Chapter 1 The Price of Freedom

Five years. One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days. Nora had counted every single one.

She stood in the courtyard of the Shadowveil compound, her small bag clutched in trembling hands, watching as the other women filed toward the iron gates. Their faces were hollow, haunted, but there was something else there too: hope. The fragile, desperate kind that came from believing the nightmare was finally over.

“Move along,” one of the guards barked, gesturing toward the gates with his rifle. “Van leaves in five minutes.”

Nora’s heart hammered against her ribs. Five years of selling their drugs, of being transported like cargo to different cities, of sleeping in cells that smelled like despair. Five years of losing herself piece by piece. But it was ending. The Mafia King had kept his word. They were being released.

She took a step forward.

“Not you.”

The voice cut through the morning air like a blade. Cold. Absolute.

Nora froze. Slowly, she turned to see two guards moving toward her, their expressions unreadable behind dark sunglasses.

“What?” The word barely made it past her lips.

“Step back,” the taller guard said, his hand moving to the weapon at his hip.

“No.” Nora’s voice grew stronger, louder. “No, I’ve done my time. Five years. You said five years and we’d be free!”

The other women had stopped walking. They stood near the gates, looking back at her with fear and pity in their eyes. One of them, a young girl named Maria who Nora had tried to protect during the worst days, opened her mouth as if to speak.

“Keep moving,” a guard snapped at them. “This doesn’t concern you.”

Maria’s eyes filled with tears, but she turned away. They all did. Within moments, the van’s engine roared to life, and Nora watched as her last hope disappeared through those iron gates.

“No, no, no.” She lurched forward, but the guards grabbed her arms, holding her in place.

“Let me go!” Nora thrashed against their grip, her bag falling to the ground. “I did everything you asked! I did everything!”

“Enough.”

The single word froze everyone in place.

He emerged from the shadows of the main house like something conjured from a nightmare. The Mafia King. Tall, dressed entirely in black: black suit, black gloves, black mask that covered everything but his eyes and mouth. The mask was ornate, almost theatrical, with silver filigree that caught the morning light.

Nora had seen him dozens of times over the years, but never up close. The workers whispered about him in hushed tones, about the things he’d done, the people who’d crossed him and simply vanished.

He moved with the confidence of a man who owned everything he looked at, including her.

“Miss Carter.” His voice was smooth, educated, with just a hint of something darker underneath. “I’m glad we have this opportunity to speak.”

“Speak?” Nora wrenched free from the guards and stepped toward him, her fear transmuting into rage. “You promised us freedom after five years. I kept my end of the bargain. I sold your poison. I kept my mouth shut. Now let me go.”

The Mafia King tilted his head, studying her like she was something mildly interesting under a microscope. “You have fire. I respect that. But you’re mistaken about something.”

“What?”

“The others were released because they served their purpose. You…” He took a step closer, and Nora forced herself not to retreat. “You’re far too valuable to let go.”

Her blood turned to ice. “No.”

“Yes.” He clasped his hands behind his back, almost casual. “You see, I have a new position available. A much more lucrative one than drug trafficking. You’ll be working here permanently, at Shadowveil territory.”

“Like hell I will!”

“You’ll be executing what we call ‘con jobs,’” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “High-value targets. Businessmen, politicians, people with money and secrets. You’ll get close to them, gain their trust, and extract what we need: information, money, access. You’ll be the face of the operation.”

Nora laughed, but it was a bitter, broken sound. “You’re insane. I’m not doing that.”

“The pay is excellent. Ten percent of every successful job.” He paused. “Some of our operations net seven figures.”

“I don’t care if they net ten million. I’m not your puppet.”

The Mafia King’s visible mouth curved into something that might have been a smile. “Such conviction. But let me clarify your situation, Miss Carter. Over the past five years, you’ve been directly involved in the distribution of over two million dollars’ worth of illegal narcotics. You’ve crossed state lines multiple times with controlled substances. You’ve…”

“You forced me!” Nora’s hands clenched into fists. “I was kidnapped! I had no choice!”

“And who do you think the authorities will believe?” His voice was soft now, almost gentle, which made it somehow worse. “A mafia organization with resources and connections spanning multiple states, or a missing woman who’s been presumed dead for five years?

The words hit like physical blows.

“You have two choices,” the Mafia King continued. “Work for me in this new capacity, or I make one phone call, and you’ll spend the rest of your life in a federal prison for drug trafficking. Is that what you want? To survive five years of hell only to rot in a cage?”

Nora’s vision blurred with tears she refused to let fall. “Why me?”

“Because you’re perfect for this work. Beautiful, intelligent, well-educated. You were a banker before we acquired you. You understand money, business, how wealthy people think. Most importantly…” He leaned in slightly. “You have nothing left to lose. That makes you dangerous in all the right ways.”

“I’ll never work for you willingly.”

“Then you’ll work for me unwillingly. Either way, you’ll work.” He straightened, adjusting his cuff. “But who knows? Perform well, prove your loyalty, and perhaps one day you really will earn your freedom. Stranger things have happened.”

“I’d rather die.”

“No.” His eyes, the only part of him she could really see, met hers with absolute certainty. “You wouldn’t. You’re a survivor, Miss Carter. That’s why you’re still here when so many others broke. Don’t throw that away on pride.”

Nora stood there, trembling with rage and despair, knowing he was right. Knowing she was trapped.

“Noah will be in touch with you,” the Mafia King said, already turning away. “He’ll be training you. I suggest you listen to him carefully. Your first job is in three days.”

“Wait. Who’s Noah?”

The Mafia King paused at the entrance to the house and looked back at her over his shoulder.

“My right-hand man. You’ll get to know him very well.”

Then he was gone, swallowed by the shadows of Shadowveil, leaving Nora standing alone in the courtyard with the morning sun beating down on her and the taste of ash in her mouth.

She had survived five years of hell.

She just hadn’t realized her real nightmare was only beginning.