Episode 12: A Deal with the Devil
327 Words
Leah didn’t have time for riddles. She wasn’t going to sit back and let Nico feed her half-truths. If he knew something, she needed the full story.
She took a step closer, narrowing her eyes. “What do you mean, I’m not the only one with secrets?”
Nico studied her for a long moment before exhaling. “The company I made a deal with—Caldwell Industries—it’s not as clean as it looks on paper.”
Leah’s stomach twisted. Caldwell. That name wasn’t unfamiliar. It had been whispered in high circles—powerful, ruthless, untouchable.
“You partnered with them without knowing their history?” she asked sharply.
Nico gave a humorless smirk. “I knew. But I thought I could handle it.”
Leah let out a slow breath. “And now?”
His smirk faded. “Now, I think I just walked into something bigger than I planned.”
Her mind raced. Could Caldwell be connected to the call she got? Or worse—was someone trying to warn her about Nico himself?
She needed to act fast.
“If Caldwell is a problem, we shut them out,” she said. “Terminate the deal before it’s too late.”
Nico chuckled, but there was no amusement in it. “It’s not that simple. If I pull out now, they’ll see it as betrayal. And people who betray Caldwell—they don’t last long.”
A chill ran down Leah’s spine.
She hated feeling like a pawn in someone else’s game. But if she wanted to get out of this mess alive, she had only one option.
She had to outplay them all.
She met Nico’s gaze, her voice steady. “Then we don’t just pull out. We take them down before they can take us.”
Nico’s eyes darkened with something unreadable. “That’s a dangerous move, Leah.”
She gave him a sharp smile. “Good. I like dangerous.”
- Writer
