Chapter 4

Alex POV

The town was a speck on the map, the kind of place where locals traded gossip like currency but knew better than to ask questions when cash hit the counter.

I rented a cramped, run-down apartment above a mechanic's garage. The air inside was thick with the stench of motor oil and stale cigarettes, but the deadbolt on the door was solid. That was all that mattered.

I told the landlord my name was Rose. I told him Aaron was my brother.

We fell into a fragile routine. I got a job waitressing at the local diner. It was grueling work, my feet throbbing in rhythm with my pulse by the end of every shift, but the anonymity was a comforting blanket.

Aaron stayed in the apartment mostly, too afraid to venture out. His memory remained a fractured puzzle, pieces missing in the dark.

Every time the diner door chimed, my muscles tensed. I expected Gavyn. I expected Rico coming to finish the job.

But it wasn't Gavyn who walked in on a rainy Tuesday night.

The bell chimed. But the usual clatter of cutlery didn't follow. A heavy, suffocating silence blanketed the diner.

Three men walked in. They wore bespoke suits that cost more than this entire building. They moved with a predatory grace that screamed danger.

The man in the center was tall, with broad shoulders and hair as dark as obsidian. His eyes were intelligent, bottomless, and utterly ruthless.

I froze behind the counter, a coffee pot suspended in mid-air.

I knew that face. Not from any formal introduction, but from the terrified whispers that used to echo through the Dunlap estate.

Daniel Sosa. The Don of the Sosa family. The mortal enemy of the Dunlaps.

Why was he here? This was neutral territory.

He sat at a booth in the corner. His men flanked him. He didn't look at the menu. He looked around the room, scanning faces like he was hunting.

His gaze landed on me.

It didn't slide past. It stuck.

He narrowed his eyes.

I turned away, my heart hammering against my ribs. Did he recognize me? No, he couldn't. I was the hidden wife. The invisible woman.

I forced my legs to move, carrying me toward his table.

"Coffee?" I asked, willing my voice not to tremble.

He looked at my hands, red and raw from scrubbing dishes. Then he looked at my face.

"You don't belong here," he stated. His voice was a deep rumble that vibrated in the center of my chest.

"I'm just working," I replied tightly.

The door opened again.

Aaron walked in. He was soaking wet, holding a broken umbrella. "Rose?" he called out, his voice trembling. "The roof is leaking again."

Daniel Sosa went rigid.

He stood up so fast the table shook. He stared at Aaron.

"Aaron?" he breathed.

Aaron shrank back, confused. "Who are you?"

Daniel stepped forward, his face a mask of disbelief and relief. "It's me. Uncle Daniel."

My blood ran cold.

Uncle?

Aaron wasn't just a lost hiker. He was a Sosa. He was the heir to the rival empire.

I had saved the enemy.

Daniel reached for Aaron. Aaron flinched and scrambled behind me.

"Don't touch him!" I shouted, throwing myself between the most dangerous man in the state and the confused boy.

Daniel's eyes snapped to me. They were lethal. "Move, woman."

"He doesn't know you," I said, my voice dropping to a lethal hiss as I stood my ground. "He's hurt. He's scared. You're not taking him anywhere until he calms down."

Daniel looked at me. Really looked at me. He saw the cheap uniform, the tired eyes, but his gaze dropped to my hand, catching the glint of the serrated steak knife I had slipped from my apron.

"You're protecting him?" Daniel asked, his tone unreadable.

"He's my family now," I said.

Daniel paused. He looked at the knife, then at Aaron clinging to the back of my shirt.

A flicker of something like respect passed through his dark eyes.

"Most people run from me," he said softly. "You stand between me and what I want."

"I'm not afraid of you," I lied. I was terrified.

Daniel signaled his men to stand down.

"He's my nephew," Daniel said calmly. "He's been missing for weeks. We thought the Dunlaps killed him."

"I didn't kill him," I said. "I saved him."

Daniel nodded slowly. "Then you have done the Sosa family a great service."

He extended a hand. Not to take Aaron, but to me.

"Come with us," he said. "Both of you. You'll be safe. Safer than in this dump."

I hesitated. Going with him meant entering the lion's den. It meant going back into the world of mafia politics that destroyed me.

But I looked at Aaron. He needed doctors. He needed safety. I couldn't give him that on a waitress's tips and a stolen identity.

I took Daniel's hand. His grip was warm, firm, and calloused.

"I'm Alex," I said, reclaiming my name.

He pulled me slightly closer, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

"I know who you are, Alex Dunlap. And I know exactly what you're running from."