CHAPTER 3 — THE ALLEY WHERE EVERYTHING ENDED
CHAPTER 3 — THE ALLEY WHERE EVERYTHING ENDED
The building was quiet when we arrived.
Too quiet.
Vincent’s security detail was already there, spread through the hallway like shadows that knew their job too well.
My hands shook as I stepped out of the elevator.
“Noah is inside?” I whispered.
Vincent nodded once.
“He’s safe.”
I almost collapsed from relief.
Then I heard it.
A voice.
Male.
Angry.
From inside my apartment.
“That kid knows where she is. I swear I’ll—”
Mark.
He had found it.
Of course he had.
My body moved before I could think.
But Vincent stopped me with a single hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t go in,” he said.
“That’s my nephew—”
“And I said he’s safe.”
His voice lowered.
“Trust me.”
Something about it broke through my panic.
The door opened.
Not kicked.
Not forced.
Opened.
Vincent stepped inside first.
I followed anyway.
The apartment was small. Cheap furniture. A dim lamp flickering in the corner.
And there he was.
Mark Keller.
Standing over Noah’s small backpack like he owned the air in the room.
He turned.
And smiled when he saw me.
“Well,” he said. “Look who finally—”
He stopped.
Because Vincent stepped into view.
Mark’s expression shifted instantly.
He knew.
Not from TV.
Not from rumors.
From instinct.
“You’re DeLuca,” Mark said carefully.
Vincent didn’t respond.
He looked past him.
At Noah.
At the child sitting silently on the couch, clutching a blanket.
Then back to Mark.
“You touched her,” Vincent said.
Mark scoffed. “She owes me money. This is—”
Vincent moved.
It wasn’t fast like movies.
It was controlled.
One step forward.
Then another.
Mark backed up instinctively.
“You don’t want to do this,” Mark said.
Vincent tilted his head slightly.
“I already have.”
The next moments weren’t loud.
They weren’t dramatic.
They were efficient.
One of Vincent’s men appeared behind Mark.
The sound of restraint clicking into place filled the room.
Mark struggled once.
Only once.
Then stopped.
Vincent walked past him and crouched in front of Noah.
“Hey,” he said gently.
Noah didn’t speak.
But for the first time, he didn’t flinch either.
Vincent looked up at me.
“He’s not the only one you’re protecting anymore,” he said.
Something in my chest cracked open.
I didn’t realize I was crying until I couldn’t breathe properly.
“What happens now?” I whispered.
Vincent stood.
And glanced at Mark being dragged toward the door.
“Now,” he said calmly, “he learns what happens when you touch what belongs to me.”
I froze.
“What I belong to?” I repeated quietly.
Vincent met my eyes.
A long silence passed between us.
Then, finally—
“No,” he said.
His voice lowered.
“You belong to no one.”
A pause.
May you like
Then the truth that changed everything:
“But you’re under my protection now.”
