ALINA“Mommy, what’s happening?” Maya asked against my shoulder when I reached them. “Nothing we can’t handle,” I lied, kissing the top of her head.But inside, my mind was a storm.Who was out there? What had tripped the system? And how much longer could we pretend this was just a temporary hiding place, instead of a cage with alarms for bars?I stood by the edge of the console, the children tucked against me. Cheese or baby, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t alone in this body.And if the world outside thought it could take that away from me? It had another thing coming.I pulled up the feed expecting shadows. A man, maybe. Something I could put teeth to.Instead, it was a doe.It was just standing there, neck long and delicate, ears flicking at every sound. And behind her, wobbling like a drunk who hadn’t learned his legs yet, her fawn. The little thing bent its head, nosing the dirt, trying to find something that wasn’t there. It stumbled, knees buckling. The mother nudged it back
ALINAThe walls were starting to close in on me.Not literally, though if the safe house had decided to sprout teeth and swallow me whole, I might’ve welcomed the distraction.Two days in, and already my world had shrunk down to four beige-painted walls, one security system that worked with the smugness of a guard dog. And the occasional reminder that I was, in fact, still a person and not just a piece of furniture in hiding with two children who never seemed to run out of questions.Leo was sprawled on the carpet with his toy cars, zooming them across a fake racetrack he’d built from couch cushions, while Maya had her crayons spread like confetti across the coffee table. They were adaptable in ways I couldn’t fathom. New room, new house, new rules about not touching doors or windows without asking Megan first, but they absorbed it all with the kind of resilience that made me both proud and guilty.Because under all of it, the questions never stopped.“Mom,” Leo leaned up, head lif
LUCAMy hands on the wheel was the only thing holding me together.Not the caffeine, not the plan running in my head like clockwork, just that steady vibration that kept me from blowing the whole city up before I even reached the office.It was times like this that I realized just how lonesome it could get. With Alina stuck in the safe house, there was no one to talk to. And I couldn't call her too often. Who knew? Maybe someone was keeping track of my calls and movements, I couldn't lead them right back to her. I drove with one hand on the wheel, the other on the phone, scrolling past names that meant trouble and landing on one I hadn’t seen in a couple of days. Analide.I hadn’t called her since that day I let her go. Now, when she answered, I went right in. “Call Alvez, tell him you want to meet." “Except I don't want to meet. Why would I do that?” “You do. You just don't know it yet. Has he reached out to you? Or have you reached out to him.?” “No, I've been trying to hea
LUCAThe call came in before I’d even had coffee the next morning. Rafael’s voice was tight. He only spoke like that when something had gone wrong in a way that would cost us.“Boss, we’ve got a problem in the streets.”I was still half in the dark of my study, one shoulder leaning against the wall, phone pressed to my ear. “What kind of problem?”“There was an overdose. It happened last night. Word’s getting out and around.”That yanked the last of the sleep out of my narrowed eyes. Cleared it in a way so brutal even coffee couldn't do it. Overdoses weren’t just bad for optics, they were bad for business. A man who was dead couldn’t earn, and a man who was chasing his next fix was unpredictable, sloppy. In my world, sloppy people get killed.“What was it?” I asked, my voice low.There was a pause. Too long. I could hear the shuffle of movement on his end, the faint honk of traffic somewhere behind him.“Rafael?” I proded. “Cocaine,” he said finally.I closed my eyes and swore un
LUCATalciro’s voice was a gravel scrape over the line.“You think you can just walk away from me, boy?”I kept my tone flat. “I don’t think. I decide. And I’ve decided I’m done.”Silence. Then a chuckle that wasn’t remotely amused.“You belong to me. You’ve always belonged to me since you worked for me the first time. Did you think I was going to trust my gold to a man I couldn't control?”“No,” I said, staring out across the loading bay where men moved crates into place. “I’ve belonged to me since the day I stopped answering to anyone. I'm mine and it's not up for negotiation.” “Careful, Luca,” he said, voice dropping into that dangerous calm that made lesser men flinch. “You keep talking like that and I might have to remind you what happens to people who cross me.”I almost laughed. “You think I’m scared of you?”“No,” he said. “I think you should be.” The long pause was poisonous. “And if you won’t be… maybe the police will be very interested in what I know. You’ve got bodies in
LUCAThe call with Olga dragged longer than it should have.He swore, again, that Marco hadn’t so much as stepped an inch out of line.He hadn't had any late night meetings, no calls from blocked nunbers, and no accidentally ending up anywhere he shouldn’t have been. The man was squeaky clean, at least he was now that I was watching. And that was the problem.Squeaky clean meant one of two things: he was either innocent… or good enough to cover his tracks.“I’m telling you, Luca, he’s not moving shady,” Olga said for the third time, voice tight, like he was defending a cousin.“Then go back to that warehouse,” I said, pacing the length of my office. “The same one where I saw him with Ethan. Ask Ethan about the bomb. And don’t just ask, press him. I want a straight answer, not that I don’t know crap he gives you when he’s lying.”I heard Olga’s footsteps creak across the floor. “And if he asks why?”“Tell him I’m curious. Or tell him I’m paranoid. Hell, tell him I’m bored. I don’t ca