The shipyard was eerily silent now, the scent of gunpowder still lingering in the air. Alejandro stood over Santiago’s lifeless body, his gun still warm in his grip. The night breeze rustled his hair, but he barely noticed it.Aria stood beside him, her breathing steady, but Alejandro could feel the tension radiating from her. She had wanted this war to end as much as he did, but the victory felt… hollow.Jace groaned as he approached, clutching his side where blood seeped through his shirt. “I’m just going to throw this out there we’re really bad at having peaceful business deals.”Valentina smirked, tucking her gun away. “It’s the nature of the business, Jace.”Miguel knelt beside Santiago’s body, checking his pulse despite knowing it was pointless. “It’s over,” he muttered, standing up and wiping his hands. “Finally.”Alejandro turned to his team, his expression unreadable. “We haven't celebrated yet. Santiago had men, and they’ll be looking for vengeance.”Aria nodded. “We have to
The night stretched on, the scent of salt and gunpowder still thick in the air. Alejandro stood at the edge of the safe house’s balcony, his hands gripping the railing as he stared out into the darkness. His body was stiff, muscles still coiled from the fight on the boat. Every breath felt heavier than the last.Aria watched him from the doorway, the soft glow from the room behind her casting a faint halo around her figure. She could see the tension in his stance, the weight of everything pressing down on him. Quietly, she stepped forward.“You haven’t said much since we got here,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.Alejandro didn’t turn immediately. He exhaled through his nose, his grip on the railing tightening before he finally spoke. “There’s too much to think about.”Aria moved closer, her fingers brushing against his forearm. “Then talk to me. Let me share the burden.”He glanced at her then, his dark eyes filled with conflict. For a long moment, he simply looked at
The night was suffocatingly quiet after the chaos. The only sounds were the rhythmic lapping of waves against the damaged boat and the occasional groans of pain from the wounded. Alejandro stood at the helm, his grip on the railing so tight his knuckles turned white. The salt air burned his nostrils, but it did nothing to clear the storm in his head.Aria watched him carefully. He hadn't spoken since the last shot was fired, since Santiago's men had finally been silenced. The fight had been brutal, but they had won at least for now. And yet, Alejandro seemed more troubled than relieved.She took a hesitant step toward him. "Alejandro?"His shoulders tensed, but he didn’t turn around. She reached out, her fingers brushing his arm. "Talk to me."He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "It doesn’t feel like a victory. We lost people tonight. Jace is injured. Miguel is barely standing. And Santiago, he's still out there."Aria swallowed, understanding his frustration. "But we're alive. That
The echoes of gunfire had faded, but the tension in the air remained thick. The boat rocked slightly as Alejandro stood at the helm, his hands gripping the wheel with white-knuckled intensity. The salt-laced wind whipped against his face, but his mind was elsewhereback on the deck, back in the chaos, back in the moment Aria was nearly taken from him.She stood nearby, watching him carefully. Despite the exhaustion weighing down her limbs, she refused to let herself rest. They weren’t safe yet, and even if they were, she knew better than to let her guard down. Not with Santiago lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.Jace was checking the remaining ammunition, his face tight with concentration. Valentina was bandaging Miguel’s wound, her movements efficient yet gentle. The cartel enforcer was pale but still conscious, his usual smirk dulled by the pain."We need a plan," Aria finally spoke, breaking the heavy silence. Her voice was firm, but there was an underly
The night was thick with tension, the air carrying the scent of salt and gunpowder. The boat rocked slightly beneath them, the aftermath of the ambush still lingering. Alejandro stood near the helm, his grip on the wheel tightening. Every nerve in his body was wired, his instincts screaming at him to stay on edge. He had learned long ago that survival meant never letting his guard down.Aria sat beside him, her hand resting on his knee. The touch was grounding, but it did little to silence the storm brewing inside him. She could see it in his eyesthe darkness, the fury, the relentless need for revenge."We're almost there," Jace muttered, checking the GPS. "Another ten minutes."Miguel groaned from where he lay, his wound hastily bandaged. "Let's hope we don’t have another welcoming party."Valentina reloaded her gun with calm precision. "If we do, we make sure they regret showing up."Alejandro exhaled sharply, his jaw clenching. "Santiago isn’t done. He knows we got away, and he won
The boat rocked gently as the wind carried the scent of salt and blood through the air. Alejandro stood at the helm, his grip on the wheel tightening as he scanned the horizon. The night’s battle had left them weary, but there was no time to rest. Santiago’s men were relentless, and if they had found them once, they would find them again.Aria leaned against the railing, her arms wrapped around herself. Her mind replayed the last few hoursthe gunfire, the near-death moments, the desperate fight to survive. She glanced toward Alejandro, his face illuminated by the dim moonlight, and saw the tension in his jaw, the way his muscles coiled like a predator ready to strike.“You’re thinking too much,” she said softly, stepping closer to him.He exhaled, forcing himself to loosen his grip. “We need to reach the safe house before sunrise.”Jace emerged from below deck, wiping blood off his hands. “Miguel is stable. Barely. But he needs a doctor soon.”Alejandro nodded, his mind already calcul
The sound of heavy boots echoed against the stone walls of the abandoned safe house. Alejandro moved swiftly through the dimly lit hallway, his grip tight around the gun in his hand. Aria followed close behind, her breath controlled but her heart pounding. The silence that loomed ahead was more unnerving than the chaos they had just escaped from.Jace and Valentina covered their backs, their movements synchronized from years of experience. Miguel, though still weakened from his injury, held his pistol steady, his sharp eyes scanning every shadow for a possible threat.Alejandro’s mind was racing. Santiago’s men had been relentless, attacking the boat and nearly sinking it. They had lost valuable time fending off the ambush, and now, with only a short lead, their only chance was to lay low, recover, and plan their next move.“Clear,” Jace whispered as he checked the adjacent rooms.Alejandro nodded and gestured for Aria to move ahead with him. She kept close to his side, her body tense
The night was thick with silence, but Alejandro knew better than to trust it. He stood at the edge of the safe house’s balcony, staring out at the dense jungle that surrounded them. The moonlight barely cut through the thick canopy, casting eerie shadows that shifted with the wind. His grip on his gun was firm, his mind running through every possible scenario.Inside, the others were restingor at least trying to. Aria lay on the worn-out couch, her breathing even, but Alejandro knew she wasn’t asleep. He could tell by the way her fingers clenched the fabric of her shirt, the tension in her body refusing to let go. Jace sat in a chair nearby, his gun resting on his lap, eyes closed but fully alert. Valentina and Miguel were in the other room, patching up wounds and checking their supplies.“We need to move soon,” Jace muttered, not opening his eyes.Alejandro exhaled. “I know.”“Then why are we still here?”Alejandro didn’t answer immediately. He turned back to look at Aria. She had be
The warmth of the morning sun did little to erase the lingering tension in the estate. Though the threat to Jace had been lifted, and Alejandro had begun mending the cracks between them, there was an air of unfinished business hanging over everyone. The silence in the hallways was not peaceful, it was watchful, heavy with the weight of memories and anticipation of what could come next. Aria felt it in the way the maids moved, whispering behind corners, in the way Alejandro’s guards doubled their shifts without complaint, and in the way Sophia barely left Jace’s side.Inside the master suite, Aria stood alone in front of the mirror, slowly tying her hair back. Her hands trembled slightly. There was a bruise on her wrist, faint but still visible, a reminder of the scuffle at the warehouse. She ran her fingers over it not out of pain, but remembrance. The past few days have changed everything. Love wasn’t a fairytale she’d grown up dreaming about. It was brutal, it was aching, it was the
The journey back to the estate felt endless. Alejandro drove in silence, one hand on the wheel, the other wrapped tightly around the steering wheel as though holding it could keep him from falling apart. Jace sat in the backseat, his head resting against the window, bruised and bandaged. Aria was beside him, her fingers interlaced with his, like she couldn’t risk letting go. Valentina was quiet too, arms crossed, her jaw set, eyes watchful through the rearview mirror. It wasn’t just exhaustion. It was the aftermath of a storm that had left all of them changed.Aria couldn’t stop glancing at Jace. Even with his cuts and injuries, he still looked like the boy who had grinned at her from Alejandro’s rooftop, the man who had fought for her when Alejandro didn’t know how. She kept replaying the moment he opened his eyes and said her name, the rasp in his voice, the relief in it. She had been so close to losing him, and it terrified her how easily life could tilt into tragedy. All that time
Alejandro stood still in the middle of that abandoned building long after the recording ended, his fist clenching around the cracked phone until his knuckles turned white. There was something different about hearing Jace’s voice, something raw. He wasn’t speaking like a man running from guilt. He was speaking like someone fighting for something more sacred than survival. The fear in his tone hadn’t been for himself. It had been for Aria. And that realization twisted something sharp in Alejandro’s chest. He had doubted his brother. Worse, he had turned his back when Jace might have needed him the most. The guilt was thunderous, the silence around him heavier than bricks.Sophia stood by the doorway, watching him. “Do you want to keep searching here?”“No,” he finally said, his voice low and broken. “He’s not here anymore. But we have a direction now. This wasn’t random. They wanted him alive. That means they still need him.”Sophia nodded slowly. “And that gives us time.”Alejandro loo
Morning crept in with a coldness that didn’t belong to the sun, but to the hearts of those who had spent the night wrestling with truth and betrayal. Alejandro stood in front of the mirror in his suite, buttoning his shirt slowly, mechanically, as if the simple act might distract his mind from the raging war within. There was a hollow ache in his chest, a dark void left by the thought that Jace, the man he called brother, might have handed over his secrets to enemies. But it wasn’t just anger that consumed him. It was the sting of disappointment, the disintegration of trust, the slow unraveling of a bond built on blood and loyalty.Downstairs, Aria sat at the breakfast table, untouched toast lying cold on her plate. Her thoughts drifted like smoke thick, suffocating. She didn’t know what was worse: the possibility that Jace was guilty or the fear that Alejandro might be wrong. Everything was turning to ash around her again. When she looked up and saw Valentina approach, there was no n
The night was thick with silence, but Aria’s heart was anything but still. She sat by the large bay window in her room, knees pulled to her chest, watching the stars blur through the film of unshed tears. Alejandro’s words from the garden echoed in her mind like a song she couldn’t stop humming. She wanted to believe him, God knew she did, but believing meant opening herself again to the kind of pain she wasn’t sure she could survive twice. It meant risking everything she had become, everything she had built inside herself since the moment he turned her life upside down. And still, some small, stubborn part of her ached for his touch, for the warmth that only he ever made her feel. That was the cruel truth her body still remembered what her mind was trying to forget.Down the hallway, Alejandro stood in front of his bedroom door, hand raised, knuckles grazing the surface but never knocking. He had said what he needed to say, and she had asked for time. He had to respect that. But pati
Alejandro sat in the darkened study, the amber glow of the fireplace casting flickering shadows across the walls. His hand gripped the edge of the desk, knuckles white, heart thundering like a storm trapped inside a cage. Aria’s face haunted him, her eyes no longer filled with trust, now brimmed with doubt and pain. And it wasn’t just about the secrets. It was about the silence. The silence that had widened the gulf between them until he couldn’t recognize the bridge they once stood on together. He had promised to protect her, yet the world he built to keep her safe had become the very thing tearing her apart. Alejandro could almost hear her voice, the tremble, the crack when she asked him if he ever truly loved her, or if she’d just been another pawn in his empire’s twisted game.Outside the door, Valentina paced like a storm cloud, her heels sharp against the marble floor. She had seen enough of men like Alejandro cold, controlled, calculating. But this time was different. She had s
The forest was eerily quiet as dawn bled through the twisted silhouettes of trees. A thick mist hugged the earth, softening the edges of bloodshed and ash that had stained the night. Alejandro sat by the fire they barely had time to light, his eyes locked on the flames like they might offer absolution. Across from him, Aria wrapped a torn blanket around her shoulders, shivering not from the cold but from the storm inside her chest. Jace was resting nearby, his wound stitched with trembling hands and the pain dulled by makeshift medication. For now, they were alive. But they were cornered.Aria's mind wouldn’t rest. Dario’s words echoed relentlessly: "She doesn't even know what she's carrying." What did it mean? She stared at the data drive again, holding it as if it might explode with answers. Somewhere within its encrypted layers lay a truth powerful enough to drive a cartel mad. A truth they were now willing to kill for.Alejandro noticed her grip tightening and stood, walking to he
The night air was thick with tension, so much that it clung to Aria’s skin like a second layer. The distant crunch of footsteps on gravel made her grip the pistol tighter. Every shadow seemed to pulse with danger, every sound a possible threat. From where she crouched beside the jagged cliff edge, she could make out the dark shapes of their enemies disembarking from the boat, weapons drawn, eyes sweeping the terrain.Beside her, Alejandro’s breathing was calm, calculated. He crouched low, his back against the rocks, a rifle balanced on his knee. Though the moment was dire, there was a stillness in him, like the eye of a storm. His hand brushed Aria’s shoulder gently a silent promise that they would survive this. Not just for themselves, but for everything they had endured together.She turned to look at him, their eyes locking in the darkness. His gaze held fire, but beneath it, she caught something unexpected. Regret.“Alejandro,” she whispered, “if we don’t make it ”“We will,” he c
The moon hung low in the sky, casting a pale glow over the water, but the night felt darker now heavier. Aria’s breath came in shallow bursts as the boat jolted through the waves. Every second felt like an eternity as the engines of their pursuers roared in the distance. The sound was a constant reminder of the danger they were in. But even as they neared the narrow mouth of the cove, there was a sense of urgency in the air. This was it the moment of reckoning.Alejandro stood tall, his figure unwavering against the pressure that weighed down on them. His eyes never left the distant horizon as he clutched the wheel, steering them with precision and determination. He was a man used to fighting for survival, but Aria had seen enough of his vulnerability over the past weeks to understand that even he didn’t know if they would make it out of this alive."We’re almost there," Jace called out from the back of the boat, his voice strained. "But they’re right behind us. We won’t have time to