Head Hunter's jaw clenched as he wrestled with his wounded pride and his survival instincts. The silence stretched for several long seconds before he finally spoke."Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "Take the bitch and get out of my sight.""Cut her restraints," Karvel ordered without turning around.One of the guards looked to Head Hunter for confirmation. When the boss nodded reluctantly, the guard cut Mariya's zip-ties with a tactical knife.Mariya rubbed her wrists where the plastic had cut into her skin, still processing what had just happened. "Karvel, I—""We're leaving," Karvel said curtly, finally turning to face her. "Now."As they walked toward the exit, Mariya couldn't contain her gratitude any longer. "Karvel, thank you. I can't believe you came for me. After everything I said, after how I treated you—"Karvel stopped walking and turned on her with an expression that made her step back instinctively."Are you completely out of your mind?" he said, his voice low and d

Back at the Ronin headquarters, Head Hunter paced behind his desk like a caged animal, his face flushed with anger and wounded pride.The humiliation of being dictated to by Karvel Cross in front of his own men burned in his chest like acid."Who the fuck does he think he is?" Head Hunter muttered, slamming his fist on the desk. "Coming into my territory, making demands, threatening to cut off payments if I don't dance to his tune?"Tony, one of his lieutenants, watched nervously from the corner. "Boss, maybe we should just—""Shut up!" Head Hunter snapped. "I don't want to hear about playing it safe or keeping the peace. That bastard made me look weak in front of my crew!""But the money—""The money isn't worth being treated like some kind of errand boy. There has to be another way to get what we want without letting him think he owns me."At that moment, Sebastian Sterling knocked on the office door and entered, his expression carefully neutral."Boss, I heard there was some kind o

The weight of Karvel's revelation settled over Mariya like a suffocating blanket. She stared at him across the coffee shop table, her face pale with the horrifying realization of how precarious her situation truly was."So Head Hunter never planned on letting me go free?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper."Never," Karvel replied matter-of-factly. "These weekly payments are the only thing keeping you alive. The moment you stop being profitable to him, you become a liability that needs to be eliminated."The thought made Mariya's stomach churn violently. She pressed her hand to her mouth, fighting back nausea. "What kind of heartless monster is he? How can someone be so calculating about another person's life?""He's a criminal, Mariya. Sentiment and mercy are luxuries he can't afford in his line of work.""This is all my fault," she said, her voice breaking. "If I hadn't gotten involved with Leo Romano's debts, if I hadn't been so stupid—""What's done is done," Karvel inter

Head Hunter stared at his phone in disbelief, his hands trembling slightly as the implications of what had happened began to sink in. Six of his best operatives were in military custody, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it."This doesn't make any sense," he muttered to Tony, who stood nervously in the corner of his office. "If it had been the cops, we could have gotten them out. We've got half the police department on our payroll.""But the military is different, boss," Tony replied carefully. "We don't have any connections there.""That's exactly what scares me!" Head Hunter exploded, slamming his fist on the desk. "How the hell did Karvel Cross know we were coming? And more importantly, how does he have military connections?""You think he tipped them off?""I don't think anything anymore. First he's just some nobody with fighting skills, then he turns out to be massively wealthy, and now he's got the fucking military protecting his interests?"Head Hunter began pa

The stunned silence following Victoria's dramatic drink-throwing lasted only a moment before whispers began rippling through the crowd.Most of the gala's attendees had no idea who Karvel Cross truly was - they only saw him as Vivian Fairchild's attractive companion, perhaps a struggling artist or aspiring businessman she had taken pity on."Well, he must have done something to provoke her," an elderly woman in diamonds whispered to her companion."Absolutely," her friend agreed, eyeing Karvel with disapproval. "A woman doesn't just throw a drink at someone for no reason.""Poor thing probably had a very good cause," another guest chimed in. "She seems like such a well-meaning woman.""I mean, look at him," a man in an expensive suit said to his wife. "He's clearly just Vivian Fairchild's arm candy. Probably got caught flirting with that other woman or something equally distasteful."The murmurs of judgment continued to build, with more and more guests taking Victoria's side based on