Nowhere to Run ✓

twenty five | ❝don't leave.❞

❝Whatever you do, do it well.❞

☀︎

HARRY GENTLY LAID Anna down. She shifted a little, mumbling indistinctly. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of her. He knew it probably sounded crazy but even with a cut lip and a dislocated knee, she looked beautiful.

Although, it wasn't only her beauty that attracted him to her so much. Most of his attraction lay in her determination and strength. Any other person in her position would've let the man get away.

But not this girl, no. She fought tooth and nail, even when it was certain she would've been killed. Her small frame was a huge misunderstanding when it came to her skill. If she wasn't in pieces already, she would have broken that guy into bits.

As he watched her calmly breathing, the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest started matching his. He wrapped a new blanket around her when she started curling into a ball. Harry could not explain what this was but it was something he hadn't felt in a long time.

He got up to leave her when her hand accidentally brushed his calloused knuckles. She patted his palm gently and tugged at him. Her eyes opened, tired and red. She held on to his hand for dear life, her silver bracelet twinkling.

She shook her head slowly. "Don't leave," she whispered in her sleep laden voice.

It was the first time Harry was hearing this voice. It was pleading but definitive. Calm but commanding. He did not know how to say no to her. He would never say no to her and that was a fact he was slowly coming to terms with.

Harry knew who she was. Anna Bermuda Curtis didn't exist, he wasn't an imbecile. He knew that an ABC name was highly unlikely and there was only one agency that could do something like that. So he dug deeper.

And what he found wasn't pretty. She was Anna Beck, only daughter of Maria and James Beck. She was no paralegal but a trained agent with 36 wins under her belt. She was now on a mission to find and arrest Florian Strebor along with her support agents, Zachary Davis and Tia Cullen.

Harry was immediately struck by all the three surnames. After all, he knew all of these people. It was hard for him to accept that. The one girl who had managed to capture his attention was the one who wanted to tear his whole life apart. So he dug even deeper.

This time he found a surveillance photo of his father. The same man who was supposed to be dead in his rotting grave. The very man he'd last expected to see again. His jaw clenched hard. He hated the man and if he ever had the unfortunate event of seeing him again, he would kill him.

Anna mumbled again, pulling Harry out of his thoughts. She wrapped her arms around his hands and snored lightly. All of a sudden she turned on her back, dragging Harry's arm along with her. He fell forward and checked himself just in time.

Their chests were almost touching now, impossibly close. Harry clicked his tongue. He would have to stay here. He couldn't just leave her, especially when she was hurt and bruised. He tiptoed silently over her and threw himself on the mattress.

It was soft and fluffy and Harry was fighting to stay awake. Anna now turned over again and flung her legs on top of him, clearly mistaking him for a pillow. Harry let out a low yelp but quickly adjusted to her weight.

It was funny, Harry thought, how wonderfully they moulded into each other and yet were the very cause for each other's destruction. His mind raced as he thought of whose betrayal hurt him the most. Anna's or his father's.

Of course, it had to be his father's. After everything the man did to end his own son's life, he at least owned Harry an explanation. But this sick feeling in his chest. One which was spreading like ink on paper inside him. It was all consuming and it physically hurt when he thought about Anna.

This woman was different, no doubt. He'd known that since the day he saw her in the elevator. But never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would see her again. Even worse, he never thought he could care about someone so much that he would sleep next to them without any lewd thoughts.

And the best part? He was using her as a bait to keep the goddamn agency away. The agency would never sacrifice their rising star now, would they?

Wind blew in from the open window and Anna's hair sprawled onto his head. He smoothed it away and tucked it behind her ear. He was struck by the care he was taking but she was hurt and he would've done the same thing for anyone else. Right?

Harry exhaled heavily. The clock ticked beside him with a threatening tick-tock. It sounded like it was counting the seconds to his doomsday. He would have to choose eventually. It was either going after his father or facing Anna.

"Can you go faster? Your bird, papa, why is it not going faster?" Anna whispered in her sleep and Harry turned to face her. She was mumbling again and Harry found it so adorable that he pulled her closer to him.

He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. The heist. That was all he would do. His father could go to hell for all he cared. He would deal with that shit later.

And as for her, he would wait. He'd seen the conflict in her eyes before. She wasn't a bad person, he knew that. He would just have to reveal why he was doing what he was doing. Harry had a feeling Anna would get him.

Previously, he had no idea why she looked so distant and conflicted. He now knew why. He would only have to make her see it clearly. She didn't see how alike they were and that was exactly what he was going to do first thing tomorrow.

Show her the whys and hows and maybe she would back down till he had achieved his goal. He brushed her hair back and whispered into her ear, "I'll be here as long as you need me to be."

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