CHAPTER 26
ZANE
I try to bring Mia to see Figaro whenever I can.
He spends most of his time with Charlie—except when she needs to investigate the clues I sent her. Then he stays with Seth.
With Nico out of the States, it’s the perfect time to move.
So I brought Mia with me. Not just to keep her close… but so Charlie can really check on her. Make sure she’s okay in ways I can’t see.
At that moment, she looks at Mia like a mother about to fight with her son, but Mia won’t even meet her gaze. I don’t know why.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Charlie asks, her voice tight.
“Sorry about the mess?” Mia mumbles, her eyes downcast.
Charlie snorts. “Are they at least giving you medication? Psychological support?”
Mia laughs. “There’s no such thing in the Cartel,” she replies, almost casually. “But Zane came back with my old meds a few weeks ago, so don’t worry.”
“You need to tell someone.”
“I’ll talk to Zane.”
“They won’t take care of you there.”
“I survived most of my life there, Charlie,” Mia says softly, the weight of her words hanging in the air.
“Trapped in a cell, suffering. You can just walk away from it!” Charlie says, exasperated. I can feel Mia tensing at the conversation.
“Don’t push her, Charlie,” I warn, my tone sharp.
Charlie glares at me but turns back to Mia.
“He knows you didn’t kill Carter. He knows everything, but he won’t tell you because he treats you like a baby—too afraid to do anything about it.”
“God forbid I’m just trying to give her a fucking break after everything she’s been through,” I snap.
“And I don’t treat her like a baby,” I bite out, heat rising in my voice.
Mia exhales softly, her gaze steady. “It’s okay, Charlie. We already had that talk.”
Charlie blinks caught off guard. “Wait—he actually told you?”
I don’t say anything. I don’t have to.
I don’t need to tell her everything the second I do it.
To my surprise, Mia laughs. “Yes, and Lara also told me about it when she kidnapped me. She also let you believe I did it. Well, I never corrected you, because I believe I was partly responsible for it.”
Lara did what?
“You are not responsible for that idiot making deals with the Cartel for drugs. We are still investigating if he leaked any information,” I reply, trying to calm things down.
“I don’t think he’s gone that far,” Mia murmurs, still gently petting Figaro, who purrs in response.
“Mia, if you have any feelings for Nico Riviera, I need to tell you—he’s evil. He hurt you, and life doesn’t have to be—”
“I know,” she interrupts softly, her voice almost a whisper. “I understand the horrors I went through there. I suffer through them every day, having a fucked-up head, basically fighting against myself. He’s not the one I need to stay for.”
“You have to let us in,” Charlie whispers, her voice full of concern. Mia looks at me, as if she doesn’t want to continue this conversation with Charlie.
“Why don’t you let me deal with my wife, and you deal with the information I gave you?” I say, trying to take control of the situation.
“I’m dealing with it, but with Cole Ross down, there’s not much to do other than wait for Paulina to get back to the States. Whatever she’s doing in Mexico must be big if she’s been there for a year. I’ll send this to your sister to look into.”
“Taylor?”
“Yeah, she’s been working more actively with us,” Charlie’s tone darkens, as if there’s something she’s not saying. I don’t press her for more. Whatever Taylor is doing is her business.
“I’ve never met your sister.”
“She’s like Seth,” I shrug.
“Then she must be nice.”
“If aggressive and impulsive are synonyms for nice, then maybe,” I mutter.
I press my lips together, refusing to let the frustration spill out. Charlie smiles, but I can tell it's masking something deeper. She thought we'd have Mia back by now. But I know there's someone Mia refuses to let go of, and I’m still trying to make sense of it all.
Katie.
Her mother.
It’s maddening, the way Mia keeps her at arm's length yet clings to the idea of her. She never tells me much about Katie.
At this point, I’m not even sure her mother exists. If she’s been held captive by the Cartel, then it makes sense there’s no digital footprint or whispered rumor. I’ve chased every lead into dead ends; it’s like hunting a ghost in the dark.
Before I can spiral any further, my phone rings. Mia shifts beside me, her presence suddenly sharper, more purposeful.
“I found her,” Mia says, voice low, almost a whisper, but with an unmistakable certainty.
"Katie?”
“Yes, do you trust me?”she responds, her eyes searching mine.
“I trust you.”
“Then just come with me.”
“Okay,” I agree, already feeling a pull toward her, not knowing where this is going but knowing I want to be there.
I wave goodbye to Charlie, who looks at us with a mix of concern and frustration. I place Figaro back on his bed, and he groans in protest, but Mia hands him his ball, and he quiets down almost immediately.
Mia smiles, satisfied with her little trick, and starts walking. “I want you to meet her.”
“Okay.”
“To get to her, I need your help,” she continues, her eyes gleaming with determination.
“Of course.”
She glances sideways at me, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. “You didn’t even ask what you need to do.”
“I told you I would help find her, and I didn’t do a good job of that. So, this is the least I can do. I won’t leave you alone,” I sigh, adjusting my jacket. “And I want to help.”
“Truth is, I didn’t do any of the work—Seth found her,” Mia admits.
“Oh,” I murmur.
She smiles and grabs my hand without warning, pulling me down the hallway like we’re running from a fire. “Let’s raid the lab!”
I stop halfway. “What?”
“I’ll explain on the way!”
Mia never asked for help in the conventional way. But when she did, it was impossible to say no.
The lab was a closed structure, with rough concrete walls and tight security. It was the kind of place no one entered without purpose—or authorization.
Luckily, I had both.
I walked through the entrance without any problems, maintaining the relaxed posture of someone who had worked there long enough to not need to explain themselves. Behind me, an employee was pushing a large cart, the kind used for disposing of chemical waste or contaminated clothing. Inside it, hidden under a pile of dirty lab coats and crumpled plastic, was Mia.
Her idea.
“I could just walk over there, but no, we need the element of surprise, Zane!” she had argued earlier.
The problem? The guy pushing the cart apparently thought I didn’t need to worry about it.
“Leave it to me, Mr. Mitchell,” he said helpfully. “No need to waste your time on this crap.”
I forced a smile, keeping my tone professional. “I prefer to take care of things personally.”
The clerk hesitated. “Are you sure? This is just trash.”
I paused carefully, keeping my gaze steady. “I said I’d rather handle it myself.”
He tensed, and I could tell I was pushing his limits. My expression was just the right balance between patience and veiled threat—a trick I’d learned from watching guys who could actually play the mobster.
“S-Sure, sir,” the guy stuttered, handing the cart to me before disappearing as quickly as possible.
I pushed the cart through the aisles, keeping a steady pace. Everything was going well, until a woman in a too-tight lab coat and an exaggerated smile appeared in front of me.
“Mr. Mitchell!” She touched my arm, holding contact for an uncomfortably long time. “We need you in the synthesis department. Your expertise is highly valued here.”
Translation: You are beautiful, and I want your attention.
“I’m busy,” I replied, without stopping walking.
She continued to follow me, biting her lip in a way that seemed rehearsed. “Maybe we can… work together later?”
The cart creaked softly.
An icy tension ran down my spine.
Mia.
If she moved—if she even breathed any louder than she should—this girl was going to die right here and now.
I forced a tight smile. “I’m not much for partnerships.”
Before she could insist, I quickly turned the corner, pushing the cart with more force than necessary. When I finally entered the storage room and closed the door behind me, I let out a sigh.
I waited.
One. Two. Three seconds.
Then Mia threw the pile of lab coats aside and sat down, looking at me like she wanted to kill me.
“So, Mr. Mitchell…” She crossed her arms. “You’re quite valued here, huh?”
“Don’t start.”
"I think you should go back and offer your expertise to her."
I massaged my temples. "Mia..."
She rolled her eyes and stood up from the cart. "If I hadn’t been hiding, I would've ripped her tongue out."
"I know."
"And her eyes."
"I know, Mia."
She snorted but seemed satisfied that I understood.
I took a deep breath, adjusting my jacket. "Now that you've survived the trauma of hearing someone hit on me, can you show me where this tunnel is?"
She beamed. "Ah, yes! The secret tunnel full of armed guards! Let's go!"
I sighed.
I knew I would regret it.
But I went.
The entrance to the tunnel was behind one of the storage rooms. A passage camouflaged by metal shelves and supply crates.
"How many people know about this?" I asked.
"Few. Which means, if we get caught, we’ll probably die."
"Excellent."
Mia laughed and pulled back the metal grate covering the passage.
"You first."
I descended the narrow staircase, the damp, rusty smell of the air hitting me. The tunnel stretched ahead, a long, dark hallway with dim lights scattered across the concrete ceiling.
Mia jumped down from the last step and stretched. "I love a hidden spot."
"Just walk."
We moved through the tunnel in silence until voices drifted up ahead.
"Guards?" I asked.
"Guards," Mia smiled.
Before I could respond, she was already moving.
The first guard didn’t have time to react. Mia slipped behind him and drove the blade into his neck, a swift cut that splattered blood onto the wall.
The second saw the body fall and raised his gun.
"Shit—"
Mia spun, throwing a knife straight at his eye. The man staggered as the blade sank deep, and he collapsed.
The third tried to run. Mia caught him in two seconds, kicking his leg out from under him before plunging the knife into his collarbone.
"You didn’t have to kill everyone," I muttered, watching blood pool on the floor.
"And let one of them warn the others?" She wiped her hands on the last guard's shirt. "No way."
I sighed. "Let’s go before more show up."
At the end of the tunnel, we reached a steel door.
"This is where she is," Mia said, looking at me.
She hesitated. For the first time tonight, she looked... nervous.
Then she opened the door.
Inside, chained to the wall, was a woman.
I froze.
I knew her.
It couldn’t be.
The woman in the tunnel. The one I saw years ago—the only time I allowed myself to doubt my own sanity.
My throat went dry.
"Mia..."
"Zane, this is my mother."
I stared at her. She stared back at me.
A slow smile spread across her face.
"I remember you."
And at that moment, I knew we were completely fucked.
The woman in front of me looked like she’d been through hell and back. Her hair, once dark as midnight, had faded to a white so pale it almost blended into the walls around her. Time had shredded her, left its mark on every inch of her face.
Her eyes were hollow, haunted, as if the years had robbed her of anything worth holding onto. But there was something there, a flicker of something that didn’t quite belong in a face that had seen so much suffering—a strange, fragile relief.
I swallowed hard, my chest tightening as I looked at her, unable to wrap my mind around the fact that she was even standing in front of me. My throat felt thick, and the words slipped out before I could stop them.
“You’re alive,” I said, the disbelief thick in my voice.
She tilted her head, the corners of her cracked lips pulling up in a faint, almost wistful smile.
“I apologize for the scare that day,” a soft voice interrupted, pulling me from the grip of shock. “I just needed to make sure my son was still alive. He was. He was fine.”
Seth.
She had run, risked everything, just to make sure Seth was safe.
The woman—Katie—looked at me with eyes full of something like regret, her gaze lingering on me with a quiet intensity, as though she was trying to memorize every detail of my face, as though she could somehow make up for lost time.
"You've grown into a beautiful young man," she said softly, her voice like brittle paper. "I’m happy for you."
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could find the right words, Mia’s voice broke through, her tone a strange mix of curiosity and something else—maybe jealousy, maybe unease.
“Please tell me you and Katie didn’t have a relationship in the past.”
I blinked, the question catching me off guard. For a second, I just stared at Mia, my brain trying to make sense of what she was asking.
"No," I said firmly, my voice steady despite the confusion swirling in my chest. "We haven't had a relationship in the past. Not in the way you're thinking."
Mia didn’t seem completely convinced, but she didn't press the matter. Her attention shifted back to Katie, her expression unreadable now, her eyes searching for something she couldn’t quite name.
“How do you know Zane?” Mia’s voice was sharp now, guarded, like she was already bracing herself for the answer.
Katie hesitated, her eyes flicking to me, silently asking for permission to speak. I nodded, the tension in my chest tightening.
"The day you helped me escape," Katie explained, her eyes softening as she turned back to Mia. "Zane was there when I needed to hide."
I watched as Mia froze, her entire body going still. Her fingers curled into tight fists, and I could see the flicker of recognition in her eyes—the same way she reacted when something hit too close to the bone, when it cut too deep.
"I… helped you escape?" Her voice was barely a whisper, barely a breath, as if the very thought of it was too much to bear.
Katie nodded, regret swimming in her gaze. "And I remember what happened to you next."
The air in the tunnel thickened, suffocating us in the silence that followed. Mia was shivering now, her body trembling, but it wasn’t the cold that had her shaking. It was the past. The memories that we never spoke aloud.
I already knew Mia had suffered. I knew she carried pain that no one should ever have to endure. But seeing her like this, seeing her stripped of the bravado she wore like armor, shattered something inside me. The girl who had faced violence with a twisted smile, who found humor in danger, was gone. In her place stood someone raw, broken, vulnerable—someone I didn’t know if I could save.
Katie took a hesitant step closer, her voice breaking the fragile silence. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. "If I had known—if I had any idea what they would do to you…” Her voice faltered, the weight of her regret pressing down on her. “I would never have let you do this.”
Mia blinked rapidly, her eyes glistening with the unshed tears she refused to let fall. “It’s okay,” she said, but I could hear the tremor in her voice. It wasn’t okay. It was never going to be okay.
Katie seemed to sense this. She took a deep breath and looked between Mia and me, her voice carrying a strange tenderness as she spoke. "But you found love," she said, a sad smile curving her lips. "And Zane… so did you."
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Katie looked at me, her eyes clouded with something I couldn’t quite understand. "I thought about you," she admitted, the words spilling out before she could stop them. "I hoped you survived. That it would be real."
Real.
The lump in my throat grew, choking me. For so long, I hadn’t known what had happened to her. I hadn’t known if that night in the tunnel had been real or just another of my fractured memories, something my mind had created out of desperation. But now, standing before me, Katie was real. She was breathing, she was here, and it made everything— everything —feel wrong and twisted and unbearable.
Katie’s voice wavered. “Thank you,” she said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears of her own. “For keeping me alive those days.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Mia beat me to it. Her voice was quiet, strained.
"Wait."
She looked at me, her expression full of confusion, as though something had shifted beneath the surface, something she didn’t understand yet but knew was there.
"You never mentioned her," Mia said, her words hanging heavy in the air. "You never told me about the woman in the tunnel."
I felt my chest tighten, the weight of the truth pressing down on me. How could I explain this? How could I put into words everything that had happened, everything I had buried so deep inside?
“I never thought I’d see her again,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. Mia's gaze was fixed on me, as if she were searching for an explanation to something that could never be explained. Her eyes flickered back to Katie, and in that moment, I saw the raw, unspoken pain—the hurt of seeing her mother like that, so broken and helpless.
Katie spoke again, her voice full of an aching kind of love. “Maybe it was fate, daughter,” she said softly, her words in Spanish. “That you would meet him of all people. The boy who saved me.”
Mia looked at me, her gaze uncertain, her heart clearly torn between the woman who had given birth to her and the man who had saved her life.
“He saved me too, Mother,” Mia whispered, and my heart clenched as I heard the depth of her pain. “We can get you out of here. We can protect you with the Society of Crow.”
Katie laughed weakly, the sound of it brittle and broken. "Do you think Nico didn’t make sure to keep me here? He’s been tempting the heir for years. With the twisted promise that he wants the blood to be purely Riviera."
“Purely Riviera?” Mia asked, confusion flashing across her face.
And that was when it hit me—like a brick to the chest. The realization slammed into me, leaving me breathless.
“You’re his sister,” I said, the words coming out hoarse, raw.
Katie nodded, her eyes clouded with regret. "Seth, the other one, was my brother on my mother’s side. Nico was given to Vicente, but he and my mother had an affair again, and I was born. She died in childbirth, and I stayed with Seth. He raised me until I was 13. Nico captured me and—”
God.
Mia and Seth.
Her voice trembles, jagged like shattered glass, as she whispers, “He never let me name my children. Never gave them that... that small piece of humanity.” She pauses, the weight of her words pressing against her chest, squeezing out a shuddering breath. “He said they were numbers. Just... numbers. I shouldn’t get too attached. One and Two. They were made for something bigger, something... that didn’t need something as fragile as a name.” Her hands tremble at her sides, and for a moment, she looks as if she might collapse under the sheer weight of the emptiness those words carry. She lets out a sob, a soft, broken sound that shatters the silence between us. “I... I never even had the chance to love them. Not like a mother should.”
Mia’s voice cracks, a sharp edge of anger slicing through the silence. “Of course you loved us,” she retorts, her words trembling with something unspoken, something deep.
Katie’s gaze falls to the ground, her eyes dark with regret and helplessness. Her lips part, but no words come at first, only a soft, broken breath that feels like it carries the weight of years. Finally, she whispers, her voice barely audible but heavy with truth, “I do. I loved you both, more than anything.” She closes her eyes as if the words themselves are painful to say, like they are cutting into her soul. “But I can’t protect you. I never could. Not from... not from him .”
Her shoulders slump, the last shred of her strength seeming to slip away with those words. She’s lost, defeated, the mother who once hoped to shield her children now realizing she never stood a chance. And that realization, that surrender, fills the air between us like a suffocating fog.
I felt my heart break for them both. They had been through hell and back, and the weight of it crushed me.
“He wanted a pure heir,” Katie continued, her voice hollow, heavy with the pain of a life she never asked for. “Because his older brother didn’t consider him worthy of the cartel because he was a bastard. He used me for that.”
I looked at Mia, my heart aching for everything she had never known, for everything she had to carry alone.
How old was she when she had Seth and Mia?
“How old were you?” I ask.
Katie’s voice broke again. “Fourteen,” she whispered. “I had them when I was fourteen.”
It hit me like a punch to the gut. Mia just turned twenty-four, which meant Katie was no more than thirty-seven or thirty-eight now.
I turned to Mia, but her eyes were far away, lost in a storm of thoughts too heavy for her to carry alone. Her world was shattering, piece by piece.
Katie turned back to Mia, her eyes soft with a love that had never faded, no matter the years or the pain. "I love you, Mia," she whispered. "I love your brother too."
Mia’s voice was small, broken, when she asked, "Why didn’t you tell me One was alive before?"
“Because our head is not a safe place,” Katie replied, her voice thin with the weight of unspoken truths.
Mia’s eyes were wet now, but she refused to let herself break. "You said you would run away and find a way for us to leave. But you never intended to do that."
At that, Katie's eyes dropped to the floor, and she seemed to collapse in on herself, her shoulders heavy with the weight of everything she had failed to do. "At the time, I didn’t believe it was possible for us. But I see now… it’s possible for you. You need to go with it.”
Then she whispered, her voice breaking into pieces. "Nico didn’t stop trying, unfortunately fate was cruel to him, and took away my ability to have children after her."
“Her?” Mia asked softly.
Katie’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. "My baby. He has my baby."
She pointed toward the corner of the cell, but there was nothing there. Nothing except the filthy walls and the overwhelming sense of loss that hung in the air.
"She’s beautiful," Katie continued, her voice hollow, the love she felt for the child she could never have carrying every word. "Just like you when you were little."
Mia’s voice cracked as she tried to speak, her emotions too raw to keep inside. “Mom…”
But Katie wouldn’t let her finish. "Let’s get you out of here, come on, Mom," Mia insisted, her voice desperate.
"No!" Katie screamed, and her cry echoed through the hallway, sending a jolt of fear through me. "You’re not taking me away from my baby. No."
“Mia, I don’t think your mom is coming with us,” I said urgently, pulling her back toward the gap in the wall. "We need to go. Now. Or we’ll end up inside too."
Mia’s face crumpled with the weight of her pain. "No," she cried, tears streaming down her face. "She has to come."
I heard the footsteps before I saw the guards. Panic surged in my chest.
"It's just Number Twelve," one of them called. “She’s been louder since the dementia was discovered. Get someone to sedate her.”
The guard didn’t come any closer, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
"Dementia?" Mia whispered, her voice breaking even more.
“Mia, we need to go.” My voice was strained, but Mia was lost in her own thoughts, her heart breaking in ways I couldn’t even begin to understand.
"Mia!" I shouted. “They’re going to kill us!”
Before I could say anything else, I heard the voice. Cold, venomous, full of disgust.
"Yes Mia, we’re going to kill you."
Nico Riviera stepped forward, a wicked grin on his face.
"Zane Hill," Paulina sneers, her voice dripping with condescension. "I underestimated you. And here I thought you were just a sweet, harmless little thing."
Her words are sharp, cruel, as she turns toward Katie, the sedative syringe gleaming in her hand. But Mia, quick as ever, moves to intercept, her eyes narrowing with a determination that would have made me proud if I wasn’t in the middle of a nightmare.
She takes a step forward, poised to act, but Paulina is faster. A brutal slap rings through the air, sending Mia crashing to the ground with a sickening thud.
I move, my body instinctively shifting toward Mia, the desire to protect her overwhelming. But before I can reach her, Nico’s hand shoots out, firm and unyielding, gripping my arm with a vice-like strength. He pulls me back, holding me away from Mia like I'm nothing more than a pawn in a game I never asked to play.
His grip tightens, a cold sneer forming on his face as he leans in closer. “You think you can save her, Hill? You’re not even worth the effort.”
"You insolent brat," Paulina spits, her tone venomous. "Who do you think you are?"
Katie flinches, but Paulina doesn't stop. Her gaze flicks back to me, dismissing Mia’s motionless form at her feet.
"Paulina, stop playing with your food," Nico's voice cuts through the tension like a cold knife.
Paulina rolls her eyes, annoyed. "I’m irritated. I’ve got things to do."
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to play with dolls later," Nico continues with a sneer. "We’ve got business now."
Mia’s breathing is shallow, but her eyes flicker with something more dangerous than I’ve seen before—pure rage. She struggles to rise, but this time, Paulina’s boot digs into my side, crushing me against the floor, the barrel of her gun cold and unforgiving at my temple.
"I told you, brat," Paulina growls, pressing her foot down harder. "Letting him go was your best option. But you didn’t listen."
Mia glares at her, defiance burning in her eyes, but it's Nico's voice that fills the air next, dark and menacing. "She never listens. I also told her never to try rescuing her mother."
Mia’s lips tremble, and for a moment, it feels like her entire world is collapsing. The woman who once played with danger like it was a game, the girl who laughed in the face of death, now looks like a broken child. But Mia isn’t broken. She’s just been forced to remember how badly she’s been used.
"Fuck you," she spits at Paulina, her words sharp and raw, filled with every ounce of her fury.
Paulina’s smile widens, predatory. “The punishment will be fun.”
But it’s Nico’s words that tear through the air like a thunderclap, each one landing with finality. “No, punishment will be mine,” he says, his eyes dark with something cold and unforgiving. “You wanted my attention, daughter? You just got it.”
Shit.
The weight of the moment sinks in, heavy and suffocating. Everything is spiraling. Everything is unraveling, and there’s no way out.