Chapter 5

Mia POV

I ended up in a town called Kingston, two hours north of the city. It was a quiet, forgotten place that smelled of pine needles and damp earth instead of the city's exhaust and rotting garbage.

I found a job at a diner called Ross's. It was a cash-only joint, paying under the table. I rented a room above a garage that had a leaky roof and a mattress that smelled of mildew.

To me, it was paradise.

For three weeks, I was invisible. I was just Mia the waitress. No one knew I had designed skyscrapers that scraped the belly of the clouds. No one knew I had warmed the bed of a monster.

Then, reality clawed its way back in.

I was wiping down the counter when my phone-a cheap burner I'd bought at a gas station-began to vibrate violently against the laminate.

Notifications. Alerts. An endless stream of digital hate.

I opened a browser, my stomach twisting.

*The Mob's Mattress: The Secret Life of Mia Hayes.*

It was a blog post. Isabella. She had released everything. The photos from the gala. Fake stories about me stealing money. And the lie that would kill me: stories about me being an informant for the FBI.

That last one was a death sentence. In the underworld, being a "rat" was the only thing worse than being a whore.

My hands shook so hard I dropped the coffee pot. It hit the floor and exploded in a spray of hot liquid and glass.

"Mia?" my boss, an old man named Ross, asked, looking up from the grill. "You okay?"

The door to the diner chimed.

The air in the room didn't just change; it evaporated. The atmosphere became heavy, charged with a sudden, static pressure.

I looked up.

He was sitting in the corner booth. The man from the alley. Noah.

He was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, blending in, yet he looked like a king in exile. He was reading a newspaper, perfectly at ease.

He looked up and met my eyes.

He didn't smile. He just nodded.

I walked over to him, my legs feeling like they might snap under my own weight.

"You found me," I whispered.

"It wasn't hard," he said, his voice a low rumble. "You have a distinct way of walking. Like you're carrying the weight of a building on your back."

"Are you here to take me back to Ethan?"

"No." He folded the paper with precise, deliberate movements. "I'm here because there is a bounty on your head. Fifty grand for the girl who turned rat."

"I didn't talk to the Feds!"

"I know," he said. "But the truth doesn't matter in New York. Perception does."

He slid a menu toward me.

"Sit down, Mia."

I sat. I had no run left in me.

"This is my town," Noah said. "My territory. The Coles don't run things here. The Vances don't run things here. I do."

He leaned forward. His eyes were intense, hypnotic in their darkness.

"Isabella is trying to flush you out. She wants you to run so her dogs can catch you on the highway. If you stay here, under my protection, they can't touch you."

"Why?" I asked again. "What do you want from me?"

"I need an architect," he said. "I'm building a hospital. A real one. Not a front."

"I don't design anymore."

"You do," he said. "Because it's who you are. And because if you stop creating, you let them win."

He reached across the table and covered my hand with his. His palm was rough, warm, and calloused-a working man's hand.

"Ethan Cole broke you," Noah said softly. "I intend to help you put the pieces back together. And this time, we will use concrete that doesn't crack."

My phone buzzed again. Another threat. Another promise of violence.

I looked at Noah. He was a stranger. He was dangerous. He was a Don in his own right.

But looking at him, for the first time in a month, I didn't feel like prey. I felt seen.

"Okay," I said.

"Good," Noah said, releasing my hand. "Now, get me some coffee. You're a terrible waitress, by the way."

A small, fractured laugh escaped my lips.

It was the first time I had laughed in a long time.