Chapter 7 Make It Worth It

Valeria

A thousand questions filled my head as I left the meeting room. The air outside the chamber felt too cold, too sharp, as though it wanted to snap me out of the thought that swallowed me. But I didn't know if I wanted to climb out. Not yet. Not when everything seemed to have just... changed.

I attempted to control my breathing as I walked down the long, echoing hall. My own footsteps echoed softly on the polished flooring, while my thoughts echoed far more loudly-still with Dante's thunderous challenge across the table.

"How dare you!" Even now, the recollection returned in pieces. I recalled the fist slamming the table. How all the men in the room had gone still. His voice had cut the tension, and even the guards outside had visibly jumped. He hadn't said my name. He hadn't looked at me.

But there was something about them that told me the explosion had nothing to do with power or status. It was about me. And that scared me. More than the shouting. More than the auction. He'd defended me. Publicly. And not subtly.

Why?

I sped up, my brain wild. I could still hear the man's voice-the way he'd spat the words at me like venom:

"She's a slave. A toy. Bought out of pity."

And the worst part? Some part of me... believed it.

I was bought.

Not recruited. Not chosen.

Bought. As though I were a painting or a patch of land. A thing. So why was Dante backing me? What was it to his purpose that he had insulted one of his own men, cast the whole order in that room into confusion.

What's your game, Moretti? I wondered.

That night, I barely slept. I couldn't help but play with the possibilities in my head. What was I really doing here? Was I a pawn? A distraction? Or something far more dangerous?

The next morning, one thing was certain: I was going on the mission. There was a buzzy sort of movement in the estate - men in suits, murmuring voices in the hall, the passing of briefcases, weapons being checked, cars being prepared in the front courtyard. I was pulling on my black boots when the knock came. I opened the door to see a rigid looking Marcos on the other side. His jaw twitched when our gazes met.

"Boss wants everyone downstairs. Now," he muttered, and turned away, without giving me a chance to respond. I didn't say a word.

In the operations room the atmosphere felt heavy. Tighter. No smiles. No murmurs. Nothing but eyes - each and everyone of them on me.

Dante was at the front of the room with his sleeves rolled up, his tie undone an inch at the collar, exuding control. His eyes swept the room once. Then he spoke.

"We're going to the docks at 12 o'clock," he said. Drop location's changed. You get the coordinates in the car. There is one truck and two decoys."

He gestured toward two men across the room. "Milo, Enzo-you'll lead the diversion. Marco takes the rear route."

He glanced at another pair. "Gotta make sure that shipment is clean. I don't want to see a scratch."

Then... his gaze flicked to me. I did not flinch, though I could feel the heat crawling up my spine.

"You," he said. "You stay with me."

Everyone shifted slightly. I said nothing. Not even a nod. Dante picked up right where he had left off. "We move in two hours. Full black. No mistakes. No noise. We do this once, and we do it right."

He didn't ask us if we had any questions. He didn't wait to find out what anyone thought. He simply whirled and walked to the exit, his footsteps the only noise in the hush of the room. And then - just as he was passing me - he stopped. So close I could feel the heat from him. His voice faltered, with a tone only I could hear.

"Don't ruin things for me. Make it worth it."

I turned my head to face him, but he had already walked out. I just stood there frozen, but I wasn't stunned by what he said-I was stunned by what it meant. He'd just handed me a weapon. That wasn't just a warning. That wasn't a dismissal. That was a challenge - an opportunity - wrapped in a threat. It was a gesture that showed he'd risked something on my behalf. What it meant is that if I made it, I wouldn't only survive - I'd flourish.

He's betting on me.

And if Dante Moretti felt I could be of use ... so would the others. Even if I need to force that belief down their throats. This was my opportunity to keep going. To show they didn't possess me, didn't make me. To make them remember who the hell I was. But then - right on cue - a sharp snort cut into my thought.

I turned slowly.

There he was.

That very same man who had been at the meeting, who called me a slave. He was resting against the table with his arms crossed, grinning as if he had just heard a joke that only he got.

"Well, looke there," he said, the sarcasm in his voice almost audible. "You got a little pep talk from the boss and now you think you're one of us."

I kept my jaw tight. "I don't need to think it. I'll prove it."

He took a step in, his eyes narrowing. "No. You'll embarrass us. You'll get in the way. And I can tell you right now, if anything goes wrong this mission- anything!-I'll ensure the boss comes to learn it was all your doing."

My blood heated instantly. I moved toward him, so he could feel the heaviness of my look.

"And if you mess up," I asked calmly, "are you going to be just as loud about that?"

He snorted again, this time more loudly. "You have more guts than I can give you credit for. But guts don't keep you alive out there. And you sure as hell don't get respect out of that in this room."

"Nor is being an insecure man afraid of a woman taking space."

He blinked.

Several others squirmed a bit, but still - not one of them moved in, not one of them spoke. They simply watched. "I'll rat you off," he growled. "And when I do, there will be no one to help you out."

I crossed my arms and allowed a cold smile to curve my lips.

"If I'm unsuccessful, you won't have to undress me. But if I win ..." I lowered my voice to a cold whisper. "And what will that make you to look like?"

His nostrils flared. "You think you're so clever."

"No," I said. "I know I'm necessary."

"You're a risk," he growled. "And a distraction."

"I'm a woman who rose an empire while you were hiding behind someone else orders maybe. So spare me the tough act."

He moved toward me again, now too close. His eyes were fierce, his lips curling into a snarl.

"I will make sure you will be the one that falls," he said. "And when you do, you'll regret ever going in that room."

I began to answer, but he interrupted sharply, his voice escalating, "Because if this backfires on us, it'll-"

I raised a hand.

He stopped.

"I've always been a queen," I replied. "And you all know that." I glared around the room, defying any of them to challenge me.

"If we don't succeed, I'm not going to be the one to put you all here..."

I inhaled as I locked eyes with his angry ones.

"But you dragging me down."