Chapter One
Liana
The music was low, the kind that faded into the walls. The restaurant wasn't fancy—just brick walls, half-melted candles on the tables, and a chalkboard menu with the specials misspelled. But it was quiet. Too quiet.
"I swear, if Dr. Yassin mentions glycolysis one more time—"
"No," Ava groaned, waving her fork. "Liana, no more science. This is a no studying zone."
Liana smiled, pushing a limp strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm not studying, I'm ranting."
Maya giggled. "Same thing when you do it."
She let them tease her. It felt normal. Safe. The stress of med school, of sleepless nights and back-to-back exams, had melted away for just one evening. Liana could almost pretend she wasn't exhausted.
Until she noticed the waiter.
He'd walked past their table three times. No drinks. No bread. Just... passed by. His eyes kept flicking to the back hallway behind the kitchen door.
Weird.
She sipped her water and glanced around. A couple at the far end of the room hadn't touched their food. A man by the window checked his watch every thirty seconds.
Okay. That's not weird. Just...
Wrong.
"Be right back," she said, standing up.
"Bathroom's that way," Maya said without looking up from her phone.
Liana nodded and made her way past the tables, her sneakers muffled on the old wooden floor. But instead of turning left, toward the restroom, she glanced over her shoulder and took a slow step down the hallway the waiter had been eyeing.
She wasn't sure why.
Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe instinct.
Maybe it was the voice in her head whispering that something wasn't right.
The hallway was narrow, dimly lit by a flickering overhead light. The kitchen door was open just a crack. Voices drifted through—low, sharp, clipped.
Then a sound that stopped her heart cold.
Someone pleading.
Liana held her breath and stepped closer, her back against the wall.
"I warned you, didn't I?" a deep voice said. Calm. Too calm. "One shipment. One lie."
Then—a gunshot.
She jumped, both hands clamping over her mouth.
Silence.
Then—footsteps.
Liana turned. Can.
But the floor creaked.
The footsteps stopped.
And then, before she could even reach the dining room, a hand slammed against the wall beside her head.
She froze.
"Going somewhere?" the voice murmured behind her, velvet over steel.
She turned slowly—and saw him.
Tall. Impossibly tall. Black shirt stretched over broad shoulders. Jaw sharp enough to slice glass. Eyes like a storm.
Damian Vale.
He smiled. Not friendly. Not kind.
Predatory.
And when he leaned in, his breath ghosting against her ear, Liana felt her knees weaken.
"You saw something, didn't you?" he whispered.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Damian's fingers brushed a curl from her cheek. "Then you and I... we've got a problem."
Her throat burned with the scream she didn't dare let out.
"Please," she whispered, not even sure what she was begging for. Mercy? Silence? Time?
He leaned in slowly, like he wasn't just invading her space—he owned it.
"I don't like messes," he said, voice low and smooth. "Unfortunately... you just walked into one."
Her hands trembled at her sides, fingers curling involuntarily. She took a step back—but the wall was already at her spine.
"I didn't see anything," she tried, breathless.
He smiled. Not amused. Not friendly. Just knowing. "You saw enough.
A sound echoed behind him—muffled voices down the corridor. He glanced toward it, and for a single heartbeat, she saw the shift in his posture. Calculating. Cold. And then, back to her.
"I don't have time for this," he murmured. "So I'll give you one chance."
She blinked.
"You're going to walk back to your table like nothing happened. You're going to eat your food, laugh at whatever boring conversation you left behind—and then leave."
Liana's heart was thudding so loud she could barely hear his next words.
"And if you ever breathe a word of what you saw tonight..."
He leaned in close, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'll know."
"How?" she breathed.
He smirked. "Because people like you? Med students with honor codes and shaking hands? You don't lie very well."
Her breath caught. That—okay, that tracked. She had been wearing her college hoodie. Idiot.
"Go," he said again, this time firmer.
She turned and walked. Legs stiff, knees barely holding. She didn't dare look back, even though she felt the heat of his gaze on her all the way to her seat.
"Everything okay?" Maya asked, chewing a breadstick.
Liana nodded numbly. "Yeah. Fine."
But in the glass window across from her, she caught a faint reflection. Broad shoulders. Shadowed eyes.
Watching.
Damian Vale.
Smiling.
