The warehouse reeked of mold and lies.
Selene stood still, barely blinking, her eyes on the emptied crate. Her breath was calm, but inside her chest, a war was breaking loose. She didn't just see a missing shipment—she saw a declaration.
This wasn't theft.
It was a message.
"They wanted you to find it like this," Darius said, watching her too closely.
"I know," she muttered. "Which means they think I'm stupid."
She turned sharply, addressing her men with a voice that left no room for weakness. "Who was on delivery detail tonight?"
Silence.
Then Devin stepped forward, his jaw tight.
"I was, Boss."
Selene studied him. Tall, loyal, quiet—at least until now. She hated doubting her own, but this wasn't a game of favorites. Not anymore.
"Walk me through it," she ordered.
Devin cleared his throat. "We followed protocol. Same route. Same decoys. But right before hitting the drop spot, one of the tires blew. We stopped to change it, and when we got back in… the lead truck was gone."
Selene's voice dropped. "Gone?"
"No sound, no warning. Like it vanished."
Darius stepped up beside her, eyes narrowed. "That's military precision. Someone clocked your pattern weeks ago."
Selene didn't flinch. But her jaw clenched.
"How long have you known they were watching you?" she asked, turning to Darius.
He hesitated. "Too long."
"And yet you walked into my life like it didn't matter."
He didn't answer. His silence cut deeper than an admission.
She looked back at Devin. "Anything odd lately? Anyone new around the docks? Drivers acting strange?"
Devin nodded slowly. "There's been a guy. Big. Wears a scar over his eyebrow. Talks like he knows too much."
Selene's stomach twisted.
She'd seen him too—once at a drop, another time near the back hallway of her club. He hadn't said much. Just smiled like a man who'd already won.
"Find him," she said. "Don't wait. Drag him in."
"Yes, Boss."
As her men scattered, Selene turned toward the back of the warehouse, away from the noise, the betrayal, the shadows. She needed air. Space. Time to think.
But Darius followed.
"I told you this would happen," he said. "They're tightening the leash. They want to scare you first."
Selene turned around to face him, the fury breaking through her calm. "I've lived my entire life being underestimated, Darius. They think I'm scared because a crate went missing?"
"No," he said softly. "They think you're scared because I'm here."
His voice didn't hold ego. It held something else—regret.
Selene stepped closer. "So, what? You show up at my club, you lie about who you are, you wrap yourself in my world… and now you want to act like the victim?"
His eyes didn't leave hers. "I came to hide. I stayed because of you."
The words didn't calm her.
They made her burn hotter.
Her hand grabbed his shirt and held it close to his chest.
She said, "This is not a safe house," "This is my empire . You walked into it with secrets. Don't act like you deserve to stay."
He leaned in. His breath brushed her lips. "Then tell me to go."
The heat between them snapped like an electric wire.
She didn't answer. Couldn't.
Not when her body betrayed her first.
Her mouth found his with fire. It wasn't sweet. It was punishment. Frustration. Need tangled in the kind of anger only people with too much past could share.
His hands grabbed her waist, pulling her tight, like he'd been waiting for permission to lose control.
Their kiss wasn't quiet. It echoed between the walls, breathless and desperate.
He rolled her against the stacked crates, his lips trailed down her neck. She gasped, her nails digging into his shoulders and pulled him closer.
"Do you still want me gone?" He muttered against her skin.
She arched toward him. "Shut up."
Darius obeyed. But it wasn't gentle.
One hand tangled in her hair. The other pressed against her thigh, lifting it, pinning her against the crates with a hard promise. Her breath hitched. Her body lit up like fire under his touch.
Selene didn't beg, but she didn't have to.
He read her like a language he already knew.
She moaned into his mouth as his fingers found the edge of her silk skirt. The sound she made was enough to drive him deeper into the dark.
And for a moment, everything else vanished.
The warehouse.
The missing shipment.
The war crawling closer.
It was just them.
Skin against skin. Teeth against lips. No lies. Just raw heat and the ache of two broken people needing something real, even if it only lasted a minute.
When it was over, she was breathless, her back against the cold crate, her body still trembling.
Darius didn't step away.
He brushed a Strand of hair away from her cheek. "You're sure you still don't want me here?" Selen's chest jerked up and down. "I don't trust you."
He remarked, "I didn't ask for this," I asked if you still want me here."
She pushed him back gently. Straightened her skirt.
Then she walked away.
He followed.
Outside, Cam was waiting with a message.
"They found Scarface," he said, tossing Selene a burner phone. "You're not gonna like where."
She snatched the phone, eyeing the text.
VIP Lounge. Velvet Vice.
Her heart stopped for a second.
The bastard had gone back to her club.
"Son of a bitch," she said.
"He is baiting you," Darius said. "He wants to draw you out."
She nodded. "And I'm walking straight in."
Cam shook his head. "Boss—what if it's a setup?"
"It is," she said. "But I've danced worse."
Back at Velvet Vice, the music is still pulsed like a second heartbeat.
Selene stormed past the dancers and bottled girls, ignoring the scent of perfume and lust in the air. Her heel quickly clicked on the marble floor heading directly to the VIP lounge.
Two of her guards stood by the rope, tensed.
"He's inside," one said. "Alone."
Selene stepped in without hesitation.
The room was low hit, red and gold. Smoke swept through the air. In the center of the luxurious booth sat Scarface.
He smiled when he saw her.
"Boss Lady," he said. "Finally."
She didn't sit. She stood over him like a knife waiting to be unsheathed.
"You've got balls," she said. "Showing up here after robbing me blind."
He laughed. I am not here to steal from you. I came to remind you."
"Of what?"
"That even queens bleed."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You think threatening me in my own club is smart?"
Scarface leaned forward. "I'm not threatening you. I'm offering you a chance."
"To do what?"
"To sell out the one man who's going to get you killed."
Her body froze.
Scarface dropped a flash drive onto the table. "Everything you need to know about Darius Vex is on that drive. His past. His secrets. His orders."
Orders.
That word hit harder than she expected.
She responded, "You're lying," but her voice cracked.
Scarface smirked. "Are you sure about that?"
She didn't pick up the drive.
Not yet.
Instead, she turned and walked out of the lounge, her chest tightly, her hands were shaking.
Darius was waiting in her office.
She pushed open the door.
He looked up.
Saw her face.
And stilled.
"What happened?"
She didn't speak. Just walked past him, dropped the drive on the table.
"What is it?" He asked.
Selene looked at him dead in his eye.
"You tell me."