Chapter Three: Witness
Mara didn't run because she was innocent.
She ran because she survived.
Two years ago, she worked at a quiet little diner off the highway. She wiped tables, brewed bitter coffee, and kept her head down. One night, she stayed late to close. That was when she saw men drag someone through the back door.
She froze. They didn't.
She watched the Padrón cartel boss shoot his own lieutenant in the head. Clean, casual, like taking out the trash. The men didn't see her, but she saw everything.
She ran before they realized someone else was in the diner. The next morning, the building was burned to the ground.
Everyone assumed she died in the fire.
She let them.
Now they knew she was alive.
---
Chapter Four: Debt
Luciano waited as Mara processed it, anger coiling in her like a snake. She tried to hide the tremble in her fingers, clenching them into fists.
"You don't know what you're dealing with," she said quietly.
"I know exactly what I'm dealing with." His tone was simple, factual. "A cartel boss named Emiliano Padrón sent men into my territory tonight. They were searching. They didn't leave alive."
The message hit her like a slap.
"You killed them?" she whispered.
He tilted his head, as if the question was absurd.
"You think I let strangers walk through my city?"
There was no pride in his voice. No bragging. Just truth.
Mara's jaw tightened. "You're involving yourself in something that isn't yours."
"You walked onto my stage," he corrected. "That makes you mine."
Her breath caught—not in fear, but in fury. "I am not yours."
Luciano stepped closer, slow and deliberate, his gaze burning like a match before it touches gasoline.
"No," he said softly. "You're a debt. Debts are paid. One way or another."
Mara lifted her chin. "I won't work for you. I won't be a pawn."
His smile was thin, dangerous.
"You don't have to work for me. You just have to stay alive long enough to be useful."
She took a step back. "And if I don't want to be useful?"
He shrugged, eyes cold. "Then I'll hand you over to them myself. Let them kill you outside my city. Either way, the problem disappears."
Mara stared at him in shock—not because she believed he wouldn't do it, but because she believed he would.
"You're a monster," she whispered.
Luciano leaned in, close enough that she could feel his breath against her cheek, dark and unyielding.
"No," he murmured. "I just don't lie about what I am."
For a moment, they stood frozen—predator and cornered prey, except Mara wasn't prey. She met his eyes without blinking.
"Fine," she said. "I'll stay alive. And then we'll see who owes who."
Luciano's smile turned slow, intrigued. "Now you're speaking my language."
---
Chapter Five: Protection by Force
He didn't escort her home. He had her taken.
Two guards waited outside the club, silent and stone-faced. Mara fought them—hard.
"I can walk on my own," she hissed.
"You can," one guard replied, "just not alone."
They led her into a black car, windows tinted darker than night. She felt like she was being kidnapped, because that's exactly what this was.
When she arrived at a guarded high-rise, she didn't bother holding back.
"This is insane," she snapped.
"You want to die?" the guard answered calmly. "Door's right there."
That shut her up.
Inside the elevator, she realized something chilling:
Luciano knew she wouldn't run now.
He didn't need chains.
He had leverage.