Chapter 4 Let's bargain secretly

"Are you out of your mind?"

Dominico's voice cracked through the air like a shot, slamming into the quiet of the study. His cane thudded against the polished marble as he stepped in, his tailored white shirt tucked into creased trousers, silver rings flashing with each movement of his hand. The old man's face was flushed, jaw clenched as he stared at Santiago across the room.

Santiago didn't flinch. He sat calmly on the edge of the long wooden table by the windows, a glass of bourbon half-raised in his hand, his other holding a cigarette that burned slowly between his fingers.

"I asked you a question," Dominico continued, stepping closer. "You're going to risk the consignment over a woman? You know what's tied into that shipment. That's not street-level supply-we're talking weapons, raw product, and laundered cash that's already been moved. A billion-dollar asset frozen because you're babysitting Carter's daughter like she's some porcelain doll."

"She's not a doll," Santiago said without looking at him.

"No," Dominico hissed, "she's a goddamn **b

ullet aimed at our entire family."

Santiago flicked ash into the tray beside him, his voice low, dangerous. "She's staying."

Dominico paced like a lion, then turned sharply. "I don't care if she's your obsession or your guilt or some twisted game you're playing to get to Carter. The network is already strained. The docks in Veracruz are locked. The airfield in La Ceiba went up in smoke. Boom has men watching every goddamn corner of the supply chain."

Santiago said nothing.

Dominico stepped forward, closer now. His voice lowered, but the threat didn't. "You keep playing house with that girl, we won't just lose the deal-we'll lose every major backer in three countries."

"Then let them walk," Santiago muttered, sipping his drink.

Dominico stared at him like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Let them-? Are you high?"

Still, Santiago didn't rise.

"You forget," Dominico continued, pointing now, "we're not just running weedler anymore. You brought in the arms. You took on the Eastern European ties. You put a bounty on your own head with Carter the moment you touched his daughter. And now Boom's responding. They're not taking pieces-they're erasing everything."

Santiago took another slow sip.

Dominico dropped his arm, exasperated. "Listen to me. Let her go. Let her go and salvage what's left."

"I already told you," Santiago said. "She stays."

Dominico's eyes narrowed. "You're not thinking straight."

"I'm thinking clearer than I ever have," Santiago said, standing now. "The moment I hand her back, I'm at their mercy. That's not how I play, I take everything I want by force and If they want a war, they'll get one. But I won't give her up like a bargaining chip."

Santiago's voice dropped into a warning. "Stay off this path, dominico. You're pushing it. Don't do something stupid, I warn you."

Just then, the heavy doors to the hall creaked open.

Kataliya stood at the edge of the corridor, her silhouette glowing against the gold-tinted light behind her. Her hair was loose, her frame tense, barefoot on the marble as if she'd been eavesdropping.

Dominico's eyes found her immediately.

He stared at her-long, cold, and hatefully. Like she was a virus in his bloodstream. Like she didn't belong in the same building, let alone the same war.

Kataliya stared back, jaw tight, eyes refusing to drop.

Santiago didn't even glance at her. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

He took it out, looked at the screen-encrypted code from Rico. A single word.

"Delivered."

He walked past both of them without a word and stepped out of the seaside, his phone pressed to his ear as he answered the call.

The door clicked shut behind him.

Kataliya stayed frozen for a moment, still feeling the heat of Dominico's eyes on her skin. She knew that look. She'd seen it before-older men who thought they owned the world, the air, even the women who dared to breathe it.

She stepped forward slowly, walking toward him with stiff shoulders and clenched fists.

Dominico didn't speak.

"Look," she said, voice sharp but restrained, "I know you don't like me. I know you want me gone. You think I'm the reason everything's falling apart."

He didn't blink.

"And you're not wrong," she went on. "I want to leave. I never asked to be here. I never wanted any of this. So do yourself a fucking favor take me out of your sight, let me go."

Dominico removed his shades slowly, slid them into the inside pocket of his jacket. His face now clear, unreadable, the creases around his eyes hard and deep.

"You want to get me killed?"

Kataliya blinked. "What? How?"

"Girl like you walks out of this compound and back into the world to cause problem for pe?" Dominico said coldly. "You think Carter's going to thank me for letting you go? He'll put a bullet in my head before you reach the mainland."

"I need help," Kataliya snapped.

Dominico chuckled, humorless. "Exactly. That man doesn't trust anyone-not even you. Especially not now, after the livestream and he only allowed you father to know you are here so he could stop hurting people. Now your father is using every means to track him, but funny enough, they ain't even in the same city."

"What? Wait where am I? ," she said hurriedly, but dominico only stared at her like a kid.

" answer me" she yelled again.

"You think you're the only hostage in this place?" Dominico's voice hardened. "We're all caught, Kataliya. Your presence is a message. A threat. A lever, If you walk now, the whole machine explodes."

"I don't care about your machine. Your drugs or whatever ,Your darm empire."

"Well, it cares about you," he snapped.

She stepped closer. "So let me go and tell your partners you never saw me again. You get your little consignment back. Everyone wins."

Dominico stared at her.

And for the first time, a flicker of something passed through his eyes-maybe pity. Maybe the faint recognition that she wasn't just a girl in a red dress anymore. She had weight now. Intent. Fire.

He looked toward the door Santiago had walked through and back to her.

"No," Dominico murmured, stepping around her. "But you're still in a cage, sweetheart. You just haven't figured out who's holding the key to your life now, stay away from me kataliya."

He disappeared into the corridor.

Kataliya stood alone in the waves, heart hammering against her ribs. The adrenaline was burning through her. She had said what she needed to. There was no turning back now.

But what scared her most wasn't Dominico's words.

It was that he might be right.

She was no longer sure who was the prisoner-and who was pretending not to be.