Chapter three

Dino’s POV

I do not shut my eyes on the screen.

The recording repeats itself with the same scene in different perspectives. Drina Federico is sitting on a chair with a trembling hand when responding to questions. She glances at the door on several occasions. She even snorts when her life is pressured. She swallows a lot. She shudders when voices become louder.

None of it is controlled.

None of it is trained.

This is no good, I say to myself.

Lucas is standing beside me with folded arms. "You think she's acting?"

I replay the video repeatedly and see how she responds when my name is called. This terror she fears, but there is something beneath the fear. Anger. Old and sharp.

"No," I reply. “Had it been an act, she would do it better.”

I have requested spies, killers, and snitches over the years. I know what acting looks like. Drina does not plan. She reacts. Her fear is messy and real.

Lucas says, "She broke into a secure building. "That takes skill."

“When people are desperate, it teaches them things they did not realise they were capable of doing,” I say.

I take a break and lean back in my chair, watching the video. I do not forget something about her not begging. When one feels powerless, he or she always begs. She did not. She stared directly at me as though I were something she detested and not something she was afraid of.

That disturbs me rather than it ought to.

Re-run her background, says I. "I want everything. School records. Medical. Family."

Lucas nods and gets out of the room.

I remain motionless, with the frozen picture of her face on the screen. She is even smaller than she is in real life. Thinner. As the world has already broken once.

“That is no excuse to steal,” I think to myself.

But the irritation stays.

An hour later, the report was received.

At first glance, I am going to pass over it, seeing nothing useful. No known syndicate ties. No training. No history of travel, which flags. A list of menial jobs, no money, and a life that leaves almost no imprint is just a few of them.

Then I came to the section of her parents.

I stopped reading.

“Say it again,” I say, and stare at Lucas.

He clears his throat. “Her parents were murdered some years ago. Apartment fire. The formal reason was gang-related violence. No arrests."

My jaw tightens. "Which gang?"

Lucas answers too slowly by a half. “One of the smaller parties which became afterwards merged in our operations in Madrid.”

The room feels colder.

I grab the pill out of his hand and read the information myself. The date. The location. The order chain. A cleaning-up job is permitted to prevent exposure.

My approval.

Not direct. Not intentional. But real.

"Why was this buried?" I ask.

“It was collateral damage,” I say to Lucas, I say. “It was believed to be at the time.”

Necessary.

I release the air slowly through the nose. Guilt is a useless emotion. I learned that long ago. It does not reverse the past, and it does not safeguard the future.

Nevertheless, anger is simmering inside my chest.

Lucas adds that she is not here looking to avenge. "At least not knowingly."

I close the file. "No. She is not even aware of the truth.

Not the less dangerous, but the more dangerous, is her presence here.

"Bring her to me," I say.

When I come into the room, Drina stands up. She does not speak. She does not look away either. Her hands are fisted on her side, and I can feel the tension in her shoulders.

"You again," she says.

Her tone holds no respect. No fear. Only resentment.

"Sit," I tell her.

She hesitates, then obeys.

I remain standing. “Why do you know why you are still alive?”

She lets out a bitter laugh. “You are going to kill me, but you have yet to determine how.”

"Wrong," I say calmly. “Your role was not the one that you were made to play, so you are alive.”

Her eyes narrow. "I told you the truth."

"Yes," I replied. "And that is the problem."

She leans forward slightly. "Then let me go."

I shake my head. "Not possible."

"Then just do it," she snaps. Stop acting like this is not about something else.

There it is again. That raw anger. It is not strategic. It is not measured. It is like blood flowing out of her like blood out of a wound.

"You hate me," I say.

She does not deny it. "I hate what you represent."

I study her face. "You don't even know who I am."

"I know enough," she replies. Men like you are the ones who decide on who will live in comfort and who will be buried with no noise.”

Her phrases are harsher than they need to be.

“You believe that you know the world,” I say. "But you only see one side of it."

She stands abruptly. “And you believe that that gives you the right to ruin people you never have to see again.”

The guards change; they are about to strangle her, but I raise a hand.

"Leave us," I ordered.

They pause and withdraw to the door.

Drina's breathing is fast now. “No, you are not untouchable,” she says. "No one is."

I look at her for a long moment. "You are wrong," I say. “Some of us were taught how to be that way.”

"And what did it cost you?" she asks quietly.

The question is unexpected.

I turn away. "Take her back."

I come back to my office and look at the city.  

Madrid is radiant all night, beautiful and cold. 

I constructed my empire by eliminating variables. 

Drina Federico is something that I did not plan.  

She was intended to be a message. To tell whoever sent her, a sudden death.  

But someone did send her.  

That keeps my mind restless.  

There is a replay in my head on how to steal, the point of entry, 

At the time, the security lapse. None of it was random.  

"She was bait," I say aloud.  

Lucas nods. Someone there knew that she should have time to get to you.  

Knew she would make a response, I add.  

And then, Lucas says, from you.  

That thought angers me.  

"Move her," I ordered. "Closer quarters. Restricted access.”

eyes on her all the time."  

Lucas frowns. Are you renegotiating the execution?  

"For now," I reply.  

"For observation?"  

"Yes."  

He hesitates. "This could be a mistake."  

I turn to face him. "So could killing her."  

Lucas walks away without saying a word.  

I stand there staring into the city until the fact sinks in.  

Drina Federico did not come to rob me.  

She was sent to be seen.  

She was desired in my kingdom by somebody who desired her 

alive, on my hands, by a past that I had laid to rest.  

Who’s just that is declared war?  

I smile a little.  

"Interesting," I murmur.  

The game has begun.