Fire and Ice

He reluctantly unlocked the door, stepping into his dark, eerily quiet house. A house that had felt like a home for the last 3 months because of her. As he stepped through the door, he glanced up at the spot near the stair. Only days ago, he had seen her standing there, looking at him with those piercing dark orbs. Unflinchingly fierce and devastating eyes. Eyes that had pierced straight through his soul. Eyes that were concerned...for him.

The clock rang as it struck midnight on the far wall and woke him from his reverie. Darkness engulfed him as he realized how lonely the mansion was without her. How lonely he was without her. Locking the front door, he walked upstairs heading for his room. As he came to the room that Ana had allocated for her, he paused. Memories rushed back. Him knocking on the door, asking her if he could come in. Her never refusing to acknowledge him. Trusting him. She had trusted him even while considering him her enemy. Someone who could hurt her and her family. A pain erupted inside his chest and he rubbed his hand over his heart to soothe it. 

She had seen and accepted the real him...had no longer seen him as the killer that he was. She had unearthed the part of him that was still pure and innocent, burrowed beneath all the pain, the betrayals, and the hatred that had engulfed him throughout his poor childhood. Forced him to become a man that restored to illegal methods to make money and take care of his family. Do anything to protect his family. Take care of his siblings. Take care of his sweet Ana.

She hadn't feared him. And before she left, she had tried to convey her feelings through her eyes. Her eyes had reflected a deep emotion that he had never been on the receiving end of. An emotion that had reflected in Seyhan's eyes when she had told him about her groom. His eyes burned as Seyhan's innocent face crept through his memory. He had caused her to die. His hand rubbed over his heart as he tried to subside the pain engulfing him. His other hand rested against the door handle leading to Karaca's room. Ana had told him to stay away from here to not make her uncomfortable. But she was gone now. And regardless of how confident he felt, he was afraid. Afraid that he might lose her forever. Afraid that she would have to suffer this tug of war between him and her uncles. His siblings deserved justice and he would fight for it till his last breath. But he never wanted her to suffer. How will they get out of this mess? Was there a way out?

He slowly bent the door handle, opening the door to her now empty room. The fragrance of roses and cherry blossoms drugged him as he entered the dark room. Her fragrance. Softly closing the door, he switched on the lights and took in the emptiness. It mirrored the emptiness inside him. Glancing around the room, he found nothing that belonged to her. She had erased all the evidence of her presence in the room she had occupied for the last 3 months. He noticed the Yilmaz Guney book he had given her on the night table, facing down. Did she read the book? Did she enjoy it? Did it help her escape from all the troubles surrounding her like it did for him? 

He walked over to the stand and sat of the bed. The bed she had slept on. Running his hands over the duvet, he tried to feel her through the fabric that had touched her. More pain filled his chest. Why did it hurt so much? It felt like he had lost a limb. No, he laughed....it felt worse. Taking a deep breath, he got up to turn off the lights. Sitting back on the bed, he took off his shoes, his jacket, his blazer, his shirt, and his belt leaving on his slacks. Pulling back the duvet, he laid on the bed, his head on the same pillow that she had slept on. It still had the fresh rose smell of her shampoo and he snuggled his face deeper into the pillow. As he closed his eyes, he saw her face. So beautiful. So innocent yet so stubborn. A smile crept up his lips. He had seen and been with many gorgeous women in his life for business and/or for pleasure. But she was devastating. The second he had seen her that day inside his car, worried about the well being of her brother, his heart had beat differently. He had been struck with the most powerful urge to protect her. He hadn't felt that way for anyone and it had shocked him to realize that he had felt all those emotions for the girl responsible for his siblings' kidnapping.