Valentina's POV
I pressed my back against the dumpster, holding my breath as I peered around the edge into the dead-end alleyway.
The student in the green hoodie was backed up against a chain-link fence, completely boxed in by the men.
My heart was hammering wildly against my ribs, but my mind was still working just fine. I scanned the men. They weren't wearing the tailored Italian suits my father's capos favored. They didn't have the disciplined, military posture of cartel enforcers. They wore scuffed leather jackets, boots, and carried themselves with the reckless swagger of street-level thugs.
They weren't the mafia. They were either campus loan sharks, or ordinary street thugs.
"You think we're playing a game?" the largest man growled, stepping forward and kicking the black canvas
