What is this place?" she demanded, trying to hide the fear in her voice. Juan's smile instantly turned into a frown. "This is where... business is conducted," he said, his eyes glinting with something unsettling.
Aria stepped back, sensing the darkness and terror emanating from the steel doors. "You’re holding people here, aren’t you?" she asked, her voice trembling. Juan chuckled softly. "Guests, Aria. Just very... special guests," he added with a smile that sent chills down her spine.
Suddenly, a scream echoed from behind one of the doors, so loud that she flinched. The sound sent a wave of terror coursing through her. "Who… who’s in there?" she stuttered. Juan's expression turned sinister. "Someone who’s learned to appreciate El Patrón’s hospitality and kindness."
Panic surged within her; she knew she had to get out of there, fast. As she turned to leave, Juan grasped her arm, his grip like a vice. She was sure he had left a mark. "Remember, Aria, curiosity can be quite deadly. Little girls like you should stay not curious."
With a surge of adrenaline, she wrenched her arm free and raced up the stairs, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn’t look back until she was sure she was out of his sight.
Back in the mansion, she collided with Maria, still glancing behind her to ensure no one was following.
"Señorita, what’s wrong?" Maria asked, concern etched on her face.
"I saw... something," Aria stammered. Maria’s eyes darted around, ensuring they were alone.
"You went down? You have to be very careful, señorita. El Patrón’s secrets are not to be shared."
"Maria, what’s going on? I’m scared," Aria whispered, her voice barely audible.
Maria glanced around nervously, her expression grave. "I don’t know much, señorita. But please, you must be careful. El Patrón’s business... it’s not for you to know."
Aria grasped Maria’s hands, desperation flooding her voice. "Please tell me something, Maria, anything at all. What’s behind those steel doors? Who are those people? What business are you talking about?"
Maria’s eyes filled with tears. "People who crossed El Patrón. People who owe him. People who... disappeared with his money."
Aria’s heart sank, and she began to shake with fear. "What… what about Jace… my brother? Does Alejandro have him?" she asked, dreading the answer.
Maria’s expression faltered. "I don’t know, señorita. But if El Patrón has him..." She trailed off, leaving the unspoken threat hanging in the air.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the hall. "Maria, go, quickly," Aria whispered urgently, not wanting Maria to get caught talking to her. Maria nodded and swiftly disappeared into the nearest room.
"Aria, darling. I see you’re now exploring," a voice called out, sending a jolt of fear through her. She recognized it immediately. Alejandro! "How do you like it here?" he added, his tone chilling.
Her heart raced as he approached, his eyes burning with intensity. She shuddered, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole, wishing the building would collapse on them. Anything to stop him from reaching her.
As he stood right in front of her, she felt a wave of dread wash over her.
He leaned closer, and she could smell his cologne, it was intoxicating yet terrifying. She closed her eyes as he came nearer. "Find anything interesting?" he whispered into her ear.
Interesting?Were those supposed to be interesting? She thought as her eyes darted around. "There's nothing interesting in here." She muttered. "Oh, so it's fun then." He replied to her, and she couldn't help but move back a bit, seeing as he was getting closer than she could take in. "Look at me!" He ordered, hating that she was avoiding everything about him.She struggled to look up but dared not look him straight in his eyes. "I want to get cleaning." She whispered and he looked around the kitchen. "Follow me." He then dragged her to the stairs that led to the basement, where he got people locked and killed. "Are you going to look into my eyes, or would you like to be thrown into one of these rooms?"She froze.Huh?What punishment was better? She thought as she struggled with the decision. Both of them were like death sentences. She didn't know which was better. "Why are you doing all this to me?" Tears were starting to steam down her face. "Both can kill me! Which way is a bett
Miguel had a lot of fun relaxing for the rest of the day and the next morning being Monday, she got up, got dressed for work, and made her way to Prime Enforcement Agency."Greetings Miss Miguel! There is an urgent meeting going on right now. President Jude asked that I inform you to get involved." Kate, her secretary informed her the moment she stepped her feet in her office. "I see! You may leave." She signaled, and Kate walked out.Miguel sat on her seat and became curious. What sort of impromptu meeting could be going on right now? She thought and after making sure everything was fine, she got up and walked into the meeting room. Everyone's eyes were wide open as she walked in and sat on a seat closer to President Jude."Morning everyone!" She said and went mute. A few answered her in pretense while the rest, who were actually young women, chose to remain mute, visibly showing their resentment for her, but Miguel never gave a fuck about them."It's good you are here Agent Miguel.
"Oh my fucking god! You mean you have his sister in your custody? That's hella iconic. I'm scared of you Miguel. You are fucking awesome." He praised her, the excitement in him very visible that he held her arm and moved her out of much excitement. Miguel wasn't fazed by his excitement. "Do you now believe I'm the best for this job?" She asked him without any ounce of emotion in her voice."No one is taking that away from you. You are the baddest bitch in this game." He swore as she started the car and then drove off. "Oh, my world! I'm in awe of you Miguel. I'm blessed that I have you." He kept praising her. He picked up the phone and called his team, transferring the job away from Anita to her and soon she got to her house. "You are so amazing." He said as he then got into her room and took out his shirt, sitting on the bed like he'd won completely in life.Seeing his reaction, Miguel knew she had won him back and she did that effortlessly. Her man was back to her! She thought and
His words did a whole lot of things to her body system causing her tears to fall out of her eyes. "you are so evil. I can't believe this." She cried and he watched her like a stupid movie."People like you are the most dangerous. So self-righteous and weird. Watch me destroy your brother Aria or whatever shit you are called." He told her and walked away leaving her there shaking in fear and anger about how she was being treated.Alejandro walked into his study room and turned on his computer to monitor some of his men, but then he realized that hardware was missing, so he got up and walked into his monitoring room where some of his teams and Juan were seated monitoring their men and ensuring that they don't do anything out of place. "Why the fuck have I heard nothing?" He spat, losing his patience.Juan noticed he was going to lose it on the teams in the room so he got up and took Alejandro out of the monitoring room to another one in the opposite direction in the basement. "I think t
Alejandro hated Jace so much that it took him a while to want to see one of his men. Finally, he walked into a special room he had created in the basement and welcomed himself by throwing a punch to his face. "Argh!!" He groaned in pain and Alejandro sat on a chair facing him. Juan walked into the room with another chain and added it to the ones already placed on him. "What's his name?" Alejandro asked Juan."I heard he is Blade," Juan replied and Alejandro's brows moved a bit. "Be must be an important person in the group then. What's up Blade?" He said and brought out his hand for a handshake with Blade. "oh you are caged in my basement. I forgot that. You are also bleeding. That's very disappointing for a man with the name Blade." He mocked Blade who was seated almost lifeless on the chair. After a while, Juan noticed that the blood pouring on the floor was unusual. "I think he needs to get treated," Juan said, and when Alejandro noticed it too, he agreed and left the room, leav
Blade was finding it hard to bear the pain he was having to go through. Seeing as there was no one in the room with him, his eyes darted around. He had the urge to cough, but he couldn't let it out loudly to avoid the attention of his enemies, so he did his best to suppress it even though the feeling in his chest left him haunted. At this point, he was having lots of regrets as he wished that he had done better during the operation. Who would have thought that Alejandro was going to appear with his cartel to cause commotion? He thought about how Jace could be feeling and couldn't help but be curious about how he was probably reacting to his abduction. Outside of the room was Aria, who had been hearing the sounds of a man's voice, and just like she had suspected, a man was being tortured inside that room. She was so curious as to know who it was. The last thing she wanted to hear or see was her brother being tortured. She'd rather take the pain for him to live. As she was about to ope
But she just said "Jace."His whole mind was in a mess. What other reason could she have for calling Jace's name while they were intimate? He thought as he turned on his system and started doing things to distract himself. Two days passed yet Alejandro was finding it hard to get over what he had heard from Valentine. He had not gone back into that room since then even though it was his. He couldn't stand her face either. It was still very early in the morning, and he had decided to eat early before he got himself locked up again. Sitting on the dining chair and having his breakfast, he felt someone touch his shoulder. "Are you avoiding me? I had it hot last time and is yet to get over it." She whispered in his ear from behind. He took a deep breath, doing everything he could to remain calm and not talk about his anger. What the hell was she talking about? The sex with an imaginary Jace? He couldn't believe he had been fooled for as long as he couldn't even tell. "I'm having breakfas
It was 3 pm yet she wasn't sure she could get every work done. This was gradually causing her frustration.Alejandro was watching a map with Juan when a message popped up on his phone screen. He opened it and read it with Juan. They looked at each other in surprise. "We need to leave!" Juan said to him and he nodded his head.The maids in the mansion were shocked to see Alejandro and Juan storm out of the mansion with all their men and the moment the gate closed, excitement super into their veins. "Are we going to stand here and just watch now that they are gone or should we go ahead and help our sister so she won't get eliminated?" Maria's voice was heard in the building, and the whole maids agreed in excitement as they then rushed out of the building and ran to the garden and surrounded Aria, who was already on the floor feeling drained. Seeing her fellow maids, she got up from the floor in surprise and watched them pick up several water pipes and start assisting her. "Relax Señiori
The storm came in the middle of the night, heavy and relentless, with wind that screamed like ghosts clawing at the windows and thunder that shook the walls of the estate. Aria woke with a jolt, heart thudding against her chest, her hand instinctively reaching for the other side of the bed only to find it empty. The sheets were still warm where Alejandro had been lying moments ago. She sat up slowly, listening. No footsteps. No voices. Just the rumble of rain and the hollow echo of her own worry filling the room.Wrapping a robe around herself, she padded barefoot down the hallway, her eyes scanning every shadow. The storm outside seemed to seep into her bones, a reflection of the unrest brewing within her. The revelation of Luciana, Miguel’s sister, had shaken her more than she’d let on. It wasn’t just about another enemy, it was about history. About the kind of legacy blood carries whether you want it or not. If Luciana was anything like her brother, then they weren’t just facing a
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