The place wasn't meant to be found.
That was the first thing Naya confirmed.
No digital footprint. No registered ownership. Power rerouted through shell companies layered so thick they blurred into nothing. Whoever built this facility had planned for time, money, and patience.
They hadn't planned for her.
Naya lay prone on a rooftop across the water, rain soaking into her jacket, rifle steady against her shoulder. Through the scope, the building looked like any abandoned industrial plant rusted metal, broken windows, quiet.
Too quiet.
She counted guards. Timed rotations. Noted blind spots that only existed because people trusted systems more than instincts.
Her enemies would've made this messier.
These weren't ghosts.These were businessmen.That made them sloppy.
She exhaled.
"Showtime."
The power cut first.
Lights flickered once then died.
The compound shifted instantly from confidence to confusion.
Naya moved.
She descended the fire escape, hit the ground silently, slipped through the perimeter where security overlapped just enough to create assumption.
One guard fell before he could speak.
Another turned
Too late.
She didn't rush. Didn't waste motion.
Every step was controlled, deliberate, fueled by one singular truth:
Kairo was alive.
And she was done letting anyone decide his fate.
Kairo felt it before he heard it.
The hum of the lights died.
Silence sharpened.
Then chaos.
Footsteps. Shouts. The distant crack of gunfire.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
"Naya," he breathed.
Hope was dangerous.
But this wasn't hope.
This was recognition.
The door burst open.
A body hit the floor hard.
Then she was there.
Hair tied back. Eyes fierce. Weapon raised.
Alive.
Unbroken.
For a split second, neither of them moved.
Then she crossed the room in three strides and dropped to her knees in front of him, hands already working the cuffs.
"I'm sorry," she said fiercely, breathless. "I shouldn't have left."
Kairo swallowed hard. "I shouldn't have let you."
The cuffs released with a sharp click.
He surged to his feet, pulling her into him without thinking, forehead pressed to hers.
"I miss you"
Her breath caught. "You're not too late."
The building shook.
Time snapped back into motion.
They fought their way out together.
Not boxer and bodyguard.
Not billionaire and ghost.
But two people who trusted each other completely.
Kairo disarmed men with brutal efficiency, years of controlled violence unleashed. Naya covered him flawlessly, instincts syncing like muscle memory.
They moved as one.
At the exit, alarms screamed.
Vehicles approached.
Naya shoved keys into his hand. "Drive."
He didn't argue.
They burst through the gate just as gunfire tore through the air, tires screeching as Kairo floored it.
The compound vanished behind them in fire and smoke.
Miles away, safe for the moment, the car slowed.Silence fell.
Kairo reached for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.
"No more running," he said. She squeezed back. "No more denial."They didn't kiss.
Not yet.
This wasn't the end.
But it was the beginning of something neither of them would walk away from again.