Lisa Hale was yanked forward so suddenly that her heart nearly stopped.

For one terrifying moment, she thought she’d been caught.

The fear she’d been suppressing all this time surged back with full force. Her body stiffened, and she instinctively opened her mouth to scream.

Then she heard a familiar voice.

"Lisa."

The steady voice came from directly above her.

Everything broke.

The panic, the fear, the desperate effort to stay composed. It all shattered in an instant.

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Cuz..."

The word came out cracked and weak.

The next second, she buried her face against Luca’s chest and grabbed onto him with both hands as though he might disappear if she let go.

Hot tears soaked into his shirt.

"Cuz..."

This time it came out as a sob.

Her shoulders shook violently.

For the last several minutes, she’d been running on pure adrenaline. She’d forced herself not to cry, not to freeze, not to think about what might happen if she got caught.

Now she didn’t have to.

Luca was here.

The moment that realization settled in, every ounce of fear she’d been carrying came pouring out.

Luca’s expression darkened.

Not outwardly.

Not visibly.

If anything, he looked calmer than before.

But the temperature in his eyes had dropped several degrees.

He could feel Lisa trembling against him.

The girl who had always been responsible and level-headed was shaking so badly she could barely stand.

Luca raised a hand and gently patted her shoulder.

"It’s alright."

His voice remained steady.

"Take a breath."

Lisa tried.

It took several attempts before she managed to calm herself enough to look up.

Her eyes were red and swollen.

Seeing her like that made something cold settle in Luca’s chest.

"Tell me what happened."

His tone remained gentle.

"Start from the beginning."

Lisa bit her lip.

"I..."

She glanced toward the tattooed man on the floor and instinctively moved closer to Luca.

"They tried to force me into one of the VIP rooms."

The words came out quietly.

"I got separated from my friends. One of them offered to help me find them."

Her voice trembled.

"But they lied."

Luca’s gaze shifted toward the tattooed man.

The thug suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Lisa continued.

"They kept trying to get me into the suite. When I realized something was wrong, I ran."

Luca nodded once.

"I understand."

Relief flashed through Lisa’s eyes.

Then panic returned almost immediately.

"No, Cuz, listen."

She grabbed his sleeve tightly.

"We need to leave."

Her face had gone pale again.

"Right now."

Luca looked at her.

Lisa shook her head frantically.

"You don’t understand who these people are."

She lowered her voice.

"They’re dangerous."

"They own this place."

"And the guy inside..."

Even thinking about him seemed to make her nervous.

Luca followed her gaze toward the corridor ahead.

Then he looked down at Marcus.

The tattooed thug had finally managed to drag himself back onto his feet.

He clutched his stomach and glared at Luca.

"Kid."

Marcus forced out a laugh.

"Do you have any idea whose room that is?"

Luca didn’t answer.

Marcus took that silence as uncertainty.

His confidence immediately returned.

"That’s what I thought."

He straightened slightly.

"You’ve got a smart cousin there. The smart thing to do is take your cousin or whatever and leave."

A sneer appeared on his face.

"You already kicked me once. Let’s pretend it didn’t happen."

Lisa’s grip on Luca’s sleeve tightened.

Marcus pointed toward the end of the corridor.

"Young Master Hawthorne is in that room."

The name was spoken with obvious confidence.

Like it should mean something.

Like it should scare people.

Unfortunately for him, Luca’s expression didn’t change.

Not even slightly.

Marcus frowned.

"You heard me, right?"

Nothing.

"That’s Damian Hawthorne."

Still nothing.

For the first time, uncertainty crept into Marcus’s eyes.

"Kid..."

His voice became less confident.

"You know who that is, don’t you?"

Luca finally spoke.

"Take me to him."

Marcus blinked.

"What?"

"Take me to him."

The calmness in Luca’s voice made Marcus uncomfortable.

"You want to see Young Master Hawthorne?"

"Yes."

Marcus stared.

For several seconds, he genuinely couldn’t tell whether Luca was brave or completely insane.

Then he laughed.

A loud, mocking laugh.

"You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that."

His grin widened.

"But people like you always regret it later."

Luca took a step forward.

The laughter stopped.

The pressure in the corridor shifted instantly.

Marcus suddenly felt his mouth go dry.

Something about the way Luca was looking at him made his instincts scream.

Still, he forced himself to maintain his arrogance.

"Listen carefully."

He jabbed a finger toward Luca.

"You don’t get explanations from people like us."

SLAP!

The sound echoed through the corridor.

Marcus staggered sideways.

His cheek exploded with pain.

He stared at Luca in disbelief.

Luca lowered his hand.

"Take me to him."

His voice remained calm.

Marcus froze.

For the first time, genuine fear appeared in his eyes.

This guy wasn’t bluffing.

He wasn’t showing off.

He wasn’t trying to save face in front of his cousin.

He genuinely didn’t care who Damian Hawthorne was.

And somehow that was far more frightening.

Marcus swallowed hard.

"I..."

His voice faltered.

"I’ll take you."

Luca nodded.

"Good."

Without another word, Marcus turned and began walking.

Lisa stayed close beside Luca.

Her fingers never left his sleeve.

Even after several minutes.

Even after the immediate danger had passed.

She simply couldn’t let go.

Every time she loosened her grip, she remembered being chased through the corridor.

Remembered hearing footsteps behind her.

Remembered the fear.

So she held on.

Luca noticed.

But he didn’t say anything.

As they continued down the VIP corridor, a frantic-looking Wesley hurried into Booth One.

Austin Silva immediately sat upright.

One look at Wesley’s face told him something was wrong.

"What happened?"

Wesley leaned down and whispered.

Three seconds later Austin was already standing.

"What?"

His eyes widened.

"Say that again."

Wesley repeated himself.

Austin stared.

"You’re kidding."

Across the booth, Dominic lowered his drink.

"What happened?"

Austin ran a hand through his hair.

"Luca just got into it with Damian Hawthorne’s people."

The entire booth went quiet.

Ayden adjusted his glasses.

"That’s not good."

"No," Austin said.

"It really isn’t."

Dominic stood up immediately.

A grin appeared on his face.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Austin looked at him.

Dominic shrugged.

"Let’s go."

One by one, the others rose from their seats.

Whatever was about to happen, nobody wanted to miss it.

Meanwhile, outside Damian Hawthorne’s suite, Lisa’s grip tightened again.

The moment she saw the familiar doors, her heartbeat spiked.

This was the room.

The room she’d escaped from.

Luca glanced down.

Her knuckles had turned white.

"Lisa."

She looked up.

"Don’t worry."

His voice was calm.

"I’m here."

The simple words somehow worked better than any long reassurance could.

Lisa took a shaky breath.

Then nodded.

The doors opened.

A cloud of cigar smoke drifted out.

Luca frowned.

Inside, expensive liquor covered the tables.

Music played softly in the background.

Several models sat around the room.

Most looked uncomfortable.

At the center of it all sat Damian Hawthorne.

One arm wrapped around a woman seated beside him.

The woman smiled whenever he looked her way.

The moment his attention shifted elsewhere, the smile disappeared.

Damian didn’t notice.

Or care.

"Where’s the college girl?"

He took a sip of whiskey.

"I’ve been waiting."

The casual way he said it made Lisa’s face pale again.

Marcus stopped moving.

Cold sweat ran down his neck.

"Young Master Hawthorne..."

Damian finally looked up.

"What?"

His gaze shifted toward the doorway.

Then toward Luca.

Then toward Lisa.

His expression darkened.

Before Marcus could explain—

BANG!

Luca’s kick landed squarely in his side.

Marcus flew into the wall and collapsed.

The room went silent.

Every conversation stopped.

Every head turned.

Luca stepped into the suite.

His movements were unhurried.

Controlled.

The atmosphere seemed to grow colder with each step.

Damian slowly sat up.

"Who the hell are you?"

Luca ignored the question.

His gaze swept across the room.

Then settled on Damian.

Sharp.

Cold.

Dangerous.

"You’re Damian Hawthorne?"

Damian frowned.

"Yeah."

Luca nodded once.

"Good."

A brief silence followed.

Then he took another step forward.

"That saves me time."

The room suddenly felt very, very quiet.