The Offer

Maya's POV

The coffee cup slipped from my fingers and crashed against the floor.

Hot liquid splashed everywhere. The sound made me jump like someone had fired another gun.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"Easy," Marcus said from across the room. His voice was gentle, like he was talking to a scared animal. "You're safe now."

Safe.

What a joke.

I had just shot two people. My mother was alive and worked for the FBI. My father had tried to sell me like a used car.

Nothing felt safe anymore.

"How did we get out of there?" I asked. My voice sounded strange and far away.

"Adrian had an escape plan," Luca said. He was cleaning blood off his hands with a white towel. "He always has an escape plan."

Adrian stood by the big windows, looking out at the city. He hadn't said a word since we got back to Dante's place. But I could feel him watching me in the reflection of the glass.

"The FBI will be looking for us now," Dante said. He was sitting behind his desk like nothing had happened. Like we hadn't almost died an hour ago.

"Let them look," I said. The words surprised me. Where had that come from?

Dante raised one eyebrow. "Interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"Most people would be begging us to let them go home after tonight."

Home.

I thought about my tiny apartment with the broken heater and unpaid bills. I thought about my job at the coffee shop where customers yelled at me for being too slow. I thought about my father, who had abandoned me twice now.

"I don't have a home," I said.

"Everyone has a home," Marcus said.

"Not anymore."

The room got quiet except for the sound of sirens somewhere far below us. Police cars racing to help people who probably couldn't be saved.

"Your mother seemed nice," Luca said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Don't." The word came out harder than I meant it to.

"Don't what?"

"Don't make jokes. Not about her."

Luca held up his hands. "Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood."

"There's nothing light about this," I snapped.

He was quiet after that.

Dante leaned back in his chair. "Tell me about your mother, Maya."

"I thought she was dead."

"But she's not."

"Obviously not." I bent down to pick up pieces of the broken coffee cup. My hands were still shaking so bad I could barely hold them.

"Leave it," Dante said.

"I made the mess."

"I said leave it."

Something in his voice made me stop. I looked up at him from the floor.

"Your father owes us your life," he said quietly.

There it was. The truth I had been waiting for.

"So kill me," I said. "Get it over with."

"We're not going to kill you."

"Why not? I'm just a debt to be paid, right?"

Dante was quiet for a long moment. Then he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out some papers.

"Actually," he said, "after tonight, maybe we can make a different arrangement."

He slid the papers across the desk toward me.

"What is this?"

"A contract."

I stood up slowly. My legs felt like they were made of water.

"What kind of contract?"

"Read it and find out."

I walked over to the desk on shaky legs. The papers looked official and important. Lots of small words I didn't understand.

But some words I did understand.

Like my name at the top.

And dollar amounts that made my head spin.

"I don't get it," I said.

"Keep reading."

I flipped through the pages. There were sections about payment schedules and performance requirements. About living arrangements and security measures.

It looked like a job contract.

A very weird job contract.

"You want to hire me?" I asked.

"In a way."

"To do what?"

Dante leaned forward. "What you did tonight."

"Kill people?"

"Survive."

I looked at the other three men. Marcus was watching me with something that might have been respect. Luca was still smiling, but it looked more real now. Adrian had turned away from the window and was staring at me with those cold, dark eyes.

"I don't understand," I said.

"You're not who we thought you were," Dante explained. "Most people would have hidden in that warehouse. Cried. Begged for help."

"So?"

"So you grabbed a gun and started shooting back."

"I was scared."

"Scared people run away. You ran toward the danger."

"That was stupid."

"That was brave."

I looked down at the contract again. Some of the words were starting to make sense now.

Personal protection services.

Confidential operations support.

High-risk situation management.

"You want me to be like a bodyguard?" I asked.

"We want you to be one of us," Marcus said.

"I'm not like you."

"Tonight says otherwise."

"Tonight was different. I was just trying not to die."

"And you were good at it," Luca added.

I flipped to the last page of the contract. The salary number at the bottom made my eyes go wide.

"This is more money than I'll make in ten years," I whispered.

"It's dangerous work," Dante said.

"More dangerous than getting shot at in a warehouse?"

"Much more dangerous."

I thought about that. About spending my life dodging bullets and watching people die. About becoming the kind of person who could kill someone and not feel sorry about it.

"What happens if I say no?" I asked.

"Nothing," Dante said. "You can walk out that door right now. We'll give you enough money to disappear. Start a new life somewhere safe."

"And if I say yes?"

"Then you belong to us. And we belong to you."

The way he said it made my stomach do a little flip.

"What does that mean?"

"It means we protect each other. No matter what."

"Even from my mother and the FBI?"

"Especially from them."

I looked around the room again. At these four dangerous men who had kidnapped me three days ago. Who had changed my entire life in ways I was still trying to understand.

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course. But Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Your mother will be looking for you. The FBI has resources we can't match. If you're going to run, you should do it tonight."

"And if I stay?"

"If you stay, there's no going back. Once you're part of this family, you're part of it forever."

Family.

The word hit me like a punch.

I had never really had a family. My father was weak and selfish. My mother had been lying to me my whole life.

But these men...

They had risked their lives to save me tonight. They had treated me like an equal when I picked up that gun. They were offering me more money and respect than I had ever dreamed of.

"There's something else," Dante said.

"What?"

He pulled another paper from his desk. This one looked different. Older.

"This is your mother's real FBI file."

My heart stopped.

"How did you get that?"

"We have people everywhere, Maya. Even in the FBI."

I took the file with trembling fingers. The first page had my mother's picture on it. But her name wasn't Sarah Chen.

It was Sarah Martinez.

"She's not my real mother," I whispered.

"Keep reading."

I flipped through pages of documents and reports. Photos of crime scenes. Surveillance records.

And then I found it.

A birth certificate.

My birth certificate.

But it had different names on it. A different father. A different mother.

"Vincent Chen isn't my father either," I said.

"No. He's not."

"Then who am I?"

Dante stood up and walked around the desk. He stopped right in front of me.

"You're Maya Volkov," he said quietly. "Adrian's little sister."

The file fell from my hands and scattered across the floor.

I turned to look at Adrian, who was still standing by the window.

He nodded once.

"Hello, sister," he said in that soft, deadly voice.

My legs gave out and I sat down hard in the chair.

"This is impossible."

"Your parents were killed when you were two," Dante explained. "The FBI put you in witness protection. Gave you new parents, a new name, a new life."

"Why?"

"Because someone wanted you dead. Someone who knew that Adrian Volkov's little sister would grow up to be very dangerous."

"Who?"

Dante smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile.

"The same person who ordered your real parents killed. The same person who's been hunting you for nineteen years."

"Who?" I asked again.

"Your grandfather."

I felt like I was going to be sick.

"My grandfather wants me dead?"

"Ivan Volkov is the most dangerous man in New York," Dante said. "He killed his own son and daughter-in-law because they tried to leave the family business. He's been looking for you ever since."

"But why? I was just a baby."

"Because according to Russian tradition, you inherit everything when you turn twenty-one."

"Everything?"

"His entire empire. Every business, every territory, every secret."

I looked at Adrian again. My brother. My actual brother.

"Is this true?"

He nodded.

"And you knew? This whole time, you knew who I was?"

"Not at first," he said. "Not until tonight when I saw you shoot. You move like family."

"Like family?"

"Like a Volkov."

My head was spinning. Nothing made sense anymore.

"So my real name is Maya Volkov. My brother is an assassin. My grandfather wants me dead. And I'm supposed to inherit a criminal empire."

"That's about right," Luca said.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. It was all so crazy that laughing was the only thing that made sense.

"And you want me to sign a contract to work for you?"

"We want you to sign a contract to work with us," Dante corrected.

"What's the difference?"

"Partners get equal shares of everything."

"Even if I'm only twenty-one and don't know anything about crime?"

"Especially then."

I picked up the contract again and read through it more carefully.

Equal partnership in all operations.

Full protection from all threats.

Complete loyalty from all members.

"You want me to what?" I asked, looking up at Dante in horror.

Because buried in all the legal language was one sentence that changed everything.

One requirement that made my blood run cold.

"Marry us?" I whispered