2

The line outside Voltage stretched around the block, a river of sequins, leather, and skin that made Julia's little black dress seem positively conservative. Bass thundered from inside the building, so powerful she could feel it vibrating through the sidewalk. "Kate, maybe this isn't—"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Kate linked their arms together, her heels clicking confidently as she bypassed the entire line and walked straight to the velvet rope. "Hey, Marco!" The bouncer—a mountain of a man with a shaved head and a surprisingly warm smile—looked down at Kate and grinned. "Katie! Been a minute. Who's your friend?" "This is Julia. First-timer. Be gentle with her." Marco's eyes softened as he looked at Julia, clearly reading her nervousness. "You're in good hands with this one," he said, unhooking the rope. "Have fun, ladies. Stay safe." Just like that, they were inside. Julia's senses were immediately overwhelmed. The club was a cavern of darkness punctuated by laser lights that cut through artificial fog like knives.

The music was so loud it was physical, pressing against her chest, making her heartbeat sync with the bass. Bodies moved everywhere—on the dance floor, in elevated VIP sections, pressed against the bar three-deep. "Come on!" Kate shouted, though Julia could barely hear her. "Let's get drinks!" They pushed through the crowd to the bar, where a bartender with sleeve tattoos and a knowing smile leaned toward them. "What can I get you beautiful ladies?" Kate ordered something complicated with vodka. Julia hesitated, then heard herself say, "I'll have the same." First drink. First lie by omission—her parents would never know she was here. First step into a world that existed entirely outside her carefully constructed boundaries.

The drink was sweet and strong and burned going down. Kate watched her with barely contained glee. "So? What do you think?" "It's..." Julia looked around, trying to find words. The club was beautiful in a dangerous way, like a jungle at night—full of predators and prey, and she wasn't sure which category she fell into. "It's incredible." "Just wait until you dance. Come on!" Kate pulled her onto the dance floor, into the writhing mass of bodies. Julia felt self-conscious at first, moving awkwardly to the pounding rhythm. But the drink was warming her from the inside out, loosening the tight control she'd maintained her entire life. "Stop thinking!" Kate shouted, demonstrating a move that would have scandalized everyone Julia had ever known. "Just feel it!"

So Julia closed her eyes and felt it. The music. The heat. The freedom of being anonymous in a crowd, just another girl in a black dress, dancing like she'd never been told it was immodest or dangerous or wrong. When she opened her eyes again, the world had shifted slightly, edges softened by alcohol and adrenaline.

And that's when she saw him. He stood in the VIP section above the dance floor, separated from the masses by velvet ropes and armed security. Even from a distance, he commanded attention. Tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a suit that probably cost more than her entire semester's tuition. Dark hair swept back from a face that was all sharp angles and harder edges—high cheekbones, strong jaw, a mouth set in a line that suggested he rarely smiled. But it was his eyes that caught her. Held her. Pinned her in place like a butterfly on a board. They were dark—so dark she couldn't distinguish iris from pupil—and fixed on her with an intensity that made her breath catch. This wasn't the casual once-over guys gave girls in bars.

This was something else. Something predatory and possessive and entirely too interested. Julia couldn't look away. Around him, other men in expensive suits talked and laughed, beautiful women in designer dresses draped themselves artfully on furniture. But he wasn't looking at them. He was looking at her. Slowly, deliberately, he raised the glass of amber liquid in his hand. A toast. An acknowledgment. A claim. "Holy shit." Kate had appeared beside her, following her gaze.

"Julia, that's Don Massimo Valentino." The name meant nothing to Julia, but the way Kate said it—half awed, half terrified—meant everything.

"Who?"

"Only the most powerful man in the city!" Kate grabbed her arm, physically turning her away from that magnetic gaze. "Jules, my brother does security for some of the clubs. He's told me about Massimo. He's not just rich—he's dangerous. Like, organized crime dangerous. You can't make eye contact with guys like that!"

"I didn't mean to—"

"I know, but seriously, we need to move. Men like him don't just look at girls. They take them." Kate's words should have frightened her. Should have sent her running for the exit. But Julia's heart was pounding for reasons that had nothing to do with fear. That man—Don Massimo—had looked at her like she was something rare and precious and utterly his for the taking. Part of her was terrified. Part of her wanted to look back.

"Dance with me?" Julia turned to find a different man standing before her—younger than the one in VIP, with warm brown eyes and an easy smile. He was handsome in an approachable way, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Normal. Safe. Everything the man in VIP wasn't.

"I—" Julia glanced back at the VIP section, but the dark stranger had been swallowed by his entourage. Disappointment and relief warred in her chest.

"Let's stay strangers for the night beautiful" the stranger said, extending his hand with the confidence of someone who was rarely refused. Kate gave Julia a subtle nod—this one's okay—and Julia made a choice. She took his hand.

"Ow well I am Julia."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl but still I'm not gonna tell you mine..." The handsome stranger said as he pulled her close as the music shifted to something slower, more sensual.

"First time at Voltage?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only because you look like you're still deciding if you want to be here." His smile was kind, understanding.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you are." He was easy to talk to. He was a graduate student in architecture, loved classic movies, and had a self-deprecating sense of humor that made Julia laugh. As they danced and talked, she felt herself relaxing into the night, into the role of a normal college girl having a normal Friday night experience.

She didn't notice the eyes watching from the VIP section. Didn't see the way Don Massimo's jaw tightened as another man held what he'd already decided was his. Didn't understand that in the world of powerful men and dangerous games, eye contact was a contract. And Julia had just signed in blood she didn't know she'd spilled.

"Want to get some air?" Her dancing partner asked after their third dance together. "It's hot in here."

Julia knew she should say no. Should find Kate and leave. Should remember every warning her parents had ever given her about strange men and bad decisions. Instead, she let her heart rule her head for the first time in her life and said yes.