CHAPTER 2 UNWANTED REUNION

The morning air hung heavy with mist. The city hadn’t changed much — same gray skyline, same restless pulse — but to Ethan, it felt colder. Colder because Lila wasn’t somewhere in it anymore.

He stood on the balcony of her old apartment, watching people rush by below, each one living a normal life. For a moment, he wondered what that felt like.

His phone buzzed once.

> Logan: “Surveillance set. Two unknown vehicles circling the block.”

Ethan replied:

> Ignore. Let them watch.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket. Whoever had killed Lila wanted him to see the eyes on him. They wanted him to know he wasn’t untouchable anymore.

That was fine. Let them try.

He picked up the black suit jacket draped over the chair and slid it on. Simple, elegant, tailored — but reinforced with woven graphene layers under the lining. Old habits die hard.

Today, he was going to see Claire.

The café sat on the corner of Ashland Avenue, its windows fogged by the rain. Ethan stood outside for a moment before stepping in, the bell above the door chiming softly.

The scent of coffee and warm pastries filled the air — familiar, ordinary, painfully human.

Then she looked up.

Claire Turner froze mid-step behind the counter, a porcelain cup in her hand. Her eyes widened, and the cup slipped, shattering on the floor.

“E–Ethan?”

He gave a faint, calm smile. “Hey, Claire.”

Her knees nearly gave out. She had dreamed of this moment a hundred times, but not like this. Not with him standing there alive, wearing that same quiet confidence that had always both comforted and unnerved her.

She came around the counter, her voice trembling. “You’re alive. God, I— they said—”

“I know,” he said softly. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay! You just disappeared, Ethan. I went to your funeral. There was a body, there were reports— I…” She swallowed, eyes glistening. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He looked away. “Because I couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

He didn’t answer. The silence stretched between them, thick with all the words they’d never said.

She crossed her arms, trying to steady herself. “Why are you here now?”

His eyes darkened slightly. “Lila’s dead.”

The words hit her like a punch. Claire covered her mouth, tears immediately welling. “No… no, Ethan, she can’t be…”

“She was murdered three days ago.”

She staggered back, shaking her head. “Oh my God… I saw her last week. She was fine. She said she was meeting someone for dinner—”

Ethan’s voice went cold. “Do you remember who?”

Claire blinked through the tears, thinking. “Some businessman. She didn’t say a name. Just that he worked for Helios Corporation.”

There it was again. Helios.

He nodded slowly. “Thank you.”

“Ethan…” Claire reached for him, her voice barely a whisper. “Please don’t do whatever you’re thinking.”

He looked down at her hand on his sleeve, then back into her eyes — the same eyes that used to calm him after missions gone wrong, the same eyes that once made him think about a life beyond blood and shadows.

But that life died with Lila.

“I already started,” he said quietly.

A man in a gray coat entered the café and took a seat near the window. Another followed two minutes later. They didn’t order anything. Their eyes never left Ethan.

He noticed without looking directly — a reflection in the spoon on the table, the faint shift of a jacket revealing a holster.

“Claire,” he said under his breath, “go to the back room.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Now.”

Something in his tone made her obey before her brain could question it. She stepped away, confusion written all over her face.

Ethan reached for his coffee cup just as the first man stood up, hand dipping inside his coat.

The shot came fast — a suppressed pop that most people would have missed.

Ethan moved faster. The ceramic cup shattered as he used it to deflect the bullet mid-flight, shards flying. He dropped low, drew a matte-black pistol from under his jacket, and fired once.

The assassin crumpled silently, a neat hole through his temple.

The second man bolted for the door, but Logan was already there, blocking the exit, gun drawn.

“Going somewhere?” Logan asked.

The man hesitated for a split second — too long. Ethan was on him in two strides, disarming him with brutal precision. A twist, a crunch, and the weapon hit the floor.

Ethan slammed him against the wall. “Who sent you?”

The man clenched his jaw. “You’re already dead, Ward. You just don’t know it yet.”

Ethan pressed the barrel of his gun to the man’s knee. “Last chance.”

The assassin smiled faintly, blood at the corner of his mouth. “Helios sends their regards.”

Then his head jerked violently as a hidden capsule cracked in his molar — cyanide. His body went limp.

Logan cursed softly. “Suicide pill. Damn pros.”

Ethan holstered his weapon and glanced toward the back room. Claire peeked out, eyes wide with terror.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded.

“Trouble,” he said simply. “You need to leave the city.”

She shook her head, trembling. “Ethan, I’m not leaving you again.”

“This isn’t your fight.”

Her voice broke. “Lila was my friend too.”