The silence in the car stretched thin like thread about to snap. I sat huddled in Marco's oversized coat, the fabric swallowing me whole. My fingers twitched in my lap as I glanced sideways at the man who had just been introduced as Nico Del Ruca.

He did not look at me again after that first chilling smile. His eyes were fixed out the window, watching the world blur past. But even without his gaze, I felt it. That heavy presence. Like he could see through skin and bone, down to the thoughts I had not even dared to think yet.

We stopped outside a grand estate nestled in the hills, surrounded by towering pines and silence. It was not loud like the Morales manor or laced with cameras. This was quiet power. The kind that watched in the dark and never needed to announce itself.

Nico stepped out first. Marco followed. I hesitated, but the warmth of the car had turned suffocating.

I climbed out.

Inside, the house smelled of leather and old books. The walls were lined with portraits and thick curtains that muffled sound. A woman in black appeared, took my coat, and disappeared again without a word.

Nico led me into a study. It was poorly lit but there was a fire crackling and a single chair facing his desk.

"Sit," he said.

I obeyed immediately.

He poured two glasses of something golden. Whiskey maybe. He slid one toward me, then settled into the leather chair across from mine.

"Do you know who I am, Millie?"

I shook my head.

He raised an eyebrow. "You have never heard the name Del Ruca before?"

I shook my head again, afraid to speak to this scary looking man who had an aura similar but a bit deeper than Don Morales'.

He smirked. "Well that could either mean that I have been doing a bad job or you just don't know too many people apart from the ones you know."

He leaned back, studying me. "You must be wondering why you are here. Why Marco picked you up from that alley instead of letting you rot on the streets with those hippies. You think maybe Alex sent us."

My mouth opened, but he raised a hand.

He continued in his thick Italian accent.

"Let me make one thing very clear. Alex Morales does not know you are here. And even if he did, there is absolutely nothing he can do about it."

Something in me flinched at the truth of that.

Nico had this thing about him that made him seem more fearful than Alex. Than anybody.

But was I safe?

"You are an asset, Millie. You carry a kind of leverage that men would kill for. That is not a compliment. It is a fact."

"Then why did you bring me here? What do you want?"

Nico sipped his drink slowly then swirled the remaining contents of the cup.

"Because as much as you are an asset, you are still a vulnerable little girl. You are just as weak as when you were still living under Dan’s roof. You have the will to run but you can't. You have the power to fight but you wish to hide. I see you, Millie. I know what Dan did to you. I know how Alex too you in and pretended to give you the life you desired. I know of how your life has been moving in circles with no progress. I want to help."

I said nothing. My hands clenched in my lap.

"I would like to strike a deal with you Millie."

Nico was certainly not kne to mince words.

"One year with me. I'll train you on all that you need to know to successfullyrun a business. I'll also teach you how to be untouchable. Let me build you into a weapon that cannot be manipulated. After this, you will become a woman who is feared and respected among her peers not a little puppy that is being pitied."

"And what do you get in return, Nico?"

He smiled again. This one was less wolfish. Almost tired.

"You think power is not a fair trade? Millie, I am offering you freedom. And in exchange, I ask for your presence. Your mind. Your eyes. Yiu will help me to reshape this city. Help me cut the rot out from its roots. And trust me, the Morales have rotted deep."

I looked at the fire. It crackled like something alive.

"You are trying to use me, aren'tyou?."

"Perhaps. But I am honest about it. That counts for something."

The room pulsed with tension.

He stood.

"Sleep and Eat. You look like you have not done either in days. And if you consent, we can begin your training tomorrow."

He bent low to whisper in my ears.

"When I am done with you, not even Alex Morales will recognize the woman who walks into his world."

Something inside me liked the imagination of wielding more power than Alex.

Nico started to walk away, then stopped at the door.

"One more thing. If you go back to him now, he will only break you worse. Not because he hates you. But because he still loves you, and love in the hands of a man like that can be more dangerous than hate."

He left me with those words. Alone in the firelight.

I stared into the flames, every inch of me burning with questions.

But one thought rose above the rest.

What would I become, if I stayed?