Chapter 2 A Deal with the Devil

Alba

I don't leave the clinic for two days.

Not because I'm scared. Not because of him.

I stay because work keeps me grounded. It keeps my mind from wandering to dangerous places, from replaying the way Gabriel Moretti invaded my space, the way his voice curled around the word mine like a promise and a threat.

I shouldn't care. I shouldn't feel anything at all.

But the way my hands tremble when I stitch up a patient tells me otherwise.

It's him. He's gotten under my skin, and that infuriates me more than anything else.

So when the door to my clinic swings open late that evening, and he walks in like he owns the damn place, my pulse spikes for all the wrong reasons.

Gabriel Moretti doesn't just enter a room-he commands it.

Dressed in another sharp black suit, his presence is suffocating. This time, there's no blood on his clothes, no sign of violence. But that doesn't mean there isn't any on his hands.

He stops just inside the door, his dark eyes sweeping the room before locking onto me.

"Are you always this reckless?" he asks.

I cross my arms. "Are you always this intrusive?"

A slow smirk. "When necessary."

His confidence is maddening. Every word, every movement is deliberate, calculated. He's not just a man-he's a predator.

And I hate that I feel like prey.

"I didn't ask for your help the other night," I say, keeping my voice steady.

He steps closer, closing the distance between us in a way that makes my breath hitch. "And yet, you needed it."

My fingers curl into my palms. I won't let him get to me. I won't let him see how much his presence unsettles me.

"I handle my own problems."

He hums, amused. "Not anymore."

I glare at him. "I don't work for you."

He lifts an eyebrow, like I've just said something ridiculous. "You do now."

I exhale sharply, frustration coiling in my chest. "You think you can just walk in here and claim me like some-"

"You're in my city, dolcezza." His voice is quiet, but it cuts like steel. "That means you play by my rules."

My heart slams against my ribs. "And if I refuse?"

The corner of his mouth lifts in a slow, knowing smirk. "You won't."

Arrogant. Infuriating. Dangerous.

I take a step back, but he follows, refusing to give me space.

"What do you want from me?" I demand.

"Loyalty."

The word sends a chill down my spine.

He watches my reaction, his gaze dark and assessing. "I need a doctor. Someone who doesn't ask questions. Someone I can trust."

I let out a bitter laugh. "And you think that's me?"

"I know it is."

The certainty in his voice is unnerving.

I shake my head. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know you're hiding from something." He tilts his head slightly. "Or someone."

My stomach twists, but I don't let it show. "You don't know what you're talking about."

His smirk fades, replaced by something colder, sharper. "If someone's after you, that makes you vulnerable. And if you're vulnerable, you're a liability."

A pause.

"Unless you're mine."

The breath catches in my throat.

Mine.

There it is again, that possessiveness, that claim.

I should hate it. I should fight it.

But I also know what he's offering me.

Protection.

Safety.

A deal with the devil.

I cross my arms, forcing myself to keep my voice even. "And if I say no?"

Something flickers in his eyes-something dark, something lethal.

"You won't."

A challenge.

A warning.

The tension between us is suffocating.

Then, before I can process it, he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small, silver chain.

I freeze.

Dangling from his fingers is a pendant-a tiny phoenix with ruby eyes.

My pendant.

My past slams into me like a bullet to the chest.

The pendant was mine, years ago, before I ran. Before I escaped.

And now it's here. In his hands.

"How did you get that?" My voice is barely a whisper.

Gabriel watches me carefully. "It was found in an alley. Next to a man with his throat slit."

The world tilts.

No.

I left that pendant behind the night I fled Italy. If it's here-if someone had it-then that means...

My father's men are closer than I thought.

Panic claws at my throat, but I force it down. Gabriel Moretti may be dangerous, but he's not the one I fear the most.

I meet his gaze, my pulse thundering. "What do you want?"

A slow, deliberate smirk curves his lips.

"You already know."

The words are a death sentence.

Or a salvation.

I just haven't decided which yet.

I don't sleep that night.

I sit in my small back room, staring at the pendant, the silver cool against my palm.

This was a warning. A message.

My father is still hunting me.

And I've just caught the attention of the most powerful man in this city.

I close my fingers around the pendant, my jaw tightening.

I don't trust Gabriel Moretti.

But I might not have a choice.

Because if my past is coming for me...

He may be the only one who can stop it.

And that terrifies me more than anything else.