Chapter 2 The Offer

I didn’t sleep. I just lay on my back in that shitty apartment, city noise leaking through the cracked window like it always did, and my brain wouldn’t shut up. Just kept looping the same image: that dagger on his wrist, serpent wrapped around it like it owned the skin. The same one burned into my memory since I was seventeen, watching from the vent while smoke clawed at my throat.

By four in the morning I’d made my choice. I wasn’t letting him disappear again. Not without answers. Not without getting close enough to end this.

I dragged myself to the club early. Clara was already there, rag in hand, scrubbing the bar top like it owed her money. She took one look at my face and stopped.

“Jesus, Nova. You look worse than yesterday.”

“Didn’t sleep.” I dropped my bag and grabbed an apron. “That new Dom came back?”

She nodded, eyes sharp. “Waited twenty minutes after you vanished into the back. Then bounced. Told Marcus he’d be here this morning.” She paused, wiping the same spot again. “Left a tip that could cover half your rent. What the hell happened with the glass?”

I shrugged, tying the strings tight. “Slipped. No big deal.”

Clara didn’t buy it, but she let it drop. That’s what I liked about her—she pushed when it mattered, backed off when it didn’t. I threw myself into prep work, restocking bottles, wiping down surfaces, anything to keep my hands busy while my mind sharpened its knives.

He walked in at ten.

Same powerful build, different suit, same dark mask that hid too much. He moved like the lounge belonged to him, like every eye in the place adjusted to make room. Straight to the VIP booth again. Marcus hovered, then looked my way.

I was already crossing the floor before my pulse could betray me.

“Morning,” I said, stopping at the edge of the booth. “Water again?”

“Sit down.”

“Sir, policy says—”

“I know the policy.” Those green eyes locked on mine, steady, unblinking. “Sit.”

I sat. Not because he ordered it. Because this was the door I needed open, and I was stepping through.

He watched me settle, hands folded in my lap like I was playing the part perfectly. The silence stretched, thick enough to taste. He took a slow sip of the water I’d brought earlier, sleeve staying put this time. No mark showing. Smart.

“You ran yesterday,” he said finally. Low voice, the kind that didn’t need to raise itself.

“Emergency. Glass startled me. Needed a minute to pull it together.”

He studied me like he could see the lie sitting right behind my teeth. “What’s your name?”

“Nova.”

“Nova,” he repeated, tasting it. “How long you been doing this?”

“Two years.” I held his stare. “Long enough to be good at it.”

“You enjoy it?”

The question threw me. Nobody asked that here. “I’m good at it. Pays what it pays.”

Something flickered across what little I could see of his face. He set the glass down. “I’ve got an offer for you.”

I waited, heart hammering against my ribs.

“Two-month contract. You’re exclusive to me. Private sessions, terms we set together. No one else touches you while it runs.” He leaned back a fraction. “In return, I clear every debt you’re carrying. All of it. Done before we even start.”

Eli’s numbers flashed behind my eyes—the specialist, the new equipment, the mountain of bills that kept growing while my brother lay still in that bed. Two months of access to the man with the brand. Two months inside his world.

I kept my face blank. “How do I know you’ll follow through?”

“Paperwork. My attorney handles it. Funds move first.”

Cocky. Certain. The kind of man who paid upfront because failure wasn’t something he planned for.

“I need to think about it.”

“Until tomorrow morning.” He didn’t push. Just watched me stand, like he already knew which way this would go.

I made it to the staff courtyard out back before my legs felt real again. Cold air slapped my face. I pressed both palms flat against the rough brick wall, leaning in until the texture bit into my skin. Rage and something sharper twisted in my gut. Opportunity. Proximity. The chance to watch him, learn him, break him from the inside.

He had no idea who I was. No idea what he’d just handed me.

I straightened, wiped my hands on my skirt, and went back inside. Found Marcus near the entrance.

“Tell him yes.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow but nodded. I didn’t wait for more. I had a shift to finish and a war to plan.

The rest of the day blurred—drinks, smiles that didn’t reach my eyes, Ryder’s lingering stares that I ignored. When I finally clocked out, the city felt different. Sharper. Like everything was lining up for the first time in six years.

I rode the bus home staring at my reflection in the dark window. The girl looking back had steel in her spine I hadn’t seen in a while.

Zane.

One name. One mark. One contract.

I was going to make it count.