Chapter 106 Enemy's Trap
Anna's POV
Zack tilted his head, studying me a moment longer than felt comfortable, like he was trying to place my face against some memory he couldn't quite reach. "You look familiar though," he said. "Where have we met?"
I forced a smile onto my face, keeping my voice light, easy, even though my pulse was hammering underneath it. "Probably at one of your meetings. I think I attended one with one of your capos."
"Which one of my capos?" He asked, his eyes never leaving mine.
"I don't know," I said. "He wouldn't tell me his name. Said it was for my own good."
Zack narrowed his eyes, something sharp and calculating moving behind them, like he was turning my answer over, testing it for weak spots. "What's your name."
"Stella," I said, holding his gaze steady.
He studied me a second too long, long enough that I felt the silence stretch uncomfortably between us.
"Stella," he repeated slowly, like he was tasting the lie in it. "I have a gut feeling, you're playing games with me."
Before I could think of a response, the lights in the hall dimmed once, then twice, a signal rippling through the crowd.
People started settling into their seats, conversations dying down.
Zack's eyes lingered on me a moment longer before he stood. "Stay right there," he said. "We're not done talking."
He walked toward the front of the hall, and I watched him go, my heart hammering against my ribs, knowing I'd just put myself directly in his sights, exactly where I needed to be, and exactly where I couldn't afford a single mistake.
He stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat once, and the entire hall dropped into silence almost immediately, conversations dying mid-sentence, like the sound of his voice alone carried enough weight to command it.
"I'm sure you're all surprised to be meeting in a place like this," he said, his voice smooth, carrying easily across the room without him needing to raise it.
He let that hang a moment before continuing. "I didn't have time to find something more fitting for our culture, something more traditional. But this building is hard to penetrate. That's exactly why I chose it."
He paused again, scanning the room slowly, like he was making sure every single person was paying attention before he went on.
"It's no secret that I intend to make Parkview my main territory," he said. "My base."
The crowd erupted at that, voices rising fast, scattered cheers and applause cutting through the hall.
He let them have their moment, standing there with his hands loosely at his sides, watching the noise build before he lifted one hand slightly, and the room quieted again, faster this time, like they'd learned exactly how much patience he had for celebration.
"But that's not the real reason I called this meeting," he said.
The silence that followed felt different, heavier, like everyone in the room understood something serious was coming.
"I've heard there's been a fallout," Zack said, "between Xavier Carlos and Lucas. His right hand man. His own brother."
I swallowed hard, forcing my face to stay perfectly still, even as everything inside me tightened.
"That's good news, as far as I'm concerned," Zack continued. "I want Lucas found. But more than that, I'm far more interested in the young woman who almost killed him."
His eyes moved slowly through the crowd, deliberate, scanning face after face. "Xavier's wife. Anna, I believe her name is."
My heart slammed hard against my ribs. He was looking directly in my direction when he said it, and for one terrifying second I was certain he already knew exactly who I was.
He smiled then, slow and cold, a smile that didn't reach anywhere near his eyes. "Let's get to work."
Then, to my absolute horror, he pointed straight at me, his finger cutting through the space between us. "Come here."
I hesitated, just half a second, my whole body screaming at me to stay seated, to disappear into the crowd.
But I forced my legs to move, standing and walking up to join him at the front, every step feeling heavier than the last.
"Face them," he said, nodding toward the crowd.
I turned, forcing myself to look out at the sea of faces watching me, every muscle in my body pulled taut, ready to run if I had to.
"Does anyone here recognize her?" Zack asked, his voice carrying easily out over the silence, unhurried, like he had all the time in the world.
Nobody spoke. The silence stretched long enough that I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.
I was grateful, in that moment, for the makeup covering enough of my face to blur the details, and grateful too for the simple truth that none of them would ever imagine Xavier's wife would be reckless enough to walk into a meeting like this on her own, past security this tight, without a single guard at her side.
When no one answered, Zack nodded slowly, almost satisfied. "Exactly," he said. "That's what I thought."
He turned back toward the room, his tone shifting instantly into command. "Meeting's dismissed. Nobody leaves the building tonight, for security reasons. There are rooms all over this place. Make yourselves comfortable."
The crowd began rising from their seats, murmuring low among themselves as they filed out of the hall in scattered groups, the earlier energy of the meeting dissolving into something quieter, more uncertain.
I turned to Zack once most of them had cleared out. "Can I go?" I asked, keeping my voice casual, even though leaving was the last thing I actually wanted.
I needed to stay close. I needed to know exactly what he was thinking.
"No," he said simply, his eyes settling back on me. "You're coming with me. You'll stay with me until I figure out exactly who you are. Tomorrow."
"That's fine with me," I said, matching his calm with my own, even as my mind raced through everything that could go wrong before morning came.