Lisa's POV
I should've left that night.
I should've walked out, found my friends, laughed it off, and never come back.
But I didn't.
I couldn't.
Something about Noha made it impossible to turn away. He wasn't kind. He wasn't warm. But he was real. And real? That was rare.
I sat there longer than I should've. Watching him drink. Listening to the low voices of his men in the room. Nobody else paid attention to me. Only him.
And even then, I could feel how much he was holding back.
The night stretched on, and eventually I stood up.
"I should go," I whispered.
He didn't move. Didn't stop me. But his eyes followed me like a shadow.
As I reached the door, I turned. "Will I see you again?"
He exhaled slowly, like the question hurt. "You shouldn't want to."
"But I do."
And then… for a second, just a second—
He smiled.
Not fully. Not beautifully. Not like someone who was healed. But like someone who remembered what it felt like to be human for the first time in years.
And that broke me.
I walked out of the room with my heart racing, and my hands shaking. I didn't even know what I was feeling.
Excitement? Guilt? Regret?
All of it.
The next day
My phone buzzed nonstop.
Dani (my best friend):
"Where the hell did you disappear to last night?! We were looking for you for HOURS!"
I typed quickly:
"I got a little lost. Sorry. I'll explain later."
Which was a lie.
Because how could I explain what I didn't understand myself?
I stared at myself in the mirror. Same face. Same smile. But something in my eyes had changed. Like I'd tasted a piece of danger and now... sweetness didn't feel the same.
That man… Noha.
His name echoed in my mind. His voice, rough and low. His words. His eyes. That smile.
God, what was I getting myself into?
Noha's POV
I sat in my penthouse.
Same view. Same drink. Same silence.
But something was different.
I kept thinking about her.
Lisa.
The girl with sunshine in her smile and confusion in her eyes. The girl who didn't flinch when she saw the guns on the table, who didn't run when she realized I wasn't normal.
She stayed.
And I hated that I liked it.
I lit another cigarette. The air filled with smoke and guilt. I shouldn't want her. Shouldn't need her.
But I did.
And I hadn't even kissed her yet.
My men didn't ask questions, but I knew they noticed. I didn't look at any of the women who danced near me at the club last night. I didn't flirt. I didn't drink myself into oblivion.
Instead, I went home.
And dreamed of her.
Lisa's POV — Two Days Later
I didn't know why I returned.
Maybe I wanted answers. Maybe I wanted him.
Maybe… I just wanted to see if that smile had really happened.
The bar was louder this time. Crowded. Wild. Music thumped against my ribs. Girls danced like they had nothing to lose. Guys shouted. Laughed.
But I didn't care.
Because I saw him.
Upstairs. In that same room. Behind the tinted glass. Sitting on that couch like a king.
And when his eyes found mine through the chaos—everything else blurred out.
I walked toward the staircase slowly. Nervous. Excited. Terrified.
A guard stopped me. "You can't go up."
"She's with me."
His voice came from above.
The guard stepped aside.
I climbed the stairs, breathless.
Inside the room
He was already pouring me a drink. I shook my head.
"No thanks. I just wanted to talk."
He nodded, setting it down. "You came back."
"I couldn't stay away."
"Dangerous habit."
"Then stop being so interesting."
That made him laugh. Fully this time.
And my heart… fluttered.
"I don't get it," I whispered. "You're not… nice. But you're not cruel either."
He looked at me, serious now. "That's because I'm broken. Not evil."
I swallowed. "Who broke you?"
His gaze darkened. "A love that ended in blood."
I froze.
He didn't say anything else. But I could feel it—his whole life was built around a loss he never recovered from.
And here I was, sitting in the middle of his ghosts.