Chapter 5
LORETTA
Today was my first official day as Rafael Pérez’s personal assistant.
It was a position most people would have celebrated.
I dreaded it.
Not because of Rafael, though the thought of working directly under the most powerful man in the city was intimidating enough.
No.
I dreaded seeing Ramiro.
Ever since he had taken that hair sample from Zara, a knot of anxiety had lodged itself firmly in my chest. Every passing hour had only made it worse.
By now, the results could be back.
By now, he could know whether Zara was truly the missing child they had been searching for.
And if she was...
I couldn’t bring myself to finish the thought.
The possibility haunted me all night and followed me into the morning.
The elevator doors sighed open with that familiar hydraulic whisper, releasing us into the executive floor’s hushed atmosphere of polished marble and controlled power.
I tightened my grip on Zara’s small, fever-warm hand.
She walked quietly beside me, her fingers wrapped around mine with unusual firmness, as though she feared I might disappear if she let go.
She’s still running a fever, and there was no way I could leave her home alone.
Nor could I bring myself to trust a stranger to care for her.
Not after everything she’d been through.
Not after the fear that still lingered beneath her quiet moments.
Perhaps bringing a child to the headquarters of Rafael Pérez’s empire was absurd.
Perhaps it was unprofessional.
Perhaps it would earn me disapproving looks before I had even started my first official day.
I didn’t care.
Zara came first.
