Chapter 4—Middle of nowhere.

Mia's POV 

I didn’t have time to think. I didn’t have time to process either.

The gunfire was a blaring alarm, and my instincts kicked in without hesitation.

“Move!” Kraven snapped as he made his way forward, shoving me toward the door. Still holding on to my wrist, pulling me through the narrow hallway at a pace that left me breathless. I stumbled, trying to keep up, but I wasn’t a rookie. Not in my line of work.

“I thought you said we were safe here!” I spat, tugging my arm free from his grip as we reached the exit.

Kraven’s jaw tightened. His eyes were as cold as ever, and he kept scanning the surroundings like a hawk on the hunt. “Safe? You’re with the Astors now. Safe doesn’t typically exist.”

I hated the bitter truth in his words, but it didn’t stop the gnawing feeling that twisted in my gut.

We reached the back alley, the sound of shouting and more gunfire echoing from the building behind us. I could hear the tension and the chaos growing louder. My heartbeat raced in my chest, and at the same time, my adrenaline kept pumping through my veins.

“Get in,” Kraven growled, jerking his head toward the sleek black car waiting a few steps away.

I didn't hesitate, not even for a moment. There was no time for hesitation, and we needed to get out of there before things went further south.

I threw open the door and slid into the passenger's seat, and Kraven followed on the other side to the driver's seat with his body close enough that I could feel the heat of his presence. But then he had all his attention fixed on the road while his hands were steady on the wheel.

“I fully understand you didn't see all these coming, Aria, but there is a lot to me that you might get to know later,” he said with his voice low but with an edge I couldn’t ignore. But then, before I could say anything, my eyes caught a black spotted mark on his right temple. 

This was exactly the same birthmark my son had and on the same spot. 

I looked away and while I was carried away with a million and one thoughts going through my mind, his words snapped me out. “I hope you got what I said?”

After half a minute of silence, I turned to him with flashing eyes. “Let's see how it goes, Astor. I only hope it's something I can handle.”

His lips curled into a smirk, though there was no humor in it. “I didn’t say you couldn’t handle it. I’m just saying it might cost you.”

I shot him a look. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

He didn’t answer immediately. His jaw tightened, and for a second, I saw something dark flicker behind his eyes.

“I need you to understand that once you’re in this, there’s no way out. Not for you, not for me.”

I bristled, hating the feeling that crept into my chest: Must I continue with this in this manner? Anyway, I think I have signed up for this.

Kraven’s gaze shifted to me with his eyes narrowing, as if he was trying to see through me. “I think you’re playing a dangerous game. And you’re not the only one with something to lose.”

The silence between us grew thick. He was right about one thing—this is likely to be more tedious than I had envisaged. I only hope it's worth it at the end of the day.

In not long enough, the car jerked to a stop, the screech of tires against the pavement making me almost want to flinch.

“We’re here,” Kraven muttered with a kind of tender voice.

I glanced around. We were in the middle of nowhere, and the dim glow of streetlights barely illuminated the deserted road. It felt... wrong, you know. This wasn’t safe to the best of my knowledge. But then again, nothing about this world was.

Before I could say anything, Kraven had already opened the door and stepped out of the car, pulling his gun from the holster under his jacket. He didn’t look back at me.

“Stay low,” he ordered, his tone firm. “We’ve got company.”

I barely had time to process his words before a black SUV screeched to a halt in front of us, blocking the only way out.

Four men stepped out, each one dressed in dark suits and carrying weapons. I wasn't shocked that I couldn't recognize any of them.

“There you go again. Giovanni’s men. I see.”

I could hear Kraven mutter under his breath.

“Shit.” I barely cursed under my breath.

Kraven whispered right to my ears with his body rigid with readiness. “Don’t move unless I tell you to.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. My hand hovered near the other gun he kept tucked at the back of the car. But I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could take on four armed men in a standoff like this without Kraven suspecting a thing, and so I was thinking of a way not to bring in more reasons for him to suspect me.

The one that seems to be the most fierce looking—a tall man with sharp features and an even sharper glare—stepped forward. “Kraven Astor. You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

Kraven’s voice was smooth, calm, and at the same time almost cold. “You came at the wrong time. This doesn’t end the way you think it will.”

The man scoffed, but there was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “We’ve got you surrounded. You may not escape this.”

I watched the exchange from behind Kraven, and my heart pounded in my chest. This wasn’t how I’d planned this. I wasn’t supposed to be in the middle of a mafia war. But as I stood there, I realized something that sent a shiver down my spine.

“You don’t get it, do you?” The tall guy said. “You think you can come into our territory and walk away untouched? You’re more involved than you know.”

That was enough to make me freeze as his words hit harder than a punch, but I didn't have to.

Kraven didn’t flinch. His voice was low and dangerous. “You’re playing with fire, you know. And by now, you should know that I don't lose.”

Sharp cracks of gunfire rang out just the moment he dropped the last word, and I had my eyes focused to know where to channel my energy.

The tall man had his gun raised, and Kraven had already fired back.

Before I could take another breath, and pulled my own trigger right from behind where I was, everything happened at once. And when the gunfire sound had died down, I risked a careful glance around and noticed that Kraven ended up taking three down while I pulled at one of them. They all lay in the pool of their blood.

Just then, another car pulled up with a loud screeching sound against the coal-tiled pavement.

“Is this what the tall guy meant that they had us surrounded?”