Fire and Fire
HARDIN’S POV
My hands were still shaking.
I tried to hide it, but every time I glanced at Ariana—still pale, still rattled, still holding that damn phone like it was a bomb—I felt that fire rise up in my chest again.
I should’ve seen it coming.
I should’ve known.
That bastard—her stepbrother—wasn’t just a ghost from the past anymore.
He was here.
And now he had crosshairs aimed at the woman I loved.
“I’m calling Ronny,” I said, pacing across her office like a caged animal.
Ariana looked up from her seat on the couch, blinking like she’d only just realized I was still in the room.
“You don’t have to—”
I turned, pinning her with a look sharp enough to cut steel. “Don’t even finish that sentence.”
She closed her mouth.
I pulled out my phone and hit the contact I knew by heart. Ronny picked up on the second ring.
“Hardin.”
“I need three men. Now,” I said, keeping my voice low and steady even though my insides felt like they were splitting open. “The best. No questions. Armed. Discreet.”
A pause. Then Ronny’s voice sharpened. “Where?”
“Miller Enterprises. For Ariana.”
Another pause. Then, “I’ll send my top three. They’ll be there in fifteen.”
I ended the call.
Ariana watched me silently, her jaw tight, fingers laced tightly around the bottled water Joan had handed her minutes ago.
“I can’t live like this,” she said softly, like the words were pulled from somewhere deep and painful. “Looking over my shoulder. Waiting for the next time he—”
I dropped to one knee in front of her before she could finish.
“No one’s asking you to live like this,” I said, reaching for her hands. They were still trembling. “But you’re the CEO of one of the biggest companies in the country. That alone paints a target on your back. And now with your psychotic stepbrother sending sniper-level threats—Ariana, come on. You think I’m just going to walk away and leave you unprotected?”
Her eyes met mine. “And what about you? You have your own company to run. You’re not my bodyguard.”
“Then fire me,” I snapped. “Because right now, that’s exactly what I’m going to be.”
Ariana blinked, caught off guard.
But I wasn’t kidding.
“I’ll pull my entire team off every project if I have to,” I said. “Ronny’s guys are on their way, but if you don’t want them, fine. I’ll stay. Hell, I’ll follow you to the damn bathroom if that’s what it takes to keep you safe.”
Her face softened for a second.
But only for a second.
“Hardin…”
“No,” I said firmly. “Don’t ‘Hardin’ me. Don’t act like I’m being dramatic. I watched a bullet miss your head by three inches today. Three. Do you understand what that did to me? Do you have any idea what it would’ve done to me if I’d been too late?”
She dropped her gaze.
Silence fell over the room like a heavy curtain.
Joan, her assistant, slipped back into the office a few minutes later, setting a tray down with tea and more water. I gave her a nod of thanks, but I didn’t let go of Ariana’s hands.
She was trying to pretend she was fine.
Trying to pretend the world hadn’t just shifted violently under her feet.
But I saw through it.
She was holding on by a thread.
And I was the only thing keeping her from unraveling completely.
“I’ll be fine,” she finally whispered, reaching up to touch my cheek with a tenderness that damn near shattered me. “You don’t have to worry so much.”
“You want to know what the worst part is?” I asked, brushing my thumb over her knuckles. “I wish I could stop worrying. I wish I could trust the world not to hurt you. But every time I try, something else happens. And now? With him—it’s not just worry anymore, Ariana. It’s war.”
A shiver rippled through her.
Her eyes fluttered closed.
But she didn’t pull away.
I held her there for another beat, just breathing her in. Just grounding myself in the fact that she was still alive. Still here.
And then—
The door opened.
I rose instantly, expecting to see Ronny’s guys.
But instead—
My blood went cold.
And my whole body boiled.
It was him.
The one I’d seen in the hospital. The one she’d smiled at while I stood there, bleeding fury. The one she’d looked at like a memory—familiar and warm—while she looked at me like I was a stranger.
I hadn’t forgotten his face.
I never would.
Tall, with that polished arrogance only a man with old money or a god complex could wear convincingly. Charcoal wool coat, chestnut hair combed like he hadn’t just barged into a private space. Eyes locked on her like she belonged to him.
My jaw clenched so hard my teeth groaned under the pressure.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I bit out, my voice dropping to a snarl.
The man didn’t even look at me.
Didn’t flinch. Didn’t hesitate.
He walked right past me like I didn’t exist, zeroed in on Ariana, and knelt in front of her in a mirror of the position I’d just held.
“I didn’t come to see you,” he said smoothly, voice like syrup over a blade. “Ariana—are you okay? I saw the news. Heard about the shot fired outside your building.”
Her fingers tensed around the water bottle.
But worse—worse—she didn’t recoil when he took her hand.
I stepped forward immediately. “Take your hand off her.”
She flinched.
The bastard didn’t.
He just looked up at her with those eyes full of concern that made my stomach churn.
Ariana gently pulled her hand back, gaze flicking to mine. “I’m fine,” she said, the words soft but not weak.
She gave me a look then. A quiet command.
‘Calm down.’
I didn’t.
Because I didn’t like the way he looked at her.
Like she was his.
Like she was his wife and I was the fool in the background trying to wedge myself between them.
“I’m fine, Matthew,” Ariana repeated, firmer now, clearly trying to end it before I exploded.
Matthew.
So that was his name.
It tasted like poison on my tongue.
Matthew’s lips curved into a smile. But it wasn’t the kind of smile you gave someone you hadn’t seen in years. No, this was a smile with history. One that knew every soft spot on her body and every crack in her armor.
I wanted to rip it off his face.
“Good,” he said, his voice still syrupy. “I came the second I heard. Couldn’t stop worrying about you.”
“You can stop now,” I said sharply. “She’s fine. You can leave.”
Matthew’s head turned slowly toward me, like I’d finally become worth acknowledging.
“What’s your problem?” he said, rising to his feet with the calmness of a man who thought he was untouchable. “You her new babysitter or something?”
My fists balled.
He kept going.
“Stop acting like some prince charming and get over yourself.”
The fucking nerve.
I took a step forward, and Ariana practically leapt between us.
“Enough,” she snapped, her voice slicing through the room like glass. “Both of you.”
She turned to Matthew first, her shoulders squared in that way I knew too well—she was taking control.
“I’m okay,” she said gently. “Really. I appreciate you checking in, but I’m fine.”
Matthew’s expression softened again. His eyes lingered on her longer than they should have. Like he didn’t want to leave.
Like she still meant something to him.
“Take care of yourself,” he murmured, reaching out like he might touch her arm again but stopping himself at the last second.
And then he turned to leave.
I followed him with my eyes, every muscle in my body locked and ready to break.
But just before he stepped out the door, I moved.
I didn’t raise my voice. Didn’t make a scene.
I leaned in close—too close—and whispered for only him to hear.
“Stay away from her.”
He stilled.
Then turned his head slowly, a cruel glint in his eye.
“Or what?” he whispered back.
And with that, he walked out.
Just like that.
Like he hadn’t just lit a match and tossed it into a room full of gasoline.
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