Chapter 11
The morning at the Thorne estate was a tactical disaster.
For a woman who had once navigated a live minefield in the dark without breaking a sweat, the Back to School rush was significantly more traumatizing than any insurgent ambush.
Anna stood in the center of the room, caught in a crossfire of half eaten cereal, missing socks, and Leo’s sudden, frantic realization that he had forgotten his lucky dinosaur.
I’d rather be back in a sniper nest, Anna thought, dodge rolling out of the way as Mia chased a runaway golden retriever through the kitchen. At least in a war zone, the targets don't have meltdowns because their toast is cut into triangles instead of rectangles.
"Miss Anna! Leo took my glitter glue!" Mia shrieked, skidding across the marble like a professional stunt driver.
"It’s for my project!" Leo countered, diving behind a velvet sofa for cover.
Anna took a deep breath, her Wraith instincts screaming to use a flashbang just for the five seconds of absolute silence it would provide.
Instead, she used her most lethal weapon, her teacher voice, a low, vibrating frequency that could stop a charging elephant.
"Five. Minutes. Until we move out," she said, her tone as calm as the eye of a hurricane.
"If you aren't in the car, the dinosaur stays behind. And the glitter glue becomes state property."
The silence was instantaneous. Even the dog stopped barking.
The departure was a mix of high security paranoia and domestic chaos.
Three black SUVs idled in the driveway, engines humming with a low, predatory growl, while Marcus and his team stood like statues.
In the foyer, the three clowns formed a disgruntled welcoming committee. Sofia, draped in a silk robe worth more than a teacher’s salary, leaned down to give Mia a hollow air kiss.
"Try not to let the commoners at school ruin your manners, darling."
Anna ignored the barb, ushering the twins toward the middle SUV. Aiden was already there, checking his watch, his presence filling the air with a heavy, magnetic authority.
He looked sharp, dangerously so, in a tailored navy suit that screamed "King."
"Ready?" he asked, his voice rough with the morning’s edges.
"As ready as one can be."
Anna replied, smoothing Mia’s blazer.
Then, the world glitched. Driven by a domestic instinct that had been dormant for three years, Aiden turned to Anna.
Without thinking, a move that was entirely uncalculated and purely human, he reached out, his thumb brushing her jawline, and pressed a firm, lingering kiss to her forehead.
"Be safe," he murmured.
Anna froze. The world didn't just stop, it evaporated. She could feel the exact spot where his skin had touched hers, the warmth radiating through her like a slow burning fuse.
Behind them, she heard Sofia’s sharp intake of breath and the sound of Vanessa’s tablet clattering to the floor.
Aiden pulled back, his eyes widening in a rare moment of genuine shock. He looked at his own hand, then at Anna’s stunned face, his brain clearly trying to process why he had just treated Anna that way.
"I—" he started, his mask of King like indifference crumbling.
"The kids. Don't be late. Marcus, move out!"
He turned and practically bolted into the lead SUV.
Anna stood there, her heart hammering a rhythm she hadn't felt since she can remember.
Class is definitely not in session, she thought, her face heating up for the first time in a decade.
St. Jude’s was a fortress of privilege. The parking lot was a showroom for armored Mercedes and custom Bentleys. It was the perfect cover, at any given moment, half the parents here were being hunted by a rival cartel or the FBI.
As Anna led the twins through the iron gates, a familiar prickle crept up the back of her neck. The Snob Patrol was out in full force, their sharp gazes sweeping over her like vultures circling prey.
“Oh, look,” a woman in a tailored Chanel suit murmured, loud enough to be heard.
“The Thorne children have a new… companion. Just a city teacher, I hear. No pedigree whatsoever.”
A few soft chuckles followed.
Anna didn’t break stride. She kept her posture straight, her expression calm.
Leaning slightly toward the twins, she spoke quietly but firmly.
“Chins up,” she said.
“We walk with pride. We don’t bow to anyone.”
The twins tightened their grip on her hands, and lifted their heads higher.
As they stepped into the classroom, Anna’s professional smile settled into place like armor.
During the school closure, the Valentis had clearly kept themselves busy.
While the kids hurried to hang their coats, Anna let her gaze drift lazily around the room. To anyone watching, it was the idle survey of a diligent teacher.
In reality, it was a sweep, measured, precise.
She paused at the bookshelf, straightening a tilted globe. Her fingers brushed against something cold and circular embedded in its base.
A small black disc.
A listening device.
Her eyes lifted, scanning upward without moving her head. There, another one, cleverly tucked behind the smoke detector.
High frequency spyware, she concluded calmly.
The Valentis weren’t just watching the children. They were listening for her.
Anna didn’t remove the devices. That would alert them.
Instead, she began humming, soft, deliberately off key. The frequency wavered, subtle but intentional, designed to warp and blur any captured audio.
As she moved, she shifted a heavy stack of textbooks, angling them carefully in front of the globe’s sensor.
A classroom rearrangement to the untrained eye.
A disruption field to anyone paying attention.
“Let them listen to silence,” she murmured under her breath.
And then she smiled, warm, patient, harmless.
While Anna neutralized spyware, Aiden sat in his downtown office, his mind replaying the moment he’d kissed her forehead.
It had felt… right.
Marcus entered quietly and placed a thick manila envelope on the desk.
“The deep dive, sir. Pulled from a redacted archive in Rome. Classified under Black Ops, Irregular Assets.”
The envelope sat there like a live grenade.
Aiden stared at it, torn. His heart told him to burn it. He thought of her soft vanilla scent, of his children laughing again because of her.
But the King in him, the man forged in loss and fire, knew secrets destroyed everything.
His hand hovered over the seal.
Then, with a tight jaw, he opened his drawer, dropped the envelope inside, and locked it.
“Not today,” he murmured.
He wasn’t ready to lose her.