Ria’s POV

I picked one up and ran my fingers along the inside. Something clicked, my heart stalled.

I turned the heel over. There—beneath the sole, hidden inside a small, almost unnoticeable panel, was a chip. Small. Cold. Blinking weak red.

A GPS tracker.

“What the hell…”

I grabbed a nail file from my drawer and popped it out carefully, putting it on a tissue.

Who had put it there? Was it Edmond? My mother? And then was it to protect me—or to watch me?

I stood suddenly, throwing the shoes into the closet like they were venomous.

I had to find answers, and if Edmond wouldn't give them to me... I'd find them myself.

Into the Underground: Edmond didn’t come home again that night. 

So I did something stupid.

I followed him, and I watched him leave from the upstairs window, in a black Audi, covered windows. I called a cab and had it follow from a block away. 

I didn't know where he was going, but maybe to a meeting. Maybe a lover. Maybe something worse, but as the city passed by, I didn’t feel fear, I felt... awake.

The car pulled into a narrow alley behind a rundown factory in the Ninth Ward. Not exactly a billionaire's scene. My cab driver frowned. “You sure about this, miss?” 

Yes, I’ll be quick, I lied. I slipped out, pulling my coat tight. Rain started again… light but cold. I crept to the side door, cracked just enough to peek inside.

What I saw made my blood ice over.

A secret club.

Not the fun kind.

Dark, strobe-lit. Shadows danced along graffiti-stained walls. The sound thudded low and dirty. Men in leather jackets, faces damaged. Whispered deals. Guns peeking out from belts. The kind of place that smelled like danger and secrets.

I ducked behind a concrete wall and moved quietly.

Then I saw him.

Edmond.

Standing in the center of a makeshift backroom, collar popped, sleeves rolled, fists clenched tight.

He didn’t fit in, but he was in charge. A man knelt before him, bloodied lip, nose broken.

“You think running girls through the port was smart?” Edmond said coldly.

Woah! The man coughed, blood splattering on the floor. “I didn’t know the last one was tagged…”

“You knew,” Edmond snapped. “You just didn’t care." That’s worse.”

He pulled out a flash drive. “This is every name you’ve ever sold, and now I have it.”

My knees weakened. Edmond wasn’t just a billionaire.

He was a hunter. A detective. Undercover.

“You’re lying,” the man wheezed. “You can’t prove… it.” 

Edmond hit him square in the jaw. "I don’t need to show anything," he growled. “I’m not here for court, I’m here for justice." So…

Caught in the Dark: I backed away, my hand over my mouth. The floor creaked.

“Ria?”

His voice cut through the noise.

I froze.

He was looking straight at me, his eyes angry.

What the hell are you doing here? He hissed, rushing toward me. Are you insane?

"I followed you," I said quietly.

Oh really? Fuck….

“Are you out of your mind?” He grabbed my arm and yanked me into a corner. This isn’t a movie. You could’ve been shot!” 

"I had to know what you were doing, I snapped." You came home bleeding every night, and I thought…

You thought what? That I’m the villain?

"I thought maybe you were trying to protect something," I said, breath hitching. Or maybe just hiding something worse.

He stared at me, nostrils flaring. “You don’t get to follow me,” he said, his voice tight. “This world isn’t safe." Not even for you.”

I pulled away. Too late for that, I was never safe, and not even with my family. Not in that house, and not with you either. 

His face cracked, just for a second.

Go home, he said. “Now.”

“No, I said.” Then he stepped closer. “You’re going to get killed.” 

You already said that would be your job, you remember? I shot back. Or was that phone call just more smoke?

He went still. “You heard that?”

I heard enough. He swore under his breath, and I never wanted this for you, Ria.

“Too bad. You got me anyway.”

His gaze burned into mine, then someone cleared their throat behind us, and then… we turned sharply.

A man stood there, face hidden by a black combat mask. Even from here, I could feel the danger coming off him. The man addressed Edmond. “You brought her here?”

I didn’t. She followed me, Edmond growled.

The man stepped forward, slow and deliberate. “Then she knows too much.”

“Leave her out of this,” Edmond said quickly.

The man chuckled. “That’s the problem with marrying civilians, they wander into places meant for wolves.”

“I’ll handle it,” Edmond said. “Or can you?” the man asked, tilting his head. “Because I’ve been watching you, Cozen. You’re soft with her.”

“Be careful.” The man ignored him.

You know why they sent her instead of Raquel, right? Edmond frowned. “What?”

The masked man leaned close, because they knew he’d never touch her.

Edmond’s jaw clenched.

“They knew you’d pity her. That you’d play guardian instead of attacker. That’s why you got the throwaway sister.”

My blood ran cold.

“The man continued, "They didn’t sacrifice her,” he said, pointing toward me. They used her… she was always the bait, and then, with a nod, the man disappeared into the darkness.

I turned to Edmond, his voice shaking. “What did he mean—I was bait?”

Edmond didn’t answer, he just stared at me, pain flashing in his eyes… and for the first time…

I wasn’t sure if I was safer with him or from him.

I didn’t sleep that night.

Not after hearing the masked man say I was “the bait.”

Not after Edmond stared at me like I was a loaded gun someone had tossed in his hands. 

By morning, the silence in the house was louder than ever. I found him in the sunroom, standing by the glass wall, sipping coffee like it wasn’t holding all the answers I badly needed.  “I want the truth,” I said, stepping inside.