Mara Chen's POV
The car smells like leather and expensive perfume.
Mara sits in the back seat, hyperaware of every breath. Valentina is beside her, close enough that their shoulders almost touch. One of the guards drives. Another sits in the passenger seat. All of them seem utterly indifferent to the fact that Mara just tried to rob their boss.
But Valentina isn't indifferent. She's watching Mara like she's trying to memorize her.
"So," Valentina says, breaking the silence like it's a habit she enjoys. "Tell me about yourself, Mara Chen."
The way Valentina says her name—like it's already part of her vocabulary, like she's been tasting it in her mouth—makes Mara's skin prickle.
"There's not much to tell," Mara says carefully.
"On the contrary." Valentina turns to face her fully. Their knees almost touch now. "Northwestern biochemistry graduate. Parents died in a suspicious car accident when you were fifteen. Raised by your aunt and uncle, who happened to embezzle your entire inheritance. The pharmaceutical company they sold—2.8 billion dollars. And yet here you are, trying to rob me with a dull kitchen knife in a dark alley."
Every word lands like a punch. But worse than the words is the way Valentina is looking at her—like she sees something inside Mara that Mara hasn't even found yet.
"How do you know all that?" Mara whispers.
"I know everything that happens in this city," Valentina says simply. "It's part of being me. When I heard about the Chen heiress losing everything, I was... intrigued. Most people in your situation either disappear or collapse. You decided to fight."
Her dark eyes haven't left Mara's face.
"I decided to become a criminal," Mara corrects bitterly.
"Same thing," Valentina says softly. "In my world."
The car turns a corner. Through the window, Mara sees the Chicago skyline—all glittering towers and shadowy streets. Somewhere out there, Caroline and Robert are probably dead. Somewhere out there, justice is pretending it doesn't exist.
But in this car, there's only Valentina's presence and the electricity between them that neither woman is acknowledging.
"Why do you care?" Mara asks. "Why reach out to me specifically?"
Valentina is quiet for a moment. When she speaks, her voice is different—lower, more dangerous, more vulnerable. She shifts slightly, and now their shoulders do touch.
"Because three of my bodyguards are dead. One from a sniper bullet. One from a car bomb. One from poison meant for me." Valentina's jaw tightens. "I've been a target since the moment I took control of this organization. And every person I hire to protect me becomes a target too."
She glances at Mara, and something raw flashes across her face—fear, maybe. Or need.
"So you're looking for someone expendable," Mara says flatly.
"I'm looking for someone with nothing left to lose," Valentina corrects. She reaches over and touches Mara's hand—deliberately this time, not accidental. Her fingers are warm. "Someone who's already been broken by the world. Someone desperate enough to actually take a bullet instead of running."
Mara's breath catches. Under the simple touch of Valentina's hand, everything inside her shifts.
"Most guards protect their boss out of duty," Valentina continues, her voice dropping. "But you..." She turns to meet Mara's eyes directly. "You'd protect me because it's the only thing you have left. And because..."
She doesn't finish the sentence. She doesn't have to. The way she's looking at Mara says everything.
"What are you offering?" Mara asks, her voice unsteady.
"A deal." Valentina slowly releases her hand, but the warmth lingers. "Work for me for six months. Be my bodyguard. Protect me with your life. If you survive those six months, I'll give you something your lawyers can't—real power. Resources. Connections. Everything you need to get revenge on Caroline and Robert."
"And if I don't survive the six months?" Mara asks.
Valentina's smile is razor-sharp, but her eyes are soft when she looks at Mara.
"Then at least you'll die fighting instead of starving in an alley. And someone will know your name. Someone will remember you mattered."
It's the most honest thing anyone has said to Mara in weeks. And the most intimate.
"This is insane," Mara whispers. "You're asking me to become a criminal. To work for the mafia."
"I'm asking you to stop running from who you really are," Valentina says. She leans closer, and Mara can smell her perfume now—something dark and intoxicating. "You thought you were someone who followed rules. Someone good. Someone worthy of trust. But the world destroyed that person. So who do you want to be now, Mara Chen? A victim? Or someone who fights back?"
Every word is a hook, drawing Mara deeper. But it's more than words now. It's proximity. It's the way Valentina's eyes trace Mara's face like she's mapping something precious.
"If I do this," Mara says slowly, "I need one thing."
"What?" Valentina asks, and her voice sounds almost desperate.
"Honesty. You tell me everything. Who you are, who wants you dead, what I'm walking into. No lies. Not ever."
Valentina seems surprised by this. She studies Mara's face like she's reading something written in her skin—fear, maybe, and need.
"Honesty," Valentina repeats softly. "That's rare in my world. That's rare anywhere."
"I've been lied to enough for one lifetime," Mara says.
Valentina extends her hand across the space between them.
"Deal."
Mara takes it.
The moment their skin makes contact, electricity sparks between them—dangerous and intoxicating. It's recognition, attraction, something neither woman wants to name but both feel like lightning. Valentina's grip is firm, her hand warm, her pulse visible at her wrist. She holds on longer than necessary, and Mara can feel the moment Valentina's control cracks—her grip tightens infinitesimally.
When Valentina finally releases her hand, she turns away like she needs distance to breathe.
"When do I start?" Mara asks.
"Now," Valentina says quietly, her voice rougher than before. "You'll stay at my place. Tomorrow, training begins. Lucia Romano—my consigliere—will handle it."
"And you?" Mara asks.
Valentina meets her eyes again, and something unspoken passes between them—a promise, a threat, a desire Valentina is fighting hard to contain.
"I'll be around," Valentina says. "Making sure you survive."
The car pulls into an underground garage. Security cameras on every corner. Guards at the gates.
This is Valentina's world. And Mara just agreed to live in it—to be close to this woman who's already under her skin.
When they reach the penthouse, Lucia emerges from a back room. She's older, maybe fifty, with sharp eyes that miss nothing. She looks between Valentina and Mara, then at their hands, still loose at their sides but somehow still connected.
Lucia's eyes narrow.
"This is who you hired?" the woman asks incredulously. "This girl tried to rob you with a kitchen knife?"
"Lucia," Valentina says smoothly, but her voice has changed—colder, more businesslike, a wall rebuilt. "Meet Mara Chen. Your new project."
But before Lucia can respond, Valentina touches Mara's back—a gesture that looks professional but feels possessive. Her hand stays there a moment too long.
Lucia sees it. Understanding flashes across her face.
"You're making a mistake," Lucia says quietly to Valentina. But she's not talking about Mara's training abilities.
"Possibly," Valentina agrees. "But it's my mistake to make."