It had been exactly ninety-three days since the car crash killed her parents.

Ninety-three days since, the Antonio household has turned from a lively and happy ground and late-night laughter to total silence and court documents.

The crash was ruled an accident. Brake failure, they said. But Mirabella hadn't believed it. Not then. Not now. 

Before their parents died, she noticed they were no longer the free and lively parents they used to be. They were always having midnight talks in very low voices, like they were hiding something. She noticed her parents, her dad, mostly being absent-minded most times, but her mom was always there to help him, encouraging him, not knowing she wasn't any better. 

She asked on some occasions what the problem was, but they only told her not to worry, it was a company problem, nothing they couldn't handle. Even her brother was hiding something, so he probably knew what their parents were hiding.

Something didn't add up. Her father was very particular about safety. Her mother never rode in silence, yet the GPS log record showed no phone calls, no music, no activity at all. Just a straight path into a ditch off the freeway that made no sense.

She'd asked David if he thought it was more than an accident. He told her to let it go.

So she did. Outwardly.

But inwardly, Mira was drowning in it. She was still very young, but she had strong guts.

She sat in the back of the school bus as it drove through the polished streets of their suburban neighborhood, a place that still holds too much laughter, like it hadn't noticed her crumbling world already.

She didn't talk to anyone anymore. She rarely has friends either. The only person she had as a close friend was Daniel. They had grown up together as neighbors and were fond of each other. The whispers at school had died down surprisingly, but the stares remained. Everyone called her "that girl." The one with dead parents and crumbled home. The one who didn't cry.

She sighed.

But what they didn't understand was simple.

She had cried secretly but not much because the grief hadn't made it through the shock yet. It still hovered over her like fog, too thick to breathe, too distant to collapse into.

"You are good?" Dan asked, shoving his face in front of her. He'd noticed she was drifting in thought.

Startled, she turned her head towards him, but gave him a slight nod.

When they aligned from the bus, she waved goodbye to Daniel and made her way towards their mansion. Today, the air felt thick and wrong.

Just outside their back gate, two flashy black cars were parked and a man in a black suit and dark shades was standing by one of the cars with both his hands behind his back.

She was more bothered because their gate was open. 

That wasn't too strange though- David had grown careless lately, always coming and going at odd hours. But something in her stomach tightened as she walked up the path. Her bag was heavy on her shoulder, and her shoes made soft sounds on the stone.

The front door was ajar.

She pushed it open slowly and peeked inside a little.

She heard voices first, then pushed the door open and stepped in.

Dark laughter echoed from the back hallway, towards her father's study room. It was male voices, not just one or two, multiple.

Mirabella froze.

There were strangers in their house.

She pressed her back to the wall, breathing through her nose. Her legs started trembling with fear. Her body sensed what her brain refused to say out loud.

There was danger.

And then she heard it.

A sharp, deep, commanding voice. 

"Where is your sister?"

She crept forward silently and slowly, shoes off now, socks against cold tile.

"I have no sister, it's just me in the house."

Her breath caught. That was David's voice.

"Don't insult me. Your parents had two children, and they left both of you."

"She doesn't matter please, it's just me."

She heard her brother pleading. She had never seen her brother this way before. He was always acting like a tough guy, always protecting her but not pleading for her.

This scares her to think of the kind of person they have encountered this time to make David, her brother, plead for them to leave her and that she didn't matter.

Her blood froze from fear.

***

Hunter sat on the chair behind the long polished wooden table in the Antonios study like he owned it. Because he did.

Two brown couches joined together were at the far left end of the room beside the windows, which allowed in bright light. The rug was some European blend. The walls had many portraits of a family that pretended they were kings.

He hated these types of people. Rich, stupid and very loud until they owed the wrong people money.

"I don't look like a fool, David," Hunter said, glancing over his shoulder.

The boy looked tired, hollow cheeks, sleepless eyes, a thin scar just beneath his jaw, maybe from a punch landed on him minutes ago.

"She's only seventeen and concluding her final year in high school," David muttered with a pleading eyes.

"So she does exist."

"She's got nothing to do with this."

Hunter turned around slowly, the edge of his smile pure ice. "Let me make something very clear to you. Debt does not vanish with funerals. Your father borrowed nearly seven hundred million from me. He gambled with it or whatever. Lost it. They had the audacity to die before paying me back. We had an agreement that if the money was not paid on time he'd have to pay with something more valuable.  And he had agreed and even signed the papers, so you see, your father offered your sister on a platter to me."

"My father would never do such a thing to his children, talk more, his only daughter. He adores her so much," David said, with so much doubt and disbelief in his eyes.

"But he did. He was so desperate to get the money that he didn't even go through the documents he signed. So whose fault was that?" Hunter smirked. "So you see, I don't give a fuck what you think or believe. If she exists and breathes under this roof, then she's mine to collect."

Mira stepped back like the words slapped her.

She pressed her hand over her mouth, trying to silence the scream that wanted to come out.

Mine to collect? Their parents were owing someone? These are not people from the bank. So who would borrow such huge amounts to someone if not the bank?

She didn't recognize the man's voice, but every syllable carved itself into her bones. It was loud and dangerous. Like the kind of man who didn't need to yell to have people die for him.

Mafia?

Everything was now making sense at once. The black cars lined up on the long street outside their gate last week, just like now, the strange man who stared at her father's picture too long at her parents' wake, the weird long and sometimes short phone calls David made every night and thought she didn't hear and now this? Trying to take someone as payment for a loan?

This was more than debt. It was a deal her father wouldn't have thought he wouldn't meet up with. And her name had been offered as payment?

She stepped back too fast and her hand bumped the flower pot beside the doorway.

The voices in the study paused.

"Someone else is here, Devil," one of the men said.

She ran or tried to, but it was too late. 

She only made it as far as the hallway before a sharp voice called, "Stop."

She turned slowly, chest heaving, eyes burning. By now, three of his men were already surrounding her.

Hunter saw her clearly for the first time.

Mirabella Antonio. He had his eyes on her the very first day her dad came to him to help to save his drowning company. He made his findings and found out the man had two children. He picked up interest in her immediately.

She looked like a ghost out of someone's story. Long black curls, young light brown eyes wide with fury and fear, skin like porcelain and sunshine. She was very pretty and innocent, but more than that. Very pretty and fierce.

Not afraid enough, though.

She stared at him down like she didn't care who he was.

"I want you out of my house," she said.

Hunter smiled.

"Your house?" he repeated. "You mean the one your father built on borrowed blood?"

David stepped into the hallway behind him, face pale from fear and hand clutching his stomach. "Mira, run away from here."

"No," she snapped.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "That's the first smart thing she's said."

She turned that sharp gaze on him. "I don't know who you are, but you don't come here and threaten me and my brother in our own home."

"Oh, my sweetheart." He stepped forward. "I'm not threatening you at all. I'm here for you. Just you."

***

Mira's Pov 

There was something dead behind his eyes. I had never seen such piercing blue eyes before, his jaw tense with cold eyes.

He didn't move like normal people. He was too still. Too calculating. Too composed and confident. His face was clean-shaven, his suit tailored, handsome with very blue eyes, but everything about him screamed violence and danger.

And David wasn't fighting or opposing him. That terrified me more than anything else.

"Hunter Groves," he said, as if it was a title. "Your family borrowed money from me. Now you, little one, inherit their mess."

"You can't be here for me because I didn't borrow a damn thing," I said.

"No," he replied, calm as ever. "But you were bought anyway. This is a document your father signed, willing you to me," he said, raising a transparent envelope up in one hand.

***

He came closer and bent his head, his face now facing her directly. He raised his left hand to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. After that, his hand rested on the top of her head. He whispered to her ear, "I will come back for you, my little one, grow up nicely for me." He said and gave her a little ruffle before he stepped back.

She adjusted her hair and gave him a fierce look dead in the eyes.

He expected tears. Screaming. Trembling feet.

But what he got was something much more dangerous. Hatred.

The way she looked at him, she wasn't frightened or begging to be left alone. It was venomous. Pure loathing.

Good.

It would make it easier to crush her later.

Still, she was valuable. Not just as a bargaining chip. Her last name didn't hold influence, not anymore. But her face would sell loyalty if used correctly. Her fire could be bent. And her body? He knows just how to use it. He knew she was still very young for him to have such thoughts towards her, but that's who he was. And she implanted those thoughts in his head. Ever since Tobias, his right-hand man and second in command, handed him her pictures, he had thought of so many ways to claim her.

He wouldn't break her just yet.

But he would.

Eventually.

***

Hunter left that afternoon with a promise to return, but the house never felt hers again.

After the front door closed, she took the first aid box from the far end top cardboard and turned to David, shaking with fury.

"You told him I didn't exist."

David sat on the couch and rubbed his hands over his face. "I was trying to protect you."

"By handing yourself over like a burnt offering?"

"Mira, language. You don't understand the kind of men we're dealing with. Hunter is a ruthless man and can do just about anything at all and no one will question him."

"You're right. I don't. But I understand betrayal."

He looked at her, eyes burning red. "Mira, they would have killed us both."

"They still might," she hissed. "And now I wonder what they would make us do. And I wonder how you knew him so well."

He didn't argue. Because it was true.

She finished treating the little cut on his face and locked herself up in her room.

Later that night, Mira lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, fists clenched beneath her pillow. She hadn't removed her school uniform yet, and it's now wrinkled from earlier. Her school bag was on the floor close to her bed, her books lay scattered on her desk.

She didn't cry.

Not now. Not for David. Not even for herself.

What she felt wasn't grief anymore.

She was furious.

And beneath it was a cold resolve also.

She would not let that man take her or her brother, nor would she be someone's payment.

And if Hunter Groves, or whatever his name was thought, he could use her as a pawn...

She would become a deadly firestorm and burn him, or them both.

***

In the other part of town, Hunter was sitting in his penthouse office at the club as he watched the video feed from the camera his men installed earlier.

Mirabella sat alone on her bed, unmoving, deep in thought and eyes wide open.

"Pretty little thing," he muttered. "You'll kneel eventually."

Tobias stepped into the room. "Orders?"

"Leave her be for now. Let her think she has room to breathe and later, I would go into her space and suffocate her."

"And David?"

"Send him tomorrow. Let him see what blood tastes like."

Hunter leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on the screen.

"She'll hate me," he said softly.

And he smiled.

"She should."

The days after Hunter Groves left their house bled into each other like open wounds dark, swollen, and impossible to ignore.

But everything became strangely quiet and calm. Too quiet.

There were no strange men in their driveway. No black vehicles idling outside the gate. No warnings or letters or threats. It was as if the storm came and then simply vanished, leaving no sound in its wake.

Mirabella didn't trust the quietness or calmness.

She moved through the house like a stranger, tiptoeing through the shadows of what used to be home. David was different, too. Quieter and more absent recently. He stayed out late and left earlier, sometimes he doesn't come back home at night even. When she asked where he went, he offered plane replies; work, meetings, errands.

She knew he was hiding something from her.

He had done something.

She cornered him on the third Sunday after their uninvited visitor came around.

David sat at the marble counter in the kitchen, flipping through an old photo album with a mug of coffee in hand. His eyes looked distant, like he was in deep thought. Mira stepped in, opened the fridge, took out a smoothie and closed the fridge a little harder than necessary.

He looked up. "Morning."

"It's 3PM."

He smiled tiredly. "Right. Afternoon, then."

"What is going on with you? I want answers."

"Mira..."

"No." She crossed her arms, jaw set. "I'm not a child anymore .You can't keep pretending this house isn't filled with untold stories and secrets."

David sighed, closed the album, and pointed to the chair beside him. "Sit."

She did because she needed to know everything.

"I paid the debt," he said softly, his eyes not meeting hers.

Her heart skipped a beat 

"You... what?"

"I handled it. It's done. No one's coming back to the house to take you for any debt."

The words sounded like a thunderstorm in her ear. "How? David, what did you do? How can you possibly pay more than seven hundred million in such a short time?"

He looked away with regret in eyes and voice. "Don't worry about it."

"Wait-" She leaned forward, eyes burning and voice low. "You went behind my back. After that insane man walked into this house and threatened us, you went to see him."

"I went to him and made a deal."

"I don't get you David, you made yourself a deal with that devil?"

He looks very worn out now, maybe because she was bugging him with so many questions he doesn't want to answer or he was simply tired and irritated with everything. "I made a choice," he snapped. "You're just seventeen. What do you think he'd do to you if he takes you away, Mira? Let you go to college? Let you live? You have no idea what Hunter Groves does to those who cross his path." 

She flinched.

His voice softened again. "Mira, we are talking about Hunter Groves here, the most dangerous and feared Mafia lord who rules town. Haven't you heard of their deeds? I made sure he had no reason to look at you again."

She stared at him for a long moment, breathing hard, heart burning with rage and confusion.

"But you traded yourself David, that's not what I want," she whispered.

David didn't confirm it. He didn't have to.

His silence was enough.

Mirabella was speechless. 

It was already the worst that he sacrificed himself.

And what's worser was that he hadn't told her. He hadn't given her a choice, hadn't trusted her with the weight of everything going on. He was carrying everything alone, trying to fix everything alone because he considers her a kid.

She wanted to pull his ears and she wanted to scream, but her throat burned with all the things she couldn't say. Rage. Love. Resentment.

She wanted to hate him, but she couldn't. He was her brother and her only family left and everything he was doing now was to protect her.

So she hated the man who forced him into that deal.

Hunter Groves.

That name alone made her stomach coil and her lungs twist.

"I've got a job now," David said after a long silence, drawing her out of her thoughts. "Not glamorous, but it keeps them satisfied."

"They? So you work for them now?" She asked with wide surprised eyes.

He paused. "Don't ask."

She blinked hard. "So what now? You live like this? With a leash around your neck?"

"It's not forever Bella. Just long enough to keep you safe," his eyes were now teary.

She was on the verge of tears too because her brother was always thinking about her safety even though he was equally not safe.

Mira clenched her fists on her lap. "I never asked you to protect me like that."

David reached over and touched her hand gently. "You didn't have to. You are my little sister and my only family left Mirabella, it is only right for me to always protect you." 

"But we should protect each other David, what if something happens to you then I will have no one left in this world," she said sobbing lightly.

"Nothing will happen to me, silly girl. I will always be here," he said, ruffling her hair.

They sat in silence for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"I forgot to tell you," he added, "Hilda's almost done with college. She'll be back after this semester."

Mira tilted her head. "Oh, I know you. You are always speaking to her."

"Every day." His face softened into a light smile, the first real light she'd seen in him in weeks. "She's graduating early. Might move in once she's back."

"Back here?"

David shrugged. "Don't know yet. It depends on work. Depends on... everything."

Mira only nodded her head. Glad for the little smile she just saw on her brother's face after a very long time.

Because everything still felt like it could shatter at any second.

***

Three Months Later

Mirabella stood in Terminal B of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport with a single silver suitcase, a pink back pack and an admission letter clutched in her hand.

She'd been accepted into a university in New York. Full ride. Honors program. New track. A chance to start over in a place where no one whispered about dead parents or repayment of mafia debts.

David stood beside her, arms around her shoulder, he was protective even now.

"You'll call every week?" he asked.

"Every Sunday."

He nodded.

"If you need anything..."

"I won't."

"I mean it, Bella. If you need anything at all. Just say the word and I'll..."

"I won't need anything big bro," she said again, sharper this time. "You don't need to worry about me. Our parents left enough for my education and I will try hard to get a scholarship while in school.  So you don't need to do their dirty work because of me. Stay away from the Mafia and his gang, please." She said, her voice teary.

David swallowed hard. And gave her a small unsure head nod.

The loudspeaker called her flight.

She hugged him once, tight and fast then pulled away.

She turned to leave, but ran back to hug him again. She was going to miss her brother and she wasn't assured of his safety in this wild town. 

"I'm going to miss you so much. Do not ever miss my call," she gave him a very stern look.

He chuckled lightly and patted her head. "I wouldn't, for anything. I will miss you too.

She didn't cry in front of her brother. She'd done enough crying in private.

But by the time she walked onto the plane, she couldn't hold back her tears. She cried softly and quietly thinking about her brother who she was leaving behind. 

"I have heard my parents blaming you, God for many things, even though I don't know much about you. But please keep my brother safe and alive for me. Please," she cried uncontrollably, but silently.

***

Hunter Groves never forgot the people who owed him. He made sure to draw out every penny from them, even if it meant wasting their lives in the process.

He especially didn't forget those who tried to run away or disappear. Mirabella was his to claim, control and own, but she was going away from him.

He leaned back in the black leather chair of his downtown Atlanta penthouse, sipping a glass of aged bourbon while watching two screens. One showed security footage from one of his warehouses. The other showed a single still image of a young girl, carrying a pink backpack and a traveling bag beside her. She was standing with her brother and about to depart.

He'd had his men watch her every movement.

Mirabella Antonio.

She is gone, for now, but not far enough.

"She's going to New York," Tobias said, stepping into the room.

"Good."

Hunter didn't turn away from the screen.

"She doesn't suspect being watched, right?"

"No."

"She shouldn't," he said. "She was never the target, but now she is. She has become the target ever since I set eyes on her pictures."

Tobias raised a brow. "But you're still watching her."

Hunter took another slow sip of bourbon. "That girl is a loose end."

"She's young, Devil."

Hunter's eyes hardened. "She's a bloodline. Antonio's daughter. The face of the family that crossed me. She might not be in the game now, but one day, someone will try to use her. Her father got involved with several enemies, even Scorpion as well." Well, Scorpion happens to be his cousin. They are not too good with each other as they tend to have zero tolerance for each other, but they are not at war with each other. His cousin might want a claim on the girl he has eyes for. 

He stood and turned toward the city skyline. The glass wall in front of him reflected a monster tall, precise and cold.

"I'm not keeping tabs because I care," he added. "I'm keeping tabs, so I'll know if she ever becomes a problem."

"And if she does?"

Hunter smiled without warmth. Oh, he has other plans for her. Whether she becomes a problem or not, she wouldn't be a problem in his bed. Definitely would not.

"Then I'll remind her why her father's debt was never truly paid."

***

Later that night, Hunter walked the concrete floors of his newest operation; a weapons distribution center disguised as a steel fabrication business. It stank of oil and money. His cold aura could be felt from afar.

David Antonio stood in the center of the warehouse with other workers, knuckles bruised, his shirt clinging to his skin because of too much sweat. He'd been working for six hours straight - lifting, stacking, cleaning blood and dead bodies.

Hunter didn't speak at first. Just watched.

David noticed him, straightened up and greeted him, "Boss."

Hunter lit a cigarette, fingers smooth and calm. "How's the hand? Giving you problems?"

"The hand's fine."

"You learned to shut your mouth yet and do as you are told?"

David didn't reply.

Hunter stepped forward, flicked the cigarette ash at his feet. "You gave me your life to protect your sister. Very noble of you. Stupid, but noble."

David's jaw tightened.

"I'm keeping my end," Hunter said. "She's untouched for now. You sent her away, but don't think for a second that makes her safe. Her safety depends on your performance."

"I didn't take her away personally to keep her from you, she went because of school," David said, tone clipped. Afraid not to provoke him.

Hunter nodded once. "Good." He never went back on his words, but the one he made to David to let his sister go were all lies. Let his little fire go? The thought of her under him makes it impossible for him to let her be. But for now, he will. He will let her grow first, because a young teenager will never be able to take everything he has planned for her. His pants were now very tight around his groin area. He looked down and noticed he was already very hard and uncomfortable. Only thinking about her, she was already getting this much reaction from his dick. The thought of her already made him feel this way. What power does this girl have over him?

He leaned in closer, his voice low. "Because if she never steps back into my world... you'll be the first I kill, then I'll find her and consume her fire."

David's eyes went wide. "But you..."

"Oh, you should know you are dealing with the devil himself." His face was dark with something as he walked away.