CHAPTER FOUR:RESURRECTION

Mountains of them. Roses, lilies, orchids - fancy stuff that screamed money and sympathy. The cards all said pretty much the same thing. Get well soon. Thinking of you. prayers for your recovery.

None were from Adrian.

Marcus walked in with coffee and stopped dead when he saw my room looked like a funeral home."Jesus. Who died?" He caught himself. "Sorry."

"Adrian's playing his part perfectly." I pointed to the biggest bunch - white roses that probably cost a fortune. "Those are from the mayor. The lilies are from his business buddies. The orchids are from some fancy club."

Marcus set his coffee down and read a card. "Half the city's crying for you."

"While he's probably laughing at home."Something in my voice made Marcus really look at me. What he saw made him step back.

"You've been awake all night, haven't you?"

"I've been thinking."The words hung between us like a loaded gun.

Marcus sat down slowly, his eyes searching my face."Thinking about what?"

"About who really wanted me dead."His coffee cup slipped from his fingers.

The crash echoed through the room, brown liquid spreading across white tiles."Aurora, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying it wasn't just some random guy that shot me, Marcus."He grabbed napkins and started cleaning up the mess, his hands shaking.

He grabbed napkins, hands shaking while he cleaned. "The cops said it was a break-in. You told me you didn't see who"

"I lied." My voice came out flat. Cold. "It was Adrian."Marcus froze and looked at me.

The napkins fell from his hands."That's impossible."

"Impossible? I thought so too, but unfortunately it's the truth. He was wearing his navy silk robe. The one I bought him for his birthday. The gun was small and silver, looked like a toy in his big hands. I watched the color drain from his face. "He smiled right before he pulled the trigger. Said I should have loved him better."

Marcus backed away from the bed, his eyes wide, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing."No, Aurora… maybe you’re confused. Maybe the medication is making you to.."

"To what? Make it up?" Tears started falling and I couldn't stop them. "I remember everything, Marcus. Every sick word he said. Every detail of that night."

Marcus stood there with his mouth hanging open."Adrian shot you?" His voice cracked.I nodded, wiping my face with the back of my hand.

"Yeah. He shot me."

"But..he's on TV crying. He's offering a million-dollar reward," Marcus said, his voice shaking."To catch himself. Pretty smart, right?" I shifted in bed, ignoring the fire in my chest.

"The perfect cover. Who's going to suspect the grieving fiancé?"

Marcus collapsed in his chair. "This is crazy.""What's crazy is letting him walk free."

"We will go to the police."

"And say what? That Adrian shot me?" I made a bitter sound. "Rich powerful CEO versus damaged girl in a hospital bed. Who do you think they'll believe?"

Marcus just stared at me. His mouth opened like he wanted to argue, but nothing came out. We both knew I was right. Adrian had money, power, connections. And all I had was a bullet wound and no proof.

He closed his mouth and looked away, shaking his head slowly."So what do you want to do?"

"I want Aurora Winters to die."He blinked. "What?""For real this time. Heart failure, complications, whatever."

My voice came out flat. Cold."Then what?"

"Then somebody new shows up. Somebody who can get close to Adrian."

Marcus started shaking his head. "You can't just disappear. There's paperwork, records."

"You work witness protection cases."He stopped shaking his head.

"That's different."

"You know people. People who make fake IDs for a living."I watched it hit him - what I was really asking for."

"No way."

"Marcus."

"Hell no, Aurora. Are you even listening to yourself?" He jumped up, heading for the door.

"You're hurt and angry, you are not thinking straight."

"I'm thinking perfectly fine."

"You want to trash your whole life?"

"What life?" That stopped him cold. "My job? Adrian made me quit. My friends? They worship him. My apartment? It's a crime scene now." I waved at all the machines hooked to me. "What exactly am I giving up?"

Marcus turned around slow. "Your name. Your past. Everything you are."

"Everything I am almost got me killed." My hand went to my stomach where his baby was growing. "I need to be someone else. Someone he can't hurt."

"And you think becoming someone else will magically fix everything?"

"I think becoming someone else will let me get close enough to Adrian to destroy him

"The words hung in the air like poison gas. Marcus backed toward the door."

"I can't do this."

"Then get out.

"He stood there with his hand on the door handle, fighting with himself.

Finally, he came back."If I did this - and I'm not saying I would - what would you want?”

"I couldn't help the small, hard smile that spread across my face.

"A new identity. Complete history, birth to present. Someone with the right background to work in Adrian's world."

"And then what?"

"Then I get hired somewhere he'll notice me. Get close. Learn his secrets." My smile felt sharp as broken glass. "Then I watch everything he loves burn.

Marcus was quiet for a long time, just the sound of machines and distant hospital noise filling the room.

"This would cost a lot."

"I know."

"It would take months. Maybe a year."

"I have time."

"If we get caught."

"We won't."

He looked at me one more time, searching for the girl he'd grown up with. When he didn't find her, his shoulders sagged in defeat.

"What do you want your new name to be?"

"Rory Black."

"And when you get close to Adrian?"I closed my eyes and let the woman I was becoming take shape in the darkness. Someone beautiful enough to catch Adrian's attention. Someone smart enough to play his games. Someone ruthless enough to win.

"Reina Vale," I said softly. "And she's going to make Adrian Thorne wish he'd never been born."