---- His face was still pale, but he stood tall, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's. There was no trace of his illness. "Sophia Williams," his voice was cold, almost metallic. "Leaving without a word is poor form." My mother looked at me, confused. "Control documents for three Latin American arms smuggling routes." Damien tossed a thick file onto the table. The butler immediately opened it. "Sign, and they belong to the Romano family. With one condition: be my 'girlfriend ' for a year. Join me in every extreme sport there is. After one year, whether I'm alive or dead, the agreement is permanent." I saw the flicker of hope in my mother's eyes. For the Romano family to rebuild its power overseas, it needed a foundation just like this, one soaked in blood. "Fine. I'll sign," I said without hesitation. ---- Arizona, deep in Red Rock Canyon. I was dangling helplessly from a hundred-meter cliff, cursing myself for getting on this pirate ship. "Hurry up. You signed the contract, now you have to live with it," Damien's voice came from above, laced with a nasty, teasing tone. '"The first payment has already been wired to your Romano family's Swiss account." "You really are a bastard!" I gritted my teeth. Then, crisis struck. While attempting a difficult move, Damien's arm suddenly spasmed. He grunted, his grip failed, and he fell. The safety rope snapped taut, leaving him dangling in mid-air like a puppet with its strings cut. "Damien!" He didn't answer. ---- Looked like he'd hit the rock face and been knocked out. Isteeled myself, adjusted my gear, and jumped down after him without a second thought. But just as I was about to reach him, I heard the roar of a helicopter overhead. A black medical chopper was hovering with precision right above us, fighting the canyon's turbulence. Cross family personnel rappelled down with professional rescue and medical gear. "You knew they were following us?!" I "accidentally" missed the mark as I jabbed him with a painkiller. "Sophia! Are you trying to kill me?!" Damien hissed in pain. Snap! The syringe "slipped" and broke in my hand, leaving half the needle stuck in his thigh muscle. I turned to climb into the rescue basket. But Damien's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, ---- yanking me back hard. Caught off guard, I fell into his arms, trapped with him in the narrow basket. My elbow accidentally bumped the hard ridge in his pants. Damien's pale face instantly flushed red. "Young Master!" the rescue medic cried, rushing over. "How are you feeling? Do you need an immediate examination?" Damien was sent to the city to recover, forced to rest due to his fall and exhaustion. Iwas "escorted" to a heavily fortified Cross family castle in Morocco. Asecret auction, gathering the giants of the global underworld, was about to be held there. And on the guest list, in bold letters, was the name Vincent Santoro.