Chapter 325: Elena, Come Here Now

The second I heard his voice, my throat tightened like someone had gripped it. It was rough, tired… real.

My eyes stung so fast I almost panicked. I blinked hard and forced myself to breathe through it.

I switched the call to video immediately. Even with this heavy makeup and a stranger’s face painted onto mine, I trusted one thing with my whole life Lewis would know me.

The screen loaded.

And there he was.

For a second, I didn’t recognize him.

This wasn’t the man who always looked sharp, who always made sure his hair sat right and his shirt sat perfect. This Lewis looked like he hadn’t slept. His jaw was dark with stubble. His cheeks looked hollow. His eyes were red at the edges, like he’d been fighting the same nightmare over and over.

My chest squeezed.

I wanted to reach through the screen and hold him.

He stared at me like he was looking at a ghost.

His lips moved.

“Elena?”

Even with the sound low, I read it clearly.

I nodded so hard it almost hurt.

It’s me. It’s me. It’s me.

I pointed at my throat, then flicked my eyes around the tiny stall, warning him without words.

He understood instantly. His voice dropped, calm but sharp. “You can’t speak. And where you are… it’s not safe.”

I nodded again, fast.

All the soft feelings in his face vanished. The Alpha in him surfaced like a shadow stepping forward. Focused. Cold. Ready.

“Send me your location. Now.”

My hands shook so badly I almost dropped the phone. But Riley bless her had already set up what I needed. There was WhatsApp. There were maps. There was a way out.

Lewis saved the number right away. I sent my live location in one quick move, then typed fast, my fingers flying like they were sparking.

Don’t rush in. They’re watching.

Whitney is here too.

Best chance is during the wedding chaos.

Everyone thinks I’m dead. Use that.

His reply came almost immediately.

Elena, don’t take risks. Wait for me.

My heart felt like it cracked and healed in the same breath.

I typed one more warning.

Be careful of Theo. He’s the one who had me taken.

His response was short.

I already know.

Relief slid through me so hard my shoulders dropped.

I swallowed, then typed the next thing, the thing my instincts wouldn’t let me ignore.

Amber wants me dead. Dig into her.

I’m turning the phone off now. I’ll contact you again.

Take care. I love you.

Before the call ended, I saw his lips move again.

“Elena, I miss you.”

My throat burned.

Me too.

I powered the phone off with trembling fingers. My whole body was shaking like I’d just escaped a trap because I had. My nerves were loud, my skin too tight, my heartbeat too wild.

I washed my hands, splashed water on my face, and stared at my reflection until I could wear the mask again.

Then I stepped out.

Yael was waiting nearby, finishing a cigarette. His eyes flicked to my face.

I pointed at my cheek, pretending my makeup had smudged.

He frowned like it personally offended him. “This kind of makeup shouldn’t stay on too long. It’s bad for your skin. Come.”

I gestured toward Whitney, still posing near the sea.

Yael’s mouth curved. “Don’t worry. She’s safer than you right now.”

He guided me to the car and told me to clean my face. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment as I wiped away layers of fake identity, bit by bit.

Then he leaned back and sighed. “Your skin is sensitive. Maybe we should stay outside where nobody interrupts.”

The way he said it made my stomach twist. My instincts rose, sharp and warning.

I shook my head quickly and pointed again toward Whitney. I wanted to stay close. I wanted to watch the wedding.

Yael looked annoyed, but he let it go. “Fine. We’ll go back later.”

He didn’t know the truth.

If I had told Lewis to come straight here, he would’ve walked into a wall of eyes and teeth. I did the right thing.

Yael dragged me to a quiet stretch of sand and made me sit with him like we were on some innocent outing. He started building shapes in the sand careful, focused, like it mattered more than anything else.

It felt like babysitting a grown man.

When he finished a sandcastle and a long, curved tail beside it, his smile lit up his whole face. Too bright. Too clean for someone like him.

“Elena,” he said happily, “stand in front.”

I lay behind the sand shape while he snapped a photo with his phone.

“If you were a mermaid,” he said, delighted, “you’d be the most beautiful.”

I stared at him, unsettled by how childlike he could look. Like a boy trapped in a man’s body. Like someone who had never learned what love was supposed to be.

As the sky darkened, the tide crawled closer. The sea began swallowing our work, inch by inch.

“Let’s go,” I said softly.

I was starving too so hungry my stomach felt like it could eat a whole cow.

Yael didn’t move. He watched the waves erase everything we made.

“What a shame,” he murmured.

Then he chuckled, low and strange. “Beautiful things shouldn’t exist in the first place.”

He pulled me into his arms like I was something he owned, but not in a heated way more like a treasure locked in a box.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’ll always stay with me, won’t you?”

I didn’t dare fight him. Not here.

So I nodded.

“Yes.”

His fingers traced my cheek like he was studying a sculpture. “You’re amazing,” he said. “I’m liking you more and more.”

“How much?” I asked carefully.

His gaze stayed distant. “Enough to give my life for you.”

A bitter laugh slipped out of me. “That sounds impossible.”

He didn’t answer. He just stood and tugged me toward the car. “Let’s go home.”

Later, when my face was back under makeup again, he fixed the last details with annoying patience. We were inches apart, but he never tried to kiss me. He looked at me the way you look at something rare behind glass.

“Such a waste,” he grumbled. “Hiding your real face.”

My stomach growled loudly.

Yael’s mood switched instantly. “Sorry. I made you hungry again. What do you want to eat? I’ll take you.”

“Can I choose?”

He smiled. “Of course. There’s a night market nearby.”

The night market was loud and bright. Music, smoke, sugar, laughter. People pressed close, shoulder to shoulder. The air was thick with fried food and perfume and heat.

Yael held my hand the whole time.

He bought me small accessories things he thought girls liked and then made me wear a rabbit mask.

“You’re as cute as a rabbit,” he said, pleased.

He picked a sharp ghost mask for himself and leaned in. “Roar. Do I look scary?”

I rolled my eyes and played along. “So childish.”

He bent closer, voice dropping until it slid under my skin. “Elena… do you want to run?”

My heart dipped.

He smiled like it was friendly, but his eyes were not. “I don’t want to chain you. But if you try, I won’t hesitate to hurt Whitney.”

My body went cold.

“What are you saying?” I snapped. “She’s your sister-in-law.”

“As long as she’s alive, Vito won’t care,” he said simply, like it was nothing. Then his stare sharpened. “So don’t even think about escaping. Understand?”

I forced my face smooth. Forced my breathing steady.

“I’m not escaping,” I said quickly. “I just want that candied fruit over there.”

Yael watched me like he didn’t believe a word. Then he grinned.

“I’ll get it for you. Stay here.”

He tapped my head lightly and walked away.

And that was when it happened.

I turned just a little and saw a tall man standing near a tree. His face was hidden behind a white cat mask.

The crowd moved, lights flashing, people laughing, but everything inside me went still.

Through the dark eye holes, I locked eyes with someone I knew better than my own heartbeat.

Even with the mask on, I felt him.

Like a pull in my blood.

Like a bond tightening.

Lewis.

He lifted his hand and slowly removed the mask.

And there he was thin lips, tired eyes, and that look that said one thing without saying it at all.

Elena. Come here.

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