CHAPTER ONE

The smell of smoke never left her.

Even after five years, Inés still woke up coughing some nights, the phantom scent of ash curling through her dreams like a ghost refusing to rest.

“Name?” the guard at the Delgado estate gate asked, his voice flat but suspicious.

Inés gripped the strap of her cheap bag tighter. “Inés Montoya. I’m here for the maid position.”

The man’s eyes raked over her; young, pretty, average enough not to draw attention, which was the point. He muttered something into his walkie-talkie, then motioned for her to go inside.

She stepped through the iron gates, and the chill that ran down her spine had nothing to do with the morning air.

This was it.

She was inside.

The Delgado mansion was exactly what she'd imagined; elegant, intimidating, and soulless. Black stone, endless windows, and security cameras that tracked every step. The kind of place that didn’t just keep secrets. It buried them.

A tall woman in a gray uniform led her through a marble hallway. “You’ll clean. You don’t speak unless spoken to. And never touch anything that glows, clicks, or looks more expensive than your life. Understand?”

Inés nodded. She understood more than the woman could guess.

Because she wasn’t just here to clean.

She was here to find out who set the fire that killed her family.

And every clue pointed to the Delgado Mafia.

***

She’d barely changed into the uniform when it happened.

She turned a corner carrying a tray of drinks and slammed right into a wall of muscle.

The tray clattered to the floor.

“You’ve got two seconds to explain why you’re soaking my shirt,” a voice snapped above her, low and cold.

She looked up and froze.

Alejandro Delgado.

Dark hair slicked back, sharp suit, sharper jaw. His eyes, gray like an overcast sky, pinned her to the spot. He looked like a man who didn’t flinch at gunfire, but hated coffee stains.

“I… I’m sorry,” she stammered. “It was an accident.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re new.”

“Yes.”

He crouched, picked up the tray, and handed it to her without breaking eye contact. “Next time, keep your head up. People who don’t look ahead usually end up six feet under.”

He walked away without another word.

Inés’ hands shook as she bent to pick up the spilled cups.

So that was Alejandro. The cold twin.

She hadn’t expected to meet him on day one.

***

Later that afternoon, she saw his twin.

Alonso.

The opposite in every way. Warm smile, tousled curls, and a laugh that made her skin prickle. He didn’t look dangerous. He looked like temptation in human form.

He caught her staring and grinned.

“Hey,” he said, leaning against the doorway of the dining room. “You’re new.”

She nodded, cautious. “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me that. Makes me feel like I’m my father.” He winked. “Call me Alonso.”

He was flirting. She should’ve looked away.

Instead, she said, “Alright… Alonso.”

His smile deepened.

And just like that, she knew she was in trouble.

***

By the end of her first week, she’d memorized the staff shifts, security blind spots, and which rooms the Delgado brothers used most.

She hadn’t found any proof yet. But she had time.

She’d waited five years for this chance.

The night her family died, she’d come home from a party to find their house engulfed in flames. The official report called it an accident: faulty wiring.

But the way her father’s files vanished afterward? The threats he’d gotten before the fire? The whisper of the name “Delgado” in his last voicemail?

No.

It was no accident.

And Inés Montoya didn’t believe in coincidence.

***

It was past midnight when she saw movement near the garden. Curious, she slipped outside.

That’s when she heard voices. Heated. Male.

She edged closer, crouching behind a hedge.

“....don’t trust her,” someone said. It was Alejandro.

“She’s harmless,” Alonso replied.

“She’s not stupid. And she asks too many questions.”

Inés held her breath.

They were talking about her.

Alonso laughed. “You’re just mad because she spilled coffee on you.”

“This isn’t a joke,” Alejandro snapped. “If she finds out what we did…..”

“What we did?” Alonso cut in, his voice sharp. “Or what you did?”

Silence…

Then Alejandro’s voice, low and dangerous. “Watch your mouth.”

Inés backed away, heart thundering.

“What we did, what you did…..”They were hiding something.

Maybe even from each other.

She turned to leave, and crashed into someone.

A hand clamped over her mouth.

“Going somewhere?” a voice whispered into her ear.

She knew that voice.

Gabriel. The bodyguard. Always silent. Always watching.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” he said, pulling her to her feet.

“I….I got lost,” she lied.

He didn’t look convinced. But he let her go.

“For your sake,” he murmured, “don’t make that mistake again.”

***

The next morning, everything changed.

Thiago arrived.

He wasn’t what she expected. No scars. No threatening demeanor. Just an older man with silver hair and eyes like oil; slick, dark, unreadable.

They called him consigliere. Advisor. Manipulator.

He smiled at her like he knew everything.

Including why she was here.

She avoided him for the rest of the day.

But that night, as she cleaned the study, she found something.

A black notebook, half-buried under a pile of folders.

Inside, dates. Payments. Names. Including her father’s.

One name was underlined in red.

"Project 5B : Initiated by A.D."

She blinked. Her breath caught.

A.D.

Alejandro Delgado?

“I was wondering when you’d try something stupid.”

Inés spun around.

Thiago stood in the doorway, his tie loosened, a gun at his side, not raised. Not yet.

His eyes were colder than she’d ever seen them. “Put it down.”

Her hands trembled. But she didn’t move.

“What is this?” she whispered.

He stepped forward, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. “That’s mine.”

“You knew my family.”

His jaw tightened. “Put. It. Down.”

She did.

Not because she was scared.

Because she needed him to keep talking.

“You killed them,” she said. “Didn’t you?”

Something flickered in his eyes.

Guilt?

Regret?

A creak behind them.

She spun and found herself face-to-face with Alejandro.

His expression was unreadable. He looked at the notebook on the desk, then at her.

“What the hell’s going on?”

Thiago didn’t flinch. “She found the book.”

Alejandro’s gaze flicked to Inés. “You let her near it?”

“I didn’t let her do anything. She came on her own.”

“Where did you get that?” he asked quietly.

“I….I found it,” she whispered.

His gaze darkened.

He stepped closer.

“You don’t belong here,” he said.

Her throat tightened. “You think I’m spying?”

“I think you’re lying.

”

A pause.

“I think you’re looking for something.”

Inés stood her ground. “Maybe I am.”

He studied her for a long moment. “Then I hope you’re ready to find it.”

And before she could speak, he reached behind her and pulled a gun from the drawer…