Maya's jaw tightened, her fingers gripping the edge of her desk as her thoughts raced. She had the evidence, she had the determination, but there was one thing she didn't have—the man himself.
She had no idea where Garcia was hiding, and that knowledge gnawed at her. Her body tensed as she stood up from her desk, her eyes blazing with purpose.
"Tell me where he is, and I'll do whatever you want," Maya demanded, her voice cold and controlled, yet with an unmistakable edge of fury beneath the surface.
The thought of confronting Garcia, of making him pay for his crimes, consumed her. She could already see the scene in her mind—the satisfaction of bringing her brother's killer to justice, the moment when the tables would turn, and Garcia would be the one in the hot seat.
The bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes reflected the depths of her desire for retribution.
Ross smiled, clearly enjoying the shift in Maya's demeanor. He could see how deeply personal this had become for her, how her mind was already consumed with thoughts of vengeance.
And he was even about to make things that simple for her. He had his own motivations, his own agenda, and he knew just how to twist the knife.
"Oh... I can do better than that," he said, his voice lowering slightly, the excitement in his eyes barely concealed. He leaned forward, his gaze locking with hers, the tension palpable. "I'll have him in front of you in an hour."
Maya blinked, the surprise in her eyes quickly replaced with a surge of excitement. "What?" she asked, barely able to believe what she was hearing. An hour?
That was nearly impossible.
Garcia was a ghost, untouchable to most people, and yet Ross was promising to bring him right to her doorstep.
Ross leaned back on the wall this time around, clearly enjoying the effect his words had on her.
"That's right. In exactly one hour, you'll have him right in front of you. You won't have to chase him, you won't have to dig through endless contacts or follow dead ends. He'll come to you. I'll make sure of it." He watched as Maya processed this information, her mind racing.
For once, she would have the upper hand. For once, she wouldn't have to hunt down her target—her target would be delivered to her.
The reality of it sank in quickly, and Maya felt a rush of power course through her veins. Ross wasn't just giving her the information she needed—he was handing her the opportunity to act, to take control in a way she never thought possible.
But she also knew that Ross had a price. Nothing was ever that simple.
"What's your angle, Ross?" Maya asked, her voice hard with suspicion. She had been around the block enough to know that people like him didn't do things for free, and his calm demeanor suggested he had a plan of his own.
"Why are you giving this to me so easily?" She crossed her arms, her gaze sharp as she studied him, trying to gauge his true intentions.
Ross's smile didn't waver, but a glint in his eyes hinted at a much larger game unfolding behind his calm demeanor.
"Let's just say, I enjoy watching things get… interesting," he replied with a casual tone that belied the underlying gravity of his words. "You'll get what you want. But when you do, know that you'll also belong to me… as my bitch for life."
Maya hesitated, her mind teetering on the edge of reason, but her thirst for revenge soon clouded her judgment.
"Fine. I'll be yours for a night," she said coldly, assuming she could give him what he wanted without surrendering her pride. Men, in her experience, were all the same—pigs who could never shed their nature.
Ross leaned forward, his gaze steady. "No, I don't want you for just a night. I want you by my side for life."
A sharp silence filled the room. Maya took a deep breath, closing her eyes to steel herself. When she opened them again, her expression held a hardened resolve, as though she were embracing the inevitable.
"Alright," she replied, her voice steady. With that single word, her fate was sealed.
***
Don Lucas Pablo Garcia was a man in his 60s, seasoned by decades of living in the shadows.
Street-smart and ruthless, he had known from a young age that the world divided into only two kinds of people: prey and predators.
He had trained himself to be the latter, rising to the top with a combination of sharp intelligence, cunning, and the kind of ambition that would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
He had built an empire through sheer willpower, taking what others wouldn't dare. His life had been a villain's dream—power, wealth, and fear all in his grasp.
Yet, what he hadn't counted on was that his path would cross with someone far more dangerous than he could ever anticipate.
"Hmmmm…"
The sound of muffled groaning broke the silence as Don Lucas stirred, his senses slowly coming back to him. He tried to move, but found his body stiff and unyielding.
His hands were tightly bound to a chair, ropes cutting into his wrists. A sack was tied over his head, and something harsh was wrapped around his mouth, suffocating any sound he tried to make.
His heart pounded as the confusion set in. The last thing he remembered was being in the comfort of his bed, nestled in the arms of his young wives, the soft warmth of sleep embracing him. And now this?
A cold, overwhelming sense of danger settled into his gut.
He struggled against his restraints, disoriented, but the reality of his situation hit him hard. He was no longer in control.
Whoever had done this was not just after a simple ransom. This was something more.
What the Don didn't know was that he was not alone. The room, dark and silent except for his own muffled movements, held more than a dozen other men in the same helpless state.
Each one of them, just like Garcia, was bound and gagged—captives in a carefully planned snare, and all of them just as clueless about their predicament.
But the truth of the matter was, they were all just pawns in someone else's game, and the predator who had set this trap was closing in.
The captives didn't have to wait long. Barely a minute after they regained consciousness, a voice broke the heavy silence, startling them.
"How did you manage to pull this off?" It was a woman's voice, tinged with disbelief.