Seducing Mr. Solis

CHAPTER TWO

After that night, Svetlana didn't go to a home for children or stay with a kind relative. Even at ten years old, she knew she couldn't trust the government because Theron Solis owned it. Instead, she disappeared into the dangerous parts of the city where the police didn't go. In those places, children either became victims or learned to be tough.

Svetlana chose to be tough.

For the first few years, she only focused on staying alive. She lived in old, empty buildings and slept with one eye open, keeping a sharp tool under her pillow for safety. She learned that being hungry taught her lessons and that feeling pain meant she was still alive. Whenever she felt like quitting, she looked at her mother’s gold cross. It was old now, but the memory of that night was still very clear.

"Don't cry," she would tell herself in the dark. "Crying is for people who have someone to save them. No one is coming for you. You have to save yourself."

By age fifteen, she moved into the fancier world of crime. She realized she couldn't get close to Theron Solis if she stayed on the streets. To kill a king, she had to act like she belonged in his world. She started working as a waitress in a secret place where rich people gambled.

She watched, listened, and learned.

She saw how powerful men acted and heard them brag about their money. She learned that real power came from having information and looking perfect, not just from having guns.

Svetlana began to change herself completely. During the day, she went to libraries to study history and business. She practiced speaking like a rich person. At night, she went to a gym run by an old Russian boxer named Yuri.

"I want to learn how to hurt people," she told him, giving him stolen money.

Yuri looked at the thin girl and asked, "Why? Do you want to be a fighter?"

"No," Svetlana said. "I want to be a survivor."

Yuri trained her until her body ached. He taught her how to use her small size to hit her enemies in their weak spots. He taught her how to take a hit without showing fear.

"Your heart is like a stone," Yuri said one day. "That’s good for fighting, but stones don't feel. If you stop feeling, you might forget why you are fighting."

"I won't forget," Svetlana said, wiping blood from her face. "The memory is stuck in the stone."

In her twenties, Svetlana was totally different. She was no longer a dirty child; she was a beautiful woman. But inside, she was a machine built for revenge.

She spent months studying the Solis family. She learned about their business and their friends. Theron Solis was hard to find, so she looked for a weakness. She found it in his son, Hunter Solis.

Hunter was not like his father. Theron was smart and cold, but Hunter was loud and loved to take risks with money and women. He was the weak link.

"There you are," Svetlana whispered, looking at a photo of him. "My way in."

She changed herself into the kind of woman Hunter would love. She studied what he liked: women who were classy and mysterious. She practiced her smiles and her laughs in the mirror. It was all a lie.

She didn't feel bad about it. To her, the Solis family were monsters, not people. Hunter was just a tool she would use to reach his father.

One night, she looked at her plan on a board. In the middle was a photo of Theron Solis.

"Step one: Meet him. Step two: Make him fall in love. Step three: Get married," she said.

Marriage was the key. As Hunter’s wife, she could live in the Solis mansion. She would be inside their gates and learn all their secrets at night.

She looked at her hands. They were steady and not shaking. The girl who watched her parents die was gone. This Svetlana was a weapon.

"I hope you're ready, Theron," she said. "I've spent my whole life getting ready for this. You think you ended my family, but you really created the person who will destroy you."

She looked out at the city. Somewhere, the Solis family was celebrating, not knowing she was coming for them. Svetlana picked up an expensive black dress. She had saved all her money for it. Tomorrow was a big party for the Solis family.

Tomorrow, her hunt will start.

She lay down to sleep. She didn't dream of blood anymore; she only dreamed of the end. She dreamed of the moment she would look Theron Solis in the eye, tell him who she really was, and kill him.

"Wait for me," she whispered. "I'm almost there."