I was being dragged through the parking lot of the apartment complex by three men.

I had opened the door after texting Elian that I was in trouble and tried to stall as much as time I could without those men blowing off the innocent delivery girl's head. They let go after I came out.

Now, they were taking me to their van.

I had tucked in the gun that Elian left for me just in case. If worse came to worst, I had to shoot. Though I really hoped I didn't have to.

I needed to stall for more time for any help to get here.

"Hey, mister, why are you trying to kidnap me?" I questioned.

"Shut up," one of them replied.

"I mean, I'm such an innocent, sweet girl. Does it look like I could be used in your shady business?"

"Stop talking," another one spat out.

"Look, I think you got the wrong girl here. I'm not related to any of this. Plus, Elian hates me. Did you know he rejected me last night? Such a jerk, right?"

"We don't care; we just follow orders," the first one responded.

I hummed, then gasped suddenly and let out, "Oh, Elian, you are here!"

"Where?" The two men who were holding me let their grips loosen, so I took the chance to free myself from them and made a run in the opposite direction.

"Hey, she's running, you idiots!" the third guy hollered.

"Fucking hell!" one of them cursed and ran after me. He managed to catch me, but I raised my elbow to hit him in the chin hard and again got out.

The other guy was about to get a hold of me. I turned around and kicked him swiftly in the face.

"Stop, or else I will shoot!" the third guy yelled.

I was about to stop. Just then there was a gunshot.

I closed my eyes in fear, sure that I was in heaven now.

When I didn't feel any pain for a few moments and heard a body thump on the ground, I turned around to see Elian standing behind the third guy, his eyes blazing with anger.

He shot the man again, then he was about to fire at the other two men. However, when his eyes landed on me, he removed his finger from the trigger, and his gaze softened.

I didn't care anymore about the fact that he just rejected me last night; my first instinct was to run into his arms and I did.

After I buried my face into his chest, inhaling his conversant cologne, I murmured, "You can shoot them." I knew he had to kill them either way. It was better not to delay.

Elian wrapped an arm around my shoulder, shooing the other two men who were trying to get away, then he embraced me completely.

As a sensation of warmth and security covered me, I realized why this embrace always felt so familiar. Because these arms had always been my home. But for some reason, I couldn't remember it.

"Elian, I know."

"Know what?"

"That you love me."

He stiffened, but he didn't deny it.

"And I used to love you too."

He immediately pulled back from the hug and asked in disbelief, "Do you remember everything now?"

I shook my head. "Why can't I remember, though?"

Elian was about to open his mouth, instead, he suddenly pulled us to the side as a bullet passed right by us, hitting the windshield of a car.

"Shit, there are more of them," Elian muttered and grabbed my hand. "Alena, I will explain everything on the way. We have to run now."

"Again?" I frowned.

"Yes, again."

I was driving, and Elian was in the passenger seat, shooting out from the open window.

Never in my life had I driven this recklessly.

I was breaking speed limits, and the only relief was that this wasn't my car because my soul would leave the body if people were shooting holes through my car.

"Alena, drive faster. They are getting closer," Elian commanded.

"We are both going to end up dead if I drive any faster," I responded, taking a harsh turn.

It was actually like we were in an action-thriller movie where cars were chasing us while firing bullets in the daylight. No cops were apparently noticing that.

"Just a little more. Ash is bringing back up soon," Elian said.

"Ugh, I'm tired of running. Just when I thought the cops were done chasing us, now a mafia gang is after us!" I exclaimed in frustration and took an abrupt turn which made Elian hit his head on the side of the window. "Also, why did you lie to me that everything was alright for the most part when things are so fucked up?"

"Oww," he muttered, rubbing the side of his forehead. "You were so happy everything was over; I didn't want you to stress again."

"So you just decided to take it all on yourself?"

"If it made you happy—"

"And I hate that part of you," I said and took another abrupt turn, making him bump his head again.

"Stop doing that. Oww."

"And you stop protecting me like I'm a fragile doll. I can take bad news, okay? I can also handle them just fine. I'm not your liability, Elian, and I never want to be."

He was silent for a moment before he fired a few shots out from the window and settled back into the seat. "Yeah, you're right. But I just don't want history to repeat."

"History which I can't fucking remember," I let out and hit the honk loudly in frustration. "Elian, why can't I remember you from the past? Why don't I have any clue about our dating history?"

"Ask your dad. He knows," he responded bitterly.

I shot him a sharp glare and warned, "Elian, don't be sarcastic with me right now. I swear I will throw you out of the car."

He was about to reply. Just then, one of the Blacklist's cars caught up to us, so he had to shoot them down again.

"You have amnesia, Alena. Retrograde amnesia," Elian finally said.

I tried to digest the information for a few minutes. It sounded just so... unrealistic.

"How did it happen?"

"Three years ago, you had an accident on the day of your under-graduation. You were kidnapped by the XS gang, and while you were in the van, it had an accident. You lost memories of a few years prior to the accident when you woke up," he said, his voice trembling at the mention of that accident.

"But why don't I know about any of it? I don't even know I ever had an accident in my life!" Shouldn't I have known if such a major accident had taken place in my place?

"Because your dad thought it would be better if you didn't know since you apparently forgot nothing important."

"Nothing important? Elian, you were important to me!" I yelled.

Elian chuckled sardonically. "I know that, but he clearly didn't. He told me to stay away from you."

"What? What right did he have to do that? And how could you just listen to him? Why did you give up without a fight?" I couldn't believe any of it. My blood was boiling with rage.

"I didn't!" he protested. "I would never give up on you without a fight..." His voice cracked, and so did my heart. "But I had to. Because you couldn't recognize me at all. I had almost worsened your condition when you asked me who I was after you woke up. I had just told you my name and you started screaming in pain. I... I never wanted to be the cause of your pain, Alena. So I thought you would be better off without me."

I tried to understand what he was saying, but I still couldn't. It made no sense to me. "What right did you have to decide if I was better off with you or without you?" I shouted.

"I didn't, and I'm sorry." He sounded genuinely guilty, but that wasn't enough for my flames of rage to calm down.

"Your sorry isn't going to cut it. You could have tried to patch up with me after I joined the company. Instead, you decided to treat me like trash! Or, is that how you treated me regularly while we were dating?" I taunted.

"No, I never did. I just didn't want to be back in your life and bring in dangers for you—"

A car bumped into my side, making me lose control for a moment, but I managed to get a hold before we hit the lamppost ahead.

Elian raised his guns again, and I leaned back on my seat so that he could shoot down the people in the car beside me.

Once they fell back, I commented sarcastically, "Yes, I'm so not in danger again."

"This is exactly why I wanted to push you away."

"But you were the one who brought me to Lance's penthouse to stay with you," I pointed out.

"Because I also couldn't handle the thought of leaving you unprotected when I myself could be there to protect you. I thought that would be safer—"

"No, admit it, you just wanted me to stay closer to you."

"No, I didn't—"

"Elian, you can't resist me. Because you still love me."

"That doesn't matter, Alena. Even if I was starting to delude myself that we could be together again, we can't. I'm too dangerous for you. You're not meant for this life," he said softly, hinting at the risky situation we were in.

"But what if I still want this life?"

"Alena, no..." he pleaded, his voice almost inaudible.

"What if I want to be with you, Elian, come what may?"