become something like friends.
She didn't know where Raziel was. She didn't know when she'd see him again. She didn't know if what Marcus said was true - if Raziel's obsession was the closest thing to love she'd ever get.
But she knew that Marcus had eaten her food. Kai had laughed at her jokes. And even Alex, cold as ice, had drunk the water she left for him.
They were here. And they weren't the enemy.
That was enough for now.