Page 170 of This Life of Mine

“Alex…that is you in there, right?”

“No love.”

The modulator transforms him into someone else entirely. The words are still gentle, but the voice...the voice belongs toThe Wraith.

I take another step until we’re almost touching.

“Yes,” I whisper.

His helmet tilts ever so slightly.

“Yes, it is.” I counter.

I lift my hand, letting my fingertips trail along the cool black surface of the mask where his cheek would be beneath it.

“Under all of this...” I murmur, my thumb brushing his jawline. “You’re still my Alex.”

The room falls silent. He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t have to.

I can almost feel the conflict beneath the armor, the man wrestling with the monster he believes he’s become.

“The mask changes your voice,” I continue softly. “It changes how the world sees you.”

I slide my hand down to his chest.

“But it doesn’t change your heart.”

I smile to myself. “It doesn’t fool me.”

Not anymore.

“I know who’s underneath. You may beThe Wraithto others. To me…you’re my Alex.”

He reaches for me, gloved fingers brushing gently along my cheek.

The contrast shouldn’t make sense. The intimidating mask. The impossibly gentle touch. Yet somehow they belong to the same man.

I’m not afraid. I know it’s Alex beneath the armor. The man who makes me coffee. The man who holds me together when everything falls apart. And yet, knowing who he is only makes this version of him more tempting.

For years, I’ve read stories about mysterious men hiding behind masks. Men with secrets. Men who lived double lives.Men who stepped out of the darkness and made your heart race for reasons that were separate from fear.

I’d always understood the appeal from a safe distance. A fictional distance. The distance between a reader and the pages of a book. Now one of those fantasies is right here. Real. Breathing. Watching me.

It’s absolutely ridiculous. At least it should be. Instead, it awakens some dark curiosity I’ve carried around for years. A curiosity I never expected to indulge or expected anyone to bring to life.

His head tilts again. “Lina.”

The distorted voice wraps around my name.

I bite my lip in response.

The mask should be unsettling. It isn’t. If anything, it’s making things interesting.

I take another step closer.

His attention never leaves me. Waiting and watching.

“You should be frightened.” he says.