CHAPTER FIVE
972 Words
The alley was colder than she remembered. Colder, darker, crueler.
Camila tugged the hood lower over her face, boots crunching against broken glass as she retraced her steps. The scent of piss and diesel still hung in the air sharp, unforgiving, like the city itself. Every step she took was a gamble, but she had to do it.
She crouched near the dumpster, brushing away shattered glass and wet newspaper, fingers trembling. “Come on,” she muttered, searching. “Where are you?”
She didn’t hear the steps.
She didn’t hear the men.
But she felt them.
Boots. Four pairs. One behind her. Three more closing in.
Camila spun too late.
A gloved hand yanked her up by the back of her hoodie, another pressed a gun to her ribs. She kicked out, caught someone’s shin heard a grunt. Elbowed another in the gut. But they moved like shadows, coordinated, trained.
She was fast.
But not fast enough.
A sharp sting at her neck a needle, a prick her muscles went limp.
“Got her,” someone said, voice muffled.
Then black
---
Kairo watched the feed from the back of the SUV, fingers steepled under his chin.
"Predictable," he murmured.
“She put up a fight,” said Cruz, his second-in-command, wiping blood from his lip.
“i hope she does"
He leaned back against the leather seat, watching the camera feed go dark as Camila was tossed into the van. He hadn’t expected her to make it easy and she didn’t disappoint.
She woke up in chains.
Not cuffs chains. Rusted, iron-heavy, wrapped tight around her wrists and ankles like she was some ancient beast instead of flesh and bone.
A single bulb swung overhead. The concrete beneath her was damp. The air smelled of mold and cigarette smoke. Somewhere close, water dripped. Constant. Annoying.
A warehouse.
Classic.
Her lip throbbed. She could taste blood.
Camila exhaled, spat to the side, and looked up just as the door creaked open.
He stepped in like a storm in human form.
All sharp lines and quiet rage. Black-on-black suit. No tie. Dark eyes like coals, rimmed with sleeplessness. A scar slashed through his brow recent. She didn’t remember giving him that one.
Kairo Navarro.
If death had a favorite son, it was him.
“You look like s**t,” Camila said, sitting straighter. “Still sexy though.”
He didn’t smile.
He walked right up to her, crouched low, and said softly, “You killed my cousin, He was blood.”
“He killed my brother"
Kairo’s jaw flexed.
“dont tell me you actually believe that, anyways I don’t care what he did,” he said. “Family is family.”
Camila tilted her head. “So you’re loyal to monsters.”
“I’m loyal to order.”
He stood, eyes cold, scanning her from head to toe. She was bruised, bleeding, proud.
Still too stubborn to beg, he expected nothing less from a Moretti.
“I should kill you right now.”
“You won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have something you want.”
Kairo exhaled slowly. He was used to people bluffing and used to killing them when they failed to deliver.
“Go on,” he said.
She leaned forward, ignoring the way her chains screamed against her skin.
“I know where Matteo Russo's daughter is hiding.”
That made him freeze.
Camila smiled, bloody but defiant. “Yeah. That Matteo. Your father’s old rival. The one who faked his daughter’s death three years ago after she testified against your empire.”
“That was a rumor,” Kairo said.
“No. That was a cover-up. I was there when she disappeared. I know where she is.”
Kairo took a slow step forward, gaze sharp. “You expect me to believe you helped hide Lena Russo?”
"No, but my brother Luca did, I expect you to believe I’m your best shot at finding her. And if you don’t, fine. Kill me. But you’ll lose your only link to the biggest piece of leverage you’ve ever had.”
He studied her. Long. Quiet.
She wasn’t lying. Or if she was, she was damn good at it.
Camila continued, voice steady: “I didn’t run to hide. I ran because someone wants me dead. Someone who’s been hunting me long before I ever killed Enzo. So here’s the deal…”
She met his gaze, unflinching.
“You let me live. Help me find who’s after me. And I’ll hand you Lena. Or better yet use her to dismantle what’s left of the Russo network.”
Kairo was silent.
Then: “And if I say no?”
Camila smiled faintly. “Then we both lose. But only I die.”
Another beat of silence.
Then Kairo laughed once, dark, low.
“You’re insane, you actually dare bargain your way out of this?”
“If it helps me stay alive then why not?.”
He moved closer, crouched again. Their faces inches apart.
“if I find out you are lying to me, I will cut you into pieces and scatter your flesh”
“i'm not.” Camila said through gritted teeth
A beat. Tension so thick it could c***k glass.
Then he stood.
“Unchain her.”
Cruz looked confused. “Boss...”
“I said unchain her.”
Camila smirked as the chains clattered to the floor.
Freedom, cold and sharp, rushed back through her limbs.
“But she’s not leaving this place,” Kairo added. “Not yet.”
“I’m not stupid,” Camila muttered, flexing her wrists.
Kairo leaned in one last time.
“You cross me, and I won’t kill you quick.”
Camila raised an eyebrow. “Then don’t give me a reason to.”
- Writer
