The hotel's marble atrium shimmered under crystal chandeliers, the air steeped in cologne, corruption, and clinking glasses. Lina Reyes stepped from the elevator like a blade — sleek, sharp, and silver in a gown that hugged her hips like loyalty she couldn't afford to break.
She hated events like this. The way men ogled, the way women competed, the way everything sparkled just enough to hide the blood underneath. But she smiled anyway — a quiet, efficient smile that said: I'm not here for attention. I'm here to survive.
The Navarro Cartel's annual gala was less a celebration, more a silent power struggle. Politicians, front-men, and trusted lieutenants moved through the ballroom like sharks in silk. The ones who didn't belong stood out. She'd learned to blend in years ago.
She crossed the floor with a practised calm, clipboard in hand, though she hadn't used it in five years. It was armor now. A prop. Something to keep her hands busy when someone tried to flirt or intimidate her.
Navarro Jr. was already there, holding court near the bar. Her boss, though that word felt generous. He was the cartel's heir, and Lina? The brain behind the throne, he thought, he'd built himself.
He didn't look at her when she approached, just held out a glass without a word.
"I had it prepared," she murmured, placing the chilled tumbler of old-fashioned in his hand. "Less ice, like you asked."
Navarro Jr. gave her a smirk that never touched his eyes. "You're good at remembering things, Reyes."
She said nothing. He always said her last name like it was a leash.
Lina turned to scan the room, keeping one step behind him, her eyes tracking everyone of interest. A judge's wife had shown up solo. A Russian with too many bodyguards. And—
Her gaze stuttered.
A man stepped into the room like he owned it — and maybe he did. Not this gala, not this floor, but something larger. Something colder. Luciano Romano.
Luca.
She recognised him instantly — photos didn't do him justice. His tailored black suit clung to him like shadows. His mouth was cut from marble, his jaw sharp enough to wound. He didn't smile. He didn't need to.
The ballroom shifted around him. Conversations paused, only to resume more carefully. Navarro Jr. chuckled beside her.
"Well, shit. Looks like the devil decided to show up."
Lina didn't respond.
Romano rarely attended events in person. When he did, someone usually died within a week.
Lina kept her face blank, but her fingers tightened subtly around the edge of her clipboard.
Luca Romano didn't walk like a man accustomed to being stopped. He moved through the crowd with a quiet authority that needed no announcement — the kind of silence that made others speak more carefully just to fill the void.
He didn't glance toward Navarro Jr. — not yet. His eyes drifted across the room like a wolf scanning a herd. He greeted no one. Gave no handshakes. Just walked, perfectly composed, flanked by two men in tailored suits who looked less like bodyguards and more like executioners.
Navarro Jr. raised his glass mockingly. "He's probably here for that shipment dispute. Or to size up the traitors."
Lina didn't answer. She was watching Luca.
And then Luca was watching her.
Their eyes locked. Just for a breath. Not long enough to be noticed. But enough to set her spine straight.
He tilted his head slightly, like he was seeing something familiar in a frame he hadn't expected.
Then he said something to the man on his right. A name, maybe. A question. The man nodded once and slipped away into the crowd — subtle, practised.
Lina's heartbeat didn't spike. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
Navarro Jr. chuckled beside her, oblivious. "He's got that look like he just found a weakness to exploit."
Lina kept her voice smooth. "Maybe someone left the kitchen open."
Navarro barked a laugh and turned to flirt with a mayor's daughter.
Lina stepped back into the shadows of the wall, slowly, deliberately. Romano didn't follow with his eyes. But he didn't need to.
She could feel it.
She watched as he moved through a corridor of tension, stopping beside a group of businessmen. Smiled — barely. Then resumed scanning the room. Like he was hunting, but hadn't quite chosen the prey.
But she knew. She felt it in the way his gaze had lingered, just long enough to mean something.
She was on his radar now.
She didn't know what he wanted. But she'd learned, long ago: when men like Luca Romano looked at women like her, it was never casual.
It was a countdown.
Lina didn't flinch when she saw Luca walking toward her.
He moved like dusk — quiet and final. No hurry, no wasted steps. The kind of approach that said he'd already made the decision, and now the rest of the world just had to catch up.
She stayed where she was, clipboard against her hip, posture flawless. She wasn't afraid. Just annoyed. Mostly.
"Evening," he said.
His voice was lower than she expected. Rougher. No fake polish, no theatrical smoothness. Just a man used to being listened to.
She offered the faintest nod. "Mr. Romano."
He smiled slightly, as if she'd confirmed a private guess. He glanced down at the clipboard, then her face, slowly. "Secretary or mistress?"
Lina blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Not that it matters," he added, tilting his head. "But Navarro isn't the type to keep intelligent women around unless they're useful. Or his."
She stared at him for a beat. "And you're the type to start conversations with an insult."
That smile deepened — amused now. "I haven't decided if it was one yet."
"Well, let me help you." Lina raised her chin slightly. "I'm his secretary. Not that it's your business."
"Everything is my business," Luca said smoothly. "Especially when Navarro brings something shiny to a party he didn't earn."
She didn't answer. She wanted to — wanted to cut him down with something sharp and final — but she knew men like this. Power was their language. Words were just feints.
So instead, she let the silence stretch.
He stepped closer, just a little. "You don't wear perfume."
"I don't need to."
He chuckled. "Correct. You don't."
She looked past him. "If you're done, I have responsibilities."
"I'm never done," he murmured.
She stepped to the side. He didn't move to block her.
"Catalina Reyes," he said.
She froze, just for half a second. Then looked back.
"I didn't give you my name."
"I'm very good at finding things out."
"Then you should also know," she said coldly, "I'm not for sale."
Luca grinned. Not a showy grin. The kind that flickered at one corner, like a predator catching scent.
"Darling," he said, "if I thought you were for sale, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you, because you'd be mine already ."
Then, just like that, he turned and walked away.
And Lina stood still for a long, long moment, watching the most dangerous man in the room disappear into the crowd like smoke.