Chapter 3 Games in the Dark

Mara awoke to the sound of distant thunder and the scent of rain-soaked city air creeping in through her half-open window. She was back at her apartment-alone, somehow. She didn't remember how she got there. Only fragments of the night before danced behind her eyes: velvet lights, jazz music, the warm burn of alcohol, and Dante's voice-low and dangerous.

She pressed a hand to her temple, steadying herself as she sat up in bed. Her red dress was on the floor, still damp, her heels carelessly discarded. A note lay on her nightstand, written in scrawled, masculine handwriting:

"You looked like a dream in the rain. Don't worry, I didn't stay. Yet."-D.

Her stomach twisted-not with fear, but with a strange thrill. Who the hell was Dante?

Mara dragged herself into the shower, letting the hot water beat the tension from her muscles. Her life had been a well-written script up until now: polished, predictable, arranged by her father like a chessboard. But ever since last night, it felt like someone had flipped the table.

Her phone buzzed.

Dad: We need to talk. The engagement announcement is going out tomorrow. Be ready.

She flung the phone across the room.

The engagement-to a stranger named Jide Adebayo, heir to Adebayo Industries. A man she'd seen once at a gala, who had looked her over like a business acquisition.

Mara dressed quickly and headed out. She needed air. Space. Time to think.

The café at the edge of Ikoyi Bridge was quiet, tucked away beneath a cascade of bougainvillea. She often came here when she wanted to be invisible.

But invisibility, apparently, wasn't on the menu today.

"Twice in one lifetime? Fate must be obsessed with me."

She looked up. Dante stood before her, dressed down in jeans and a black button-up that made his presence no less commanding. He slid into the seat opposite her without asking.

"I didn't give you my address," she said.

He smirked. "You didn't need to."

Mara studied him. "What do you want from me?"

His gaze darkened. "I'm still figuring that out. But I know one thing-you're more interesting than a billion-dollar merger."

She bristled. "You know about the engagement."

"I know about your father. And I know Jide Adebayo doesn't deserve you."

"You don't know me," she shot back.

"Yet I know you're terrified of becoming your mother. I know you hate wearing masks. And I know you came to Velvet Pulse last night not to escape-but to rebel."

The words sliced through her composure.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

Dante leaned forward. "Someone who sees you."

For a moment, silence thickened between them. And in that silence, something shifted. Something real.

"Have dinner with me," he said. "No strings. Just honesty."

"I don't do honest," Mara replied.

"Then lie to me beautifully."

A slow smile tugged at her lips. Against everything she knew, everything she'd been raised to control-she nodded.

That night, Mara met him at a rooftop restaurant in Victoria Island, where the city lights glittered like stars that had lost their way. They talked-not like strangers, but like kindred souls in a world that demanded masks and silence.

He didn't ask about her father. She didn't ask about his past. But Mara learned that Dante had once been something else-someone else. A name whispered in fear, a story buried in blood and fire.

By the end of the night, Mara didn't care who he was. All she knew was that he made her feel something she hadn't in years-freedom.

But freedom, like everything rare, comes with a price.

And Mara Danjuma was about to discover just how expensive her rebellion would be.

As they descended the rooftop steps, Dante's phone buzzed. He glanced at it and his jaw tensed.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

He forced a smile. "Yeah. Just business."

But Mara saw it-the flicker of worry. The shadows tightening behind his eyes.

Later that night, as she lay in bed staring at the ceiling, her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number: You're playing a dangerous game, Miss Danjuma.

Her blood froze. She sat up, re-reading the message. Heart hammering.

Mara: Who is this?

No reply.

And just like that, the game had changed. Something dark had taken notice of her. Something that had nothing to do with arranged marriages or family business.

And everything to do with Dante.