Her breath hitched.Her hand went instinctively to her pocket.
“That’s none of your fucking business.”
“It became my business the second Havelock decided to hide the facilitation of human fucking trafficking behind corporate logistics,” he said flatly.“We saw it on your office cameras.You didn’t just stumble onto dirty books—you stumbled into something that gets people disappeared.”
Human trafficking?Her stomach turned.Jesus, what the hell?Her pulse roared in her ears.“You don’t know that.”
He leaned in just enough that she could smell leather and a hint of wood smoke.“I know he hit you.I know he locked the door because the fucker had more plans for you.And I know men were waiting downstairs before you ever left that building.”
She swallowed.Hard.
“I’m better off alone,” she shot back, even as doubt crept in.“I don’t need help.”
He snorted softly.“That’s bullshit.”
Her chin lifted.“Excuse me?”
“A lone woman with evidence always gets taken,” he said, voice roughening.“You never watched a fucking movie?You don’t have backup.You don’t have protection.And right now, you’re bleeding and shaking and standing in the open like a goddamn invitation.”
Silence stretched between them.
She thought of the hands.The stairwell.The way they’d closed in like they already owned her.
“You here to take it from me?”she asked.“The drive?”
“No,” he said immediately.“I’m here to make sure you don’t end up just another statistic because of it.”
“Why?”
“Because someone decided you were expendable,” he replied.“And we don’t like that.”
Her laugh came out thin.“We?”
He glanced over her shoulder, where the shadows shifted—men moving, watching, waiting.“Me and the people who pulled you out of that mess.”
Another beat.
She exhaled slowly.“If I go with you ...I’m not handing anything over.Not yet.”
“That’s fine,” he said.“I didn’t ask for it.”
She studied his face, searching for the lie.Found none.
“Mara,” she said finally.“My name is Mara.”
His gaze held hers.“Good girl.”
He stepped back and angled his body, opening a path beside him.“Come on.Let’s get you somewhere safe before this turns into another bad fucking decision.”
After a moment, she stepped forward.
This time, into the dark by choice.
****
Luca Moretti didn’trelax until Mara was inside the vehicle and the door was shut.
Not slammed.Not rushed.Closed with deliberate calm, the kind that hopefully told her she wasn’t being shoved into anything she couldn’t walk away from—yet.
