Chapter 2
Arcane
As I enter the pristine white marble, its opulent estate boasting a beautifully tended garden behind me, the halls are eerily quiet. Drenched from the relentless rain that intensified the faster I pushed my bike forward, I remove my sodden leather jacket upon stepping inside, revealing the tattoo on my arm. It’s a butterfly surrounded by water, reminiscent of how I felt when he left, yet a reminder that I can and will survive.
The grandeur of the hall, adorned with a hanging chandelier and crystal decorations, greets me as I navigate the three-building mansion. A swirl of discomfort twists in my stomach, leaving me with a parched mouth. The absence of the usual activity—no bustling kitchen staff or guards—only intensifies my apprehension.
With a frown, I hear faint murmurs from the room ahead. Something is amiss; I feel it in the way goosebumps skitter across my arms.
“Arcane, is that you?” A deep voice cuts through the silence, drawing me closer to the conference room.
I swallow hard, knowing all too well that there is no possibility of escaping this life I’ve found myself trapped in. It isn’t as if I can leave—they won’t let me get away. I owe them my life after they saved mine.
Soon, a man stands before me, dressed in a well-tailored suit with his tie hanging loose and hair tousled in disarray. His gaze, reminiscent of his father’s, sweeps over me, making me squirm. He has gotten his father’s eyes, that’s for sure. Large and piercing, beautiful yet holding a lethal glint.
“Hi, Alec.”
He cocks his head to the side, an uneasy expression flickering across his face—a subtle indication that there’s something he’s not telling me, something he knows that I don’t. Something I won’t like.
I eye the opening of the conference room, nervous energy coursing through me. The room is rather large, adorned with a whiteboard at the front displaying a meticulously planned heist, including photos of all the targets and red dots on a map. At the forefront stands our boss, his presence emanating a shrouded force, veiled in darkness and lethality. Standing beside him is his right-hand man, Antonio Cadell, while positioned at the room’s rear are our most trusted made men—ranked lowest, commanding respect nonetheless. They have all sworn an oath of silence and committed deceitful acts to secure their place within our organization.
Alec closes the door behind us, and I suppress the rapid pounding of my heart with an almost bored expression. I cannot show any sign of hesitation.
I feel our boss’s piercing eyes dissecting me with an intensity that drags up memories I would rather forget. They take me back to a past life, a girl I once was who isn’t me anymore, now forever lost. The weight of his gaze transports me to the unforgiving streets, where I had to survive on my own without having anything to myself. I remember his gaze back then, bothering and terrifying me, until Alec dared show a glimmer of humanity. He took my dirty hand in his, offering me a smile as he helped me to my feet, dirt and mud clinging to every inch of my skin.
Benjamin Valenti looks at me in the same way he did five years ago the moment he found me, seeing the youthful rage and hatred in me. He’s not someone you’d want to fuck over.
He exudes fear and respect, demanding the latter by instilling terror in those around him. Even the slightest transgression, like someone cheating in his illegal casinos, is met by brutality. A single dollar stolen can lead to blood splattered all over the room in a sight too grotesque for most to accept, with screams reverberating through the room. A single misplaced word is enough for entrails to be exposed and the echoes of a once-functioning brain to be cleaved apart.
I was both lucky and not that they found me, forcing me into this shadowed world of criminality and secrecy. Once you’re in, there’s no way out unless it’s in a body bag. I’m ensnared here, trapped against my own will, and have been for the past five years since my parents kicked me out on the streets.
The criminal life is not for me. He is the reason my innocence was killed long before I could truly explore who I was, all my dreams drowned in the waves, only to never return.
He left me when all I needed was him by my side, us against the world when nothing else mattered.
He fucking ruined me.
And now, I’m thrust into this world with nowhere to go, a rage burning inside my veins that I cannot release. There’s a snake within me, slithering in my blood, crawling through me with the toxin of rage that makes it impossible to control my own emotions some days.
I stare at Mr. Valenti leaning casually against the desk, his well-maintained physique belying his age. A smirk hints at his lips, one full of resilience.
I fucking hate him too, but at least he’s preferable to the parents who abandoned me. At least he took me in when no one else would, even though it came with its own set of consequences.
Benjamin possesses an uncanny ability to manipulate me, exploiting my desire for revenge and promising me all the things I’ve ever wanted. This is what keeps me leashed to his side.
Alec is like the best friend I lost all those years ago, slowly stitching together my broken heart and the pieces he tore out. In a world where trust is a scarce commodity, his loyalty has been unwavering; always watching out for me, caring about me, and understanding the need for revenge I’ve sought for so long.
“What took you so long?” a voice barks at me, and I try to suppress my evident annoyance as I turn to look at Mr. Valenti.
“If I had known earlier, I would have arrived much sooner,” I mutter irritably.
Mr. Valenti shoots a glance at his son, the tension in the room palpable.
“Sit,” Mr. Valenti demands, and I feel my heart beating hard inside my chest as I settle down in one of the chairs while intently listening.
Blood rushes in my ears like a relentless force with the knowledge that I’m one step closer to proving my fucking worth in this world where no one believes in me.
For far too long, I became a pawn in their games, a woman they could do whatever they wanted with. I’ve always been a chess player who was moved around the board without any particular goal except to entertain the men around me or keep the eyes of the enemies locked on me, luring them into the depths of the darkness.
I’ve always known I had bigger dreams than becoming a toy for men who have no regard for others, and executing this heist will be the final nail in the coffin, sealing my fate and proving my worth.
Alec locks eyes with me, seemingly able to decipher my thoughts. His encouraging smile draws one from me in return.
The only other person who treated me the way a woman should be treated except for Alec, was him . His name is forbidden to speak aloud. Like a ball of firecrackers, he entered my world when we were mere children, crashing and colliding with my universe until there was nothing left but the two of us. He made me feel things no one ever had. His gaze on me whispered things that made the butterflies in my stomach stutter and fly around in a chaotic whirlwind, and though he was so young and innocent, I knew he was the darker half of my soul.
The one I never wanted to be separated from.
Thinking about all the misdeeds we committed at the orphanage makes an unknown smile twitch my lips. Such a foreign emotion, I’m barely even aware of what the sensation within me is.
I quickly conceal the smile when the reality comes washing over me, a dreaded whisper lingering inside my mind, haunting and threatening me. His words. Cold, calculated words that cut through me like the sharpest knife.
“We’re going to play a game, you and I.”
It fucking hurts to think about the past and all he did to break my heart when he left. I fucking hate him for it. I fight my hardest to concentrate on what Mr. Valenti is about to say, his gaze sweeping over both Alec and me.
“Things are worse than we predicted. It means a power game is at play, with us and the entire town as the chessboard about to meet a brutal death, like peasants taken to slaughter.”
My leg bounces up and down as he continues his speech, the truth hitting me in my stomach like the hardest punch, as if it’s stealing my very breath.
“We know the real intel we seek holds the power capable of disrupting the underground’s order. We need to get that information immediately—secure the car and obliterate everything inside, unless we all want to fucking face defeat.”
His eyes meet mine once more, a lethal force that tempts me to avert my gaze, yet I hold it, my determination never wavering. I nod, already understanding the importance of this heist.
We must secure the car before the Grimaldi family seizes it. Inside lies highly sensitive information, that if uncovered, could doom us all. It contains details about all the families’ criminal activities, connections, and alliances that the Valentis have gathered throughout the years, information that allows them to gain power and leverage within the criminal world. But now, the USB drive has been stolen and sold inside a car on the black market, offering the traitor a fortune. The Grimaldis, unaware of its contents, saw it as a valuable asset. Once they acquire it, they might decrypt its content, putting every organization at risk if the sensitive information were to be leaked.
The thief is a rat, pretending to be one of our associates, working his way up in the hierarchy of our world, well on his way to truly joining us as a so-called made man.
That motherfucker cunningly stole it under a gala event he wasn’t even supposed to attend, which is how we ended up in this situation to even begin with.
I’d like to think I haven’t always been a violent person, seeking the pain of others, watching the blood gush from broken noses or torn flesh wounds.
I wasn’t always like this. These emotions within me have become bottled up, only fueled by the betrayal of the Grimaldis. I want to spit on their graves and break their gravestones until the surrounding relatives crave the answers as to who would dare do such heinous acts. And if these relatives discover it was me, I’ll kill them too. I’ll spill the blood of the family that failed me when all I craved was their fucking love and care, when my soul withered away inside.
Too bad they aren’t in their graves.
Not yet, at least.
Retribution and revenge are close. I can practically feel the sweet taste on my tongue.
The look in Mr. Valenti’s eyes, hardened and unmoving—not even flickering or blinking—tells me that what he’s about to say next will change it all. Even his straightened posture screams determination, every muscle in his body molded into a stance of unyielding resolve. I wait with bated breath to hear his next words.
“I made my decision a long time ago. You will have a companion with you during this heist.”
His words have my mouth gaping open before I quickly close it, my nails pressing so hard into my palms that I feel the skin breaking underneath the forceful dig.
It’s as if my lungs refuse to draw in a breath of air when I look at him.
“Who?” I don’t mean to sound so fucking pathetic or breathy when asking about the person, yet his statement caught me completely off guard.
This wasn’t what we agreed upon. What. The. Fuck?
I cast a side glance at Alec, his expression as indifferent as his father’s, seeing if he knew anything about this. Surely, Mr. Valenti must mean that I’ll be working with Alec?
Settling down at the head of the table standing in the center of his office, Mr. Valenti runs a hand through his hair before his eyes meet mine once again. He notices me looking at Alec and shakes his head.
“No, not my son. You’re going to work with Viper on this one.”
He drops the bomb with no regard whatsoever to me, his eyes penetrating through my soul while giving me that cold, calculating look as he waits for his words to hit me like an explosion. My face drains of all color, leaving behind a ghostly pallor. It’s as if a cold breeze from outside has slithered inside, sweeping through the room and stealing the very warmth that keeps me alive. Another second passes while a white-hot, blaring rage runs through my veins, poisoning me.
“Viper?” The words involuntarily slip out before I have the chance to stop them from tumbling out.
Viper, the notorious masked biker who’s involved in the worst criminal underground family this country has. He’s well-known in our world, rivaling with the Valenti family—much like all other organizations in this city. Yet, the fact that the name Viper just slipped out from Mr. Valenti’s lips stuns me the fuck out, having seen his hatred for the cartel Viper has been involved in for years. Why in the world would they want to work with him?
He’s ruthless, uses cunning tactics, and has an unrelenting appetite for chaos in our world. As the rumors go, he’s the second-born son to the García cartel, but when a tragic accident happened way before I moved into the Valenti house, the second-born was forced to step up. He’s assumed to take over the García cartel once his old man steps down, but I have no idea how that shit will go. The man is a lone wolf through and through. Yet, much like the cartel’s reputation, his presence is known before one even crosses his path. Rarely seen in public, he exists as both a ghost and a tangible threat—someone who methodically devours his prey, opting for gradual consumption rather than a quick and painless disassembling. He is more lethal than a katana sword cutting straight through you.
At this point, I can almost feel the blood rushing through my body like a pot of water left on the stove for too long. Mr. Valenti stares at me with equal parts annoyance and satisfaction, with a twitch of his lips. I wouldn’t have noticed it had I not stared right at his face—disrespecting him further—but the shock is too evident in my expression.
Alec isn’t nearly as tense as I am; instead, his posture is relaxed and composed, as if he isn’t even bothered by this revelation. The fucker knew about this, and he told me nothing.
“What the fuck for?” I growl, unable to stop the reaction from coming out of my mouth once again.
Oh God, I’m in so much trouble.
Mr. Valenti’s steely gaze meets mine as an ice-cold feeling washes over me, like a bucket of cold water that’s been left out in the Arctic.
“There’s no room for disobedience here. Remember your place, girl , and who took you in when no one wanted you,” he spits out, saliva flying out of his mouth, only landing a few centimeters away from me.
Fucking disgusting.
His words are meant to hurt me, but all they do is further anger me, pouring gasoline on the rage waring within my body.
“Understood,” I grit through my teeth.
The prospect of having to work with a bastard fucking biker with no regard for anyone else is akin to dancing on the precipice of danger and unpredictability, especially since this was my fucking heist. Unfortunately, my fate is sealed by the words of a man I both despise and owe my allegiance to, making me hate him even more.
Annoyance ripples through me once again, stronger than before, as I stand to leave the room. I hear their voices calling out for me, but I refuse to back down and continue walking.
Fuck them both.