Alyssa’s POV
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
Ethan’s voice was sharp, raw with frustration, his grip tight on my arm. I could see the storm in his eyes, the barely contained fury beneath the surface. He looked like he wanted to shake some sense into me, to rip apart whatever insane idea had taken root in my mind before it could become reality.
I wasn’t going to let him.
“I have a plan,” I said evenly.
“You always have a plan,” he shot back. “And half the time, it gets you nearly killed.”
“Not this time.”
His fingers flexed, then tightened. “You’re talking about walking straight into their hands, Alyssa. Do you even hear yourself? We barely got out last time, and now you want to surrender?”
I met his gaze, unwavering. “I want to win.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and unrelenting.
I knew what he saw when he looked at me-the same relentless, calculating woman he had fallen for, the one who never backed down from a fight. But this wasn’t just a fight. This was the endgame.
The mastermind had lost his stronghold, but he wasn’t gone. He was regrouping, gathering his forces, planning his next move. And I knew exactly what that move was going to be-coming for me.
So, I was going to let him.
Ethan exhaled, his jaw tight. “Tell me.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “He wants the Circle. He thinks I’m the last obstacle standing in his way. If I surrender, he’ll let his guard down. He’ll bring me in, thinking he’s already won. And that-” I let a slow, dangerous smile curve my lips, “-is when I rip him apart from the inside.”
A muscle ticked in Ethan’s jaw. “You’re playing with fire.”
“I am fire.”
His hand came up, cupping the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my cheek. There was something fierce in his eyes, something aching. “And what if you burn?”
I leaned in, my voice a whisper against his lips. “Then I take him with me.”
I walked into the lion’s den willingly.
The warehouse on the city’s outskirts was dimly lit, its vast space filled with nothing but shadows and danger. I could hear the hum of machinery in the distance, the faint echo of footsteps on concrete.
And then-
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, deliberate applause cut through the silence.
“Well, well,” the mastermind’s voice came from the darkness, smooth and mocking. “Alyssa Morgan, the Queen of the Circle, surrendering so easily? I have to admit, I expected more of a fight.”
I tilted my head, keeping my expression calm, unreadable. “Maybe I got tired of fighting.”
He stepped into the light, impeccably dressed as always, his salt-and-pepper hair still slicked back, his sharp blue eyes gleaming with victory.
“Liar.”
I smiled. “You always did see right through me.”
His lips curled. “That’s because I know your kind, Alyssa. The power-hungry. The desperate. The ones who think they can play this game without getting their hands dirty.” He took another step forward. “You think you’re smarter than me?”
I let my smile widen. “I know I am.”
Something flickered across his face, something dark and dangerous. “And yet here you are. Alone. Outnumbered.” He gestured to the men surrounding me-his most loyal enforcers, their guns all trained on me.
He thought I was helpless. That was his first mistake.
I took a slow step forward, letting my gaze drift across the men standing behind him. I could see it-the subtle tension, the way some of them exchanged quick, uncertain glances.
Doubt.
The cracks in his foundation.
He had lost his stronghold. He had failed to kill me. And now, he was clinging to control with bloody fingers. His men had started to wonder if they had bet on the wrong horse.
It was time to push them over the edge.
I let out a soft, amused laugh. “Do they know?”
The mastermind’s expression barely flickered. “Know what?”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice just enough to make the men strain to hear. “That you’re running out of money. That your power is slipping through your fingers. That you need me alive because I’m the only leverage you have left.” I let my gaze drift lazily across his men. “Or did you tell them you’re desperate?”
A shift. A hesitation.
He felt it too.
His smile faltered for the briefest second. “You think cheap mind games are going to work?”
I tilted my head, playing my next card. “I think they already are.”
His eyes darkened.
And just like that, I had planted the seed of doubt.
He led me deeper into the warehouse, past layers of security, past men whose gazes lingered just a second too long-uncertain, questioning.
I was breaking him apart from the inside.
And he knew it.
The moment we stepped into his office, he turned on me, his calm mask fracturing. “Whatever game you think you’re playing, it ends now.”
I arched a brow. “Does it?”
He grabbed my jaw, his grip tight, his eyes searching mine for weakness. “I could kill you right now.”
I let my lips curve. “But you won’t.”
His fingers tightened. “Give me one reason why.”
I leaned in, my voice a whisper against his skin. “Because if you do, you’ll never get what you really want.”
His breath hitched. A flicker of hesitation. And I knew-I had him.
He needed something from me.
He wanted the Circle, yes. But there was something more. Something he wasn’t saying.
I had just found my leverage.
Hours passed, and I played the role of a captive well-silent, calculating, waiting for my moment.
Then, just before midnight, I felt it.
The vibration in my pocket.
Subtle. Barely there.
I shifted, careful not to draw attention, and pulled the tiny communication device from my jacket sleeve.
A single message blinked across the screen.
Ethan: I found it. The vault. The Circle’s secrets. Everything.
My pulse spiked.
This was it. The real endgame.
The mastermind thought he was winning.