I woke up to the scent of cigarette smoke and damp wood.

My arms ached. My wrists were burning. I tried to move, but something coarse and tight bit into my skin.

I blinked hard and that was when I saw the thick rope tied tightly around my hands to the back of the wooden chair I sat.

It was so dark and hot that I couldn't tell if I was in a basement or a storage unit.

The cold beneath my bare feet grounded me, made everything real.

Then I heard a familiar voice.

“Well, look who finally came back from the dead.”

Dan.

My stomach dropped.

He stepped out of the shadows, dragging a chair backwards until the legs screeched against the floor. He looked worse than I remembered. His hair was disheveled and he was older. As if life hadn’t just slapped him around but buried him, resurrected him, then set him on fire. His eyes were bloodshot, his coat two sizes too big. But that smirk? It hadn’t changed.

He crouched in front of me slowly and deliberately, like I was his prey and he had all the time in the world.

He took a long drag of his cigarette, leaned in, and blew the smoke right into my face.

I turned my head away, gagging.

Then he did something strange—he tilted my chin toward the light. Then he studied my face as if he was inspecting a broken toy.

“Thank God you’re okay,” he whispered.

My whole body jerked against the restraints. “Get away from me, you ugly fool.”

Dan chuckled. “I see that you've still got that fire. I was hoping prison wouldn’t snuff that out of you.”

“I wasn’t in prison.”

“Of course you weren't. You were with him.” His smile dropped. “Alex.”

I didn’t answer because I knew he was only trying to test me and get more information from me.

Dan circled me slowly, his boots thudding against the concrete.

“You’re in over your head, Millie. These people you think care about you? They don’t. They're just like me. They only want what your mother left behind.”

My jaw tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh you'll soon understand. Somewhere inside that pretty little head of yours, you know exactly where she hid it and maybe you only need a little help to remind you of where it is”

“If you think I have any idea of the shit that is going on here,” I snapped. “then you must be very delusional.”

He slapped the wall beside my head, and I flinched.

“I protected your mother!” he shouted. “I gave her a life- a free life. I housed and fed two fucking strangers. She owes me everything. And you, you were supposed to be my insurance.”

The cigarette in his hand trembled. I saw it. He wasn’t just angry.

He was unraveling but I would never budge.

“I don’t know what secrets she kept,” I said, more quietly this time. “She never told me anything.”

“Then we’ll have to dig them out now, won't we?” he grinned meancingly.

He gestured to one of his men and reached for a bat.

No. No no no—

“Get away from me!” I screamed, kicking the chair back, writhing against the ropes.

He leaned in, reeking of ash and sweat. “You’ll give me what I want, one way or—”

Gunfire exploded outside.

Dan froze.

Then all hell broke loose.

There were sounds of men yelling outsideand at the corridors. There were gunshots. More shots.

“Son of a—” Dan backed up, fumbling for his weapon as he ran outside.

I saw my chance.

My fingers, raw and bleeding, found the edge of a nail sticking out from the chair leg. I’d been sawing at it for God knew how long without even realizing. Now I pulled hard. Felt the rope fray.

Another blast rocked the building. Dust rained from the ceiling.

The rope snapped soon enough.

I lunged forward, but fell.

I saw that my legs had been tied too. I used a thin piece of iron I found to cut through it too.

When I was done, my legs didn't feel the same.

It was too difficult to run with my legs being weak from being tied tightly.

I didn’t get far before someone yanked me backward and covered my mouth with a firm hand.

I screamed, twisting to fight. I will not be kidnapped twice in one night.

“Millie. Millie it's me.”

I turned to see Marco.

I nearly collapsed.

He grabbed my arm and dragged me through the hallway as bullets rang out behind us. We ducked under beams, hurdled over bodies, some groaning while some were silent.

“Where did you come from?” I gasped.

“I'll tell you later,” Marco snapped. “But now, we have to move fast.”

We exploded through a side door into the night. Rain drenched the alley. Steam hissed from vents along the bricks.

He shoved a helmet into my hands and pointed to the motorcycle waiting in the shadows.

“You're riding. I'll tell you where to go.”

I swung onto the bike. Marco climbed on behind me, revving the engine as voices yelled from behind the door.

Then just before we took off I saw him.

A man dressed fully in black. His arm was in a sling wrapped around his neck. He was standing on the rooftop above the warehouse with his head tilted.

Was that Alex?

It couldn't possibly be.

The same Alex that I had risked my life to visit in the hospital?

The same Alex that pretended to have missed seeing my face?

There was no time to acknowledge his betrayal. Marco patted my back for us to move. I ignited the bike.

The engine roared and the bike took off down the alley.

As the world sped beside me and Marco, every iota of feeling I had for him was left behind.

---

Nico’s penthouse was warm but it felt colder than the room I’d been held in.

I stood dripping in the entryway as Marco tossed his helmet on the marble counter.

“Start talking,” I said. “How did you know where I was?”

He didn’t answer right away. He just turned slowly, his jaw clenched.

“It was Alex.”

My blood chilled. “What?”

“He planned it. The leak. The hospital. Your face showing up in Morales territory? It was all bait.” Marco said.

“And Dan? He’s working with him. Or at least... close enough.”

My hands shook. “That’s not possible. Alex warned me about Dan. He told me—”

“He told you what you needed to hear,” Marco said bitterly. “Look. I don’t know why he’s playing both sides, but he is. And whatever Dan wants from you, it’s worth enough for Alex to lie to your face.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Marco pulled something from his coat. It was a flash drive.

“This came from one of Dan’s men. It has surveillance footage. Time-stamped. Dan and Alex. Together. Two nights ago.”

I stared at the flash drive like it might bite me. My hands curled into fists.

I didn't utter a word in response to everything Marco had said.

He stepped forward. “Millie. You have to start protecting yourself. Stop letting your heart make decisions your head should.”

I turned away from him. My reflection stared back from the glass window. Wet hair and bruised wrists.

I didn’t know who to trust anymore.

But I knew one thing.

I had a new enemy to destroy.

Alex Morales.