Chapter 35 Old Ghosts
Alexander’s POV
The door clicked shut behind Isabella.
James closed it himself the moment she stepped out.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
He leaned casually against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching me with a grin that made me seriously consider throwing him out the window.
“Well,” he said after a moment. “That was… enlightening.”
I didn’t bother looking up from the documents spread across my desk.
“Say whatever it is you came here to say and then get out.”
James pushed off the doorframe and strolled toward the desk, still smiling like he’d just watched the best show of the year.
“Would it really kill you,” he said, dropping into the chair across from me, “to admit you actually like the girl?”
I finally looked up at him, irritation tightening my jaw.
“You know,” I said flatly, “most people knock before walking into something like that.”
“I did knock.”
“You didn’t wait.”
James shrugged lazily. “You seemed busy.”
I gave him a cold stare.
He leaned back in the chair, completely unfazed.
“Relax,” he said. “I’m happy for you.”
“I’m not interested in your commentary.”
“Too bad,” he replied. “You’re getting it anyway.”
I ignored him and returned my attention to the stack of reports in front of me.
“Give me the update.”
That wiped the amusement off his face.
The teasing expression faded, replaced by the serious look I trusted when things actually mattered.
“Alright,” he said, leaning forward. “We’ve got movement from the Russians.”
My eyes lifted again.
“Where?”
“Port shipments,” he replied. “Three containers came through last night under a shell company we’ve been tracking.”
“Same group?”
“Yes.”
I leaned back in my chair, thinking it through.
“They’re pushing into our territory.”
James nodded. “Looks that way.”
“Who’s behind it?”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “The name attached to the paperwork is fake.”
“Of course it is.”
“But,” he continued, sliding a folder toward me, “we did trace the security team guarding the containers.”
I opened the folder.
Three photos.
Men I didn’t recognize.
“Mercenaries,” James said. “Not local.”
I studied the pictures carefully.
“Send someone to follow them.”
“Already did.”
“Good.”
We spent the next thirty minutes going through numbers, shipments, territories, and security updates.
The kind of work that kept everything running.
The kind of work that kept people alive.
By the time we finished outlining the plan, I stood and walked toward the window overlooking the city.
James joined me.
“Teams are already moving,” he said. “We’ll know more by tonight.”
I nodded.
Then silence settled between us again.
I could feel him watching me.
Waiting.
Finally he spoke.
“So…”
I didn’t turn around.
“No.”
“You know what I’m about to ask.”
“I don’t care.”
James laughed quietly.
“I walk into your office,” he said, “and you’re practically eating your wife alive, and you expect me not to ask questions?”
He studied me for a moment before adding, “I’m assuming she knows you’re a mafia boss. She’s aware of that part, right?”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
“Yes, she knows,” I said. “But she’s not exactly okay with it. Or with me, for that matter.”.
“Oh really?” he replied. “Because from what I saw she didn’t look like she was fighting you.”
I turned toward him.
“She hates the mafia,” I said flatly. “She hates everything I am.”
“Didn’t look like hate from where I was standing.”
“That’s because her body reacts to me.”
One of his eyebrows lifted slowly.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“So let me get this straight,” he said. “She doesn’t want you… but her body does?”
“Exactly.”
James stared at me for a second.
Then he burst out laughing.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“What?”
“That might be the most arrogant thing you’ve ever said.”
“It’s the truth.”
He shook his head, still amused.
“So what’s the plan then?”
“What do you mean?”
“With her.”
I leaned back against the window behind me.
“There is no plan.”
James crossed his arms.
“Come on, Alex.”
“It’s a contract marriage.”
“And?”
“And after a year she’s gone.”
His eyebrows shot up.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to let her go after the year?”
“That was the deal.”
James stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“You’re kidding.”
“I don’t need her.”
James stared at me. “That girl is the one you’ve been looking for for ten years.”
“That doesn’t change anything.”
He let out a humorless laugh.
“Stop pretending you don’t want her.”
“I don’t.”
“Bullshit.”
I turned away from him, my gaze drifting toward the city lights outside the window.
“Just because she saved me ten years ago doesn’t erase the rest of it.”
James didn’t respond right away.
I felt the familiar tension settle in my chest.
“Her father,” I said, my voice colder now, “and his men kept me locked inside a shipping container for seven months.”
James stayed quiet.
“They tortured me,” I continued. “Every day.”
The memories were still there.
Sharp.
Unwanted.
The darkness.
The cold metal walls pressing in from every side.
The sound of that door opening.
“They broke bones. Starved me. Left me in the dark so long I forgot what daylight looked like.”
James ran a hand through his hair.
“That wasn’t her,” he said quietly.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s in her blood. That man is her father. How do I just ignore that?”
“But she’s not him,” James said firmly. “And she’s not involved in any of it.”
“She’s connected to him.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
I shook my head slowly.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
I looked back out over the city.
“When I look at her,” I said slowly, “I don’t know what I want to do.”
James waited.
“Sometimes I want to punish her for what her father did.”
My jaw tightened.
“And sometimes…” I admitted quietly, “I want to reward her for saving my life.”
James exhaled.
“You’re twisted, you know that?”
“That’s not new information.”
He stepped a little closer.
“Just try with her.”
I looked at him.
“She’s a good girl.”
“How would you know that?” I asked immediately.
James shrugged. “Because I’ve been watching her.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. She could be pretending.”
James frowned.
“How do I know she isn’t working with the same people who tortured me?” I continued. “How do I know this isn’t some long game?”
He stared at me like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Now you’re talking nonsense.”
I said nothing.
“Did you forget something?” he went on. “You’re the one who forced her into this marriage.”
My jaw tightened.
“You’re the one who spent ten years looking for her.”
“I know.”
“So stop acting like she hunted you down or set some elaborate trap,” James said, shaking his head. “For God’s sake, Alex, she doesn’t even know you’re the man she helped ten years ago.”
He studied me for a moment.
“You’re looking at her through the wrong lens. That paranoia you live with—it’s twisting everything when it comes to her.”
He crossed his arms.
“I know your head’s messed up, Alexander.”
I gave a faint smirk.
“That’s not exactly breaking news.”
“You’re paranoid,” he said bluntly. “You don’t trust anyone.”
“That’s why I’m still alive.”
James nodded slowly.
“I get where you’re coming from,” he said. “If I went through what you did, I’d probably think the same way.”
He paused, choosing his words more carefully.
“But that girl isn’t the one who did those things to you.”
I looked away.
“Your father already did enough damage,” he continued quietly. “Then those bastards locked you inside a metal container for seven months.”
The memory slammed into me again.
Seven months.
No light.
No sense of time.
Just darkness pressing in from every direction.
James’ voice softened.
“Being buried in the dark that long… it messes with your head. It breaks people.”
I didn’t respond.
“But you didn’t break,” he said.
Silence stretched between us.
Then he added quietly,
“And now the girl who once helped save your life is standing right in front of you… and you’re treating her like she’s the enemy.”
I didn’t answer.
Because the truth was—
I still didn’t know which one she was.