My Walking Danger

Way Out

The next morning, sunlight was already sharp across the terrace when Victor found Jay in the study. He closed the door behind him and didn’t waste time.

“We looked everywhere, Sir. Clubs, usual contacts, private lists. But nothing clean enough. There were too many questions, too much risk of someone talking. Twenty-four hours was never realistic for the kind of woman this needs.”

Jay nodded slightly, his mind running through every possible option.

Victor hesitated for only a moment. “But I have an idea. The girl Harlord brought. And his daughter, Elena. Both are already inside the circle and know how his operation works. They’re young enough to pass as aides without drawing attention. Elena knows how these rooms work, and the other one has already been seen with him in public.”

Jay turned slowly. “You’re suggesting I ask Harlord for his daughter and the girl he’s keeping locked up?”

“I’m saying it solves the problem in one move. Everything else is noise.”

Jay’s calculation was visible behind his eyes. The profit numbers Mr. Andrew had laid out the night before were clean, but the risk of walking into Italy without proper cover wasn’t. Harlord already had a stake in the operation and using two women he already controlled kept the circle tight.

“It’s a complication, as Harlord will not agree easily,” Jay said at last. “But it’s the cleanest option we have. Set the meeting with Harlord. Grandfather will want to be present.”

Later that day, Harlord made his way up the tall glass building and arrived at Jay’s office. He took the seat across from his desk and ignored the offered drink. Andrew sat to the side, watching both men with equal disinterest.

Jay took one look at Harlord’s face, taking in the anger, and didn’t soften the request. “The Italy run needs three women attached as official aides. Lina is one. I need two more who can travel with the principals, stay in the same residence, and not create additional problems. Your daughter and the girl you brought—”

“No.” Harlord’s face went still, he didn’t even think it through.

“It’s not a request for negotiation. It’s the structure of the deal.”

Harlord’s voice remained level, but the edge was sharp. “You’re not putting my daughter in that. As for the other one, I paid for her. If you need bodies, find them elsewhere.”

Jay’s grandfather spoke for the first time, a faint smile on his face. “The numbers only work if the cover is right. You stand to gain as much as we do. Refuse the structure, and the entire arrangement collapses. I will not carry dead weight.”

Harlord looked at Jay, his eyes narrowing. “You interfered in my house yesterday. Now you want to take both of them across a border and keep them under your roof?”

“I want the deal to close,” Jay answered. “Their safety is a condition, not a favor. You’ll be there as well. When the shipment moves, they come back. That’s the extent of it.”

Harlord tapped his fingers against his leg, his mind weighing the situation, and the pressure from the older Sterling. “Elena only if she is never left unsupervised. And the other one comes back to me the moment the job is finished. She does not stay with you. Clear?”

Jay gave a single nod, and Harlord stood. “I’ll speak to them, and if either of them causes a problem on the ground, that’s on you.” He left the office without another word.

The moment he stepped outside, the afternoon heat met him. He walked toward his car, and the door opened immediately. “Home,” he said. The driver nodded and shut the door.

The car pulled away from the curb, and Harlord leaned back against the seat. “Elena, Ariel. I don’t like any part of it. But the arrangement is already in motion.”

“Sir, you said something?” the driver asked.

“You focus on the road! And don’t talk unless I—” He stopped himself, exhaling through his nose again before shaking his head.

By the time the car turned through the gates of his estate, the sun had begun to lower behind the trees. The mansion stood ahead, enormous and imposing, with several security men positioned around the entrance.

Harlord climbed out, adjusted the sleeve of his shirt, and walked toward the entrance without looking back.

The moment he stepped inside, one of the house staff approached. “Sir.”

“Where are Elena and Ariel?”

The woman hesitated. “I believe they’re in their rooms.”

“Bring them here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Harlord continued into the formal living room and removed his jacket, dropping it over the back of a chair.

A few minutes later, footsteps sounded from both hallways. Ariel appeared at one entrance, while Elena appeared from the other.

Harlord turned to look at them and wasted no time. “You and Elena will be travelling with me and Jay to Italy for a business arrangement.”

Elena looked far too pleased with herself, but Ariel crossed her arms, biting her lower lip.

“No.”

“It isn’t a discussion.”

“I’m not going anywhere with him. Or with you.”

Harlord’s brows drew together, but before he could answer, Elena moved toward Ariel. “It’s only for the duration of the deal, we’ll be together.”

Ariel’s hands curled inside the sleeves of her hoodie. “I don’t care. I’m not getting on a plane so the two of them can use me as cover.”

Harlord stepped closer. “You will. Or the room upstairs becomes permanent. No light, no food beyond what keeps you alive, and no more visits from anyone. Including my daughter.”

The threat settled over her, and she swallowed. “On one condition. When we get there, you don’t lock me in a room. I get to move inside the house. I’m not becoming a prisoner in another country.”

Harlord clearly wanted to refuse, but thought better of it. “Fine. Inside the house only. If you step outside without permission, the agreement ends. Clear?”

Ariel held his gaze and something inside her broke, and she ran. Elena started after her, eyes wet, but Dante caught her wrist before she reached the stairs.

“Let her be. She needs to be alone right now. Go back downstairs. Your father is still watching. If you follow her, he’ll only make it worse for both of you.”

Elena resisted for a second longer, then the fight left her shoulders. She let Dante guide her away.

Ariel kept running, up the stairs, down the long corridor, past the closed doors—until she reached the room that had been her cage for weeks. She slammed the door behind her, pressing her back against it, she sank to the floor.

The first sob tore out of her chest before she could stop it. She pulled her knees up, buried her face in her sleeves, and cried the way she hadn’t allowed herself to cry in weeks.

When she finally lifted her head, the light through the window had shifted. Afternoon was leaning toward evening. She wiped her face with the heel of her hand and stared at the bed.

“This is an opportunity, you silly girl, it's Northern Italy. You'll still be watched and owned on paper, but the cage would have new edges.” Her face hardened slightly. “And somewhere in that country was the man who had ruined your life. Yet, somehow, he'll be destined to save me, as he was the reason I kept breathing through every day.” A thin smile touched her mouth.

“I will make sure you save me.” She shook her head. “Then I will ruin your entire life. I will bring you to your knees. Mark my words, as I use this temporary freedom inside whatever house they put me in, and I would find you myself.

Ariel pushed herself up from the floor and walked to the bathroom. She bathed, changed into another of her usual outfits, and stared at her pale reflection until the redness around her eyes faded.

⁠✿⁠✿⁠✿

The villa was quiet after midnight. Most of the lights on the lower floors had been turned off.

Jay sat behind the desk, reviewing the final security rotation for the flight, when small bare feet padded across the carpet.

Mia appeared in the doorway, one hand clutching the ear of a worn stuffed rabbit. She walked straight to his chair and climbed into his lap.

Jay bit back a sigh. “You’re supposed to be in bed.”

Mia settled against his chest, the rabbit tucked beneath her chin. “You’re going away again. You always say that you'll come back, and then you’re gone forever.”

He exhaled through his nose and shifted as if to set her down, the same half-hearted push he usually gave her.

Mia clung tighter, her small arms locking around his neck, and leaned back just enough to look at his face. “You have to take me. Grandpa said we’re all going on the big plane. You can’t leave me here with the new nanny. She doesn’t know how to make the toast the right way.”

“You’re coming,” he said.

Her eyes narrowed, then brightened. “You promise?”

“I don’t make promises.”

Mia scowled, her lower lip pushing out. “Then you have to listen when I tell you things. Okay, Mafia Uncle? You’re not allowed to ignore me the whole time. And you have to let me sit with you on the plane, not with Lina. She smells like perfume too much.”

A faint curve touched the corner of Jay’s mouth. “Go back to bed, Mia.” She climbed down slowly and disappeared down the hallway, her rabbit dragging behind her.

Jay sat in the silence she left behind. After a while, he closed the folder on the desk and turned off the lamp.