Chapter Three - The Call Sienna's POV

I didn’t sleep.

Not for a second. I went home after my shift like a ghost, replaying the night over and over. The blood. The gunshot. The weight of Luca’s words pressing into me You belong to me now.

Every sound in my apartment made me flinch. The radiator groaned like something alive. The floorboards creaked under my own pacing. Even my heartbeat felt too loud, too frantic, as if the world could hear it hammering inside me.

By sunrise, I was raw and trembling, nerves stretched so thin I thought they might snap. I kept telling myself I’d go to work in the morning, act normal, keep moving. Pretend none of it had happened. Pretend I wasn’t already in too deep. Maybe Luca had only said those words to scare me. Maybe he’d forget about me.

But I knew better. Men like him didn’t forget.

By late afternoon, I was still pacing my apartment, staring at the same cracks in the wall, the same chipped tile on the counter. My coffee had gone cold hours ago, untouched. My hands shook too badly to hold it anyway.

That was when my phone buzzed.

The sound was deafening in the silence. My stomach dropped. The screen lit with two words I didn’t want to see

Unknown Number.

I almost didn’t answer. Almost. But fear made the decision for me. My thumb swiped before my brain caught up.

“Hello?” My voice cracked.

Silence stretched for a beat too long. Then

“Sienna.” That voice. Smooth. Low. I didn’t need to ask who it was.

My knees went weak. I gripped the counter to stay upright. How did you get my number?

A soft chuckle. Sweetheart, I could get a lot more than that if I wanted.

Ice slid through my veins. What do you want?

To see you.

My chest tightened. No.

The pause wasn’t long, but it was sharp, dangerous. Then his voice again, cutting through me. That wasn’t a question.

Tears stung my eyes, but I forced them back. I told you, I don’t want trouble.

And I told you, he said, calm again, almost amused, you already have it. The difference is whether you survive it.

I pressed the phone so hard against my ear it hurt. Please. Just let me go. I won’t tell anyone. I swear.

His laugh was darker this time, edged with something final. It’s not about whether you’ll tell. It’s about the fact that you know. That makes you valuable. Dangerous. And mine.

The last word landed like a blade.

I’ll send a car, he said smoothly. “Be ready in an hour.”

Click. The line went dead.

For a moment, I couldn’t move. The phone hung in my hand as my chest heaved, panic surging like wildfire. Run. Leave. Disappear. That was the only thought I had. But where? With what money? Even if I found a way out, did I really believe I could outrun the Romanos?

No one outran them.

My phone buzzed again. I flinched so hard I almost dropped it. A message glared up at me.

One hour. Don’t make me come get you.

My hands shook so violently I had to set the phone down before I dropped it. He knew where I lived. He knew everything.

I wanted to scream, to throw something, to fight but instead I slid to the floor, pressing my back against the cabinet, tears spilling hot and fast. My breath came in jagged bursts, the sound too loud in the suffocating silence of the apartment.

I didn’t have a choice.

The car arrived exactly an hour later.

It was black and sleek, tinted windows glinting in the dying light like obsidian. It idled at the curb with a low purr that filled the street, steady and patient, like a predator waiting.

My feet felt like lead as I stepped outside, locking the door behind me though it meant nothing. The evening air was sharp against my damp skin. My stomach twisted so violently I thought I’d be sick.

The driver was tall, dressed in black, face unreadable. He didn’t speak. Just opened the back door, the movement precise, rehearsed.

Inside, the leather smelled rich, suffocating. I sat with my hands locked tightly in my lap, trying to steady the tremors in my fingers. The car moved smoothly through the city, the streets blurring past in streaks of color and shadow.

Every block carried me farther from the person I’d been yesterday. With every turn, the air felt heavier, like I was being pulled deeper into something I couldn’t escape.

When we finally stopped, my throat closed. Romano territory.

I had never dared to come near it. People whispered about this place, about the power that coiled in its streets. To stand here now felt like stepping into the belly of a beast.

The driver opened the door. My legs shook as I stepped out, the air thicker here, heavier, as though even the night itself bowed to the family that ruled it.

And then I saw him.

Luca.

He leaned against another car, cigarette in hand, smoke curling upward. His eyes fixed on me, dark and unreadable, pulling me in like a tide I couldn’t resist. He looked calm. Relaxed. As though this was nothing. As though he hadn’t shattered my world less than a day ago.

“Sienna,” he said, his tone warm, almost welcoming. You came.

I swallowed hard. Did I have a choice?

His smile widened, slow and deliberate. Everyone has a choice. But not everyone lives with the consequences.

It took everything in me to hold his gaze. Why me?

He pushed off the car and closed the distance between us. My body locked in place. When he reached me, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear with maddening gentleness, his touch making my skin burn.

Because you didn’t look away, he murmured. Most people bury their heads, pretend they didn’t see. But you… His gaze darkened, and my pulse stuttered. You stared. Even when it terrified you. I like that.

My breath caught. He leaned closer, his words brushing against my skin.

And now I’m curious. About what else you’ll do when you’re scared.

“You’re insane,” I whispered.

He chuckled, low and dangerous. Maybe. But I always get what I want. And right now… His eyes swept over me slowly, deliberately. That’s you.

I stumbled back, shaking my head. I’m not one of your people. I don’t belong in your world.

You do now. His smile was sharp, all teeth and promise.

Welcome to it, sweetheart.