The town was smaller than he remembered. The streets were still lined with brick buildings, their old-world charm untouched by time. The same café still stood at the corner of Main Street, its windows fogged up from the warmth inside. A familiar neon sign flickered at the old bookstore, the same one he used to pass by every day.
Twelve years.
That was how long it had been since he walked these streets, since he breathed this air. He should have felt nothing coming back here. Should have.
But ghosts don’t rest easy.
He loosened his grip on the steering wheel, flexing his fingers against the leather. His pulse was steady, but there was an itch beneath his skin—an anticipation he refused to name.
This wasn’t about the past. He didn’t believe in second chances, in picking up where things left off. That boy, the one who used to run through these streets with laughter on his lips and her name in his breath, was gone.
This was business. That was all.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
The past had a way of bleeding through the cracks, though. No matter how well you buried it.
A sharp knock on his car window pulled him from his thoughts. He turned his head slowly, his expression blank. The man standing outside was older, dressed in a sharp suit that contrasted with the small-town quiet.
Lucian rolled down the window. “You’re late.”
The man gave a tight smile. “You’re early.”
Lucian said nothing. He stepped out of the car, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket, feeling the weight of every second that passed. He wasn’t a patient man, but he had waited for this moment.
For this town.
For her.
He just hadn’t decided what he was going to do about it yet.
The wind carried the scent of rain, thick and heavy, like a storm waiting to break. It suited him just fine.
The man beside him—Reed, an old contact with more connections than morals—slipped a cigarette between his lips but didn’t light it. “Didn’t think you’d ever come back here.”
Lucian’s jaw tensed. “Neither did I.”
Reed hummed, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. “Business or unfinished business?” His eyes gleamed with something knowing, something Lucian wanted to wipe clean.
He didn’t answer.
Because unfinished business was too simple a term for what was waiting for him in this town.
For her.
Twelve years had passed, and he should have outgrown whatever pull this place had on him. He should have forgotten the girl with the wildfire eyes, the one who used to throw her arms around his neck like she could hold the whole world together.
But forgetting Elara Whitmore had never been an option.
So instead, he had done the next best thing.
He became someone else.
Someone who didn’t flinch when he walked into a room and felt a ghost of a memory reach for him. Someone who knew that love—real, raw, consuming love—was the sharpest blade anyone could hand you. And Elara? She had buried hers in his ribs and twisted it when she let him go.
Not that she had a choice.
Not that he did, either.
He exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders back. “Is everything in place?”
Reed’s smirk deepened. “Your new office is ready, the papers are signed, and your name is exactly where you wanted it.” He tilted his head. “Lucian Vaughn, CEO. Got a nice ring to it.”
Lucian didn’t acknowledge the remark. Titles meant nothing. Power did. And now, he had both.
Reed rocked back on his heels. “You gonna see her?”
Lucian’s grip tightened at his sides. The question shouldn’t have affected him.
But it did.
He turned, casting one last glance at the town—the place that built him, broke him, and spat him back out as something unrecognizable.
“I’m sure we’ll cross paths,” he said smoothly. “Small town.”
But he knew the truth.
It wouldn’t be an accident.
When he saw Elara again, it would be on his terms. And this time, he wouldn’t be the boy who once begged her to wait for him.
This time, he’d be the man who made damn sure she never forgot him again.
"Some ghosts beg to be forgotten. Others wait to be found again."~
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