Seattle - Washington

The sound of punches echoed in that abandoned shed; going to that place would be a nightmare for anyone who crossed the path of Adam Donovan, a man feared by many, who knew what he would be capable of doing to anyone who meddled in his affairs or dared to betray him.

Adam Donovan was around six feet tall, with light brown eyes, neatly cut black hair parted to the side, and a bit higher on top, thirty-two years old, and an athletic build that caught the attention of anyone who saw him.

At that moment, he was settling scores with one of his subordinates, who thought he could give him the slip, something that would not be easy to do, since Adam was very distrustful, only trusting a few people, including his two brothers and two of his men.

Adam was educated in a very strict regime by his father, because the environment in which he grew up was the world of the mafia, and he had to follow the rules imposed by them.

Unlike his father, his mother was affectionate and tried to teach him precious values, which for most mobsters were not so important, such as not raising a hand to a woman, or even forcing them into your bed.

In front of his father, Adam followed his father's rules, but behind his back, he followed his mother's values, something that was rare to see in his world.

Adam took control of one of the American mafias at the age of twenty-eight, when his parents died in a car accident, which even without proof, Adam attributes that accident to the Duncan family, which was a rival family to his.

Adam finished beating and torturing that man, and left the ending to Caio, who after Adam turned around to leave the place, shot him, killing the already weakened man.

Adam left the shed and headed to his car, he needed to change, as he had blood on his shirt, he always carried some spare clothes in the car, for occasions like that, he never knew when he would need them.

Caio approached Adam and asked him what they were going to do the rest of the night, it was already late.

"You can take the rest of the night off Caio, Sabrina sent me a message, she's waiting for me in the apartment I gave her, since today is our anniversary," she said she has a surprise for me.

"Okay, I'll go back to your house, I don't have any plans, if you need anything, tell me."

"Don't you have any lapdog to visit?" Adam asked smiling.

"I don't, you know that my life is about the organization Adam, I swore loyalty to your family and you, I swore that my life would be to protect you and your family, so I don't have time for romance, not to mention that it's complicated in our life."

Adam knew he was right, Sabrina was his girlfriend, but he had no intention of marrying her, not only because the council was against it, although for him, it didn't matter much what the council thought, but he had already realized that Sabrina was not exactly what she appeared to be.

"Okay, my phone is almost dead, when I get there I'll borrow a charger from Sabrina."

Adam finished changing and got into the car, Caio told him that he would drop him off at his girlfriend's house before heading to Adam's mansion, he accepted and they set off, the mess in the shed, other men were taking care of it.

As he drove to the apartment, Adam began to remember and think about his relationship with Sabrina.

He met her in one of his nightclubs, the way she acted made her seem very naive and innocent, and in the midst of all the chaos and evil in which he lived, she seemed very interesting. In addition to nightclubs, Adam owned some hotels and restaurants, most of which served as a front for his other illicit businesses, he needed to launder the money somehow.

The day he met her, she even refused to go anywhere else with him, claiming that she didn't know him and wouldn't sleep with anyone on the first date.

After that night, the two saw each other a few more times and even went out to dinner, until she decided to give herself to him, Sabrina seemed shy and quite embarrassed the first time the two were together, for Adam, who was used to the girls he dated just for fun, it was quite charming.

Shortly after being together, Adam noticed the change in Sabrina, the naivety disappeared, she began to exude more sensuality, and acted arrogantly with his employees, sometimes irritating him.

Caio snapped him out of his thoughts when he informed him that they had arrived, he checked his weapon and ammunition before getting out, he never walked without his weapon, even if he was going to her house.

Adam went up and rang the bell, he had the key to the place, but he didn't have it with him at that moment, soon Sabrina was already opening the door, with a smile on her face.

"Come in, I was waiting for you," Sabrina invited him in.

Sabrina was a blonde woman of 5'3" height, her eyes were green, in everyone's eyes, she was a beautiful and attractive woman, who attracted attention wherever she went.

"I thought you were going to wait for me dressed in the lingerie you sent me" Adam said this, grabbing her by the waist and getting closer to him.

"I thought it would be better if I waited for you without it."

Sabrina was wearing a silk robe, she said this in a sensual voice, and took the hand that was on her waist and put it in the opening of the robe, taking it to her private parts, showing that she was without anything under the fabric.

Adam just smiled and took the opportunity to start caressing her. When he was about to kiss her, he saw a reflection in the glass of a display case in the room. He stopped what he was doing and shouted.

"Get down."

Adam pulled her away and drew his pistol, but the shots had already begun, hitting Sabrina and him as well. He defended himself from the shots and hid behind an armchair, trying to see how his girlfriend was, but she was crawling towards the shooter.

The shots ceased, and Adam looked at his wound. From the position where he had been hit, he believed he could hold out a little longer, at least until he could get out of there.

"Adam, why don't you come out and we'll talk" he recognized the voice, it was Oliver Duncan.

Adam heard Sabrina groan and didn't know how he could help her.

"Let Sabrina go, Oliver. You want me, she's hurt."

He received a laugh in response to his request.

"You still don't understand, Adam, she's with me. As for her wound, don't worry, after I take care of you, I'll take her to be treated properly."

Adam couldn't believe what he was saying, he couldn't accept that she had betrayed him and was questioning him.

"What do you mean she's with you?"

"We're lovers, Adam. If you wanted me to spell it out for you, then listen. She took the excuse of your anniversary to bring you here and you fell like a duck, as always. You trust your abilities and hardly ever stick with your men, but today you're going to fall."

Adam didn't know how to feel about that information, knowing about her betrayal was driving him crazy with rage. He didn't accept betrayal, neither from his men nor from the woman he was with. She knew all the rules well when they started dating, he was very clear about what would happen if she betrayed him in any way. He didn't usually hurt women, but with Sabrina, he wouldn't let it pass.

"Oliver, it hurts" she grumbled.

"I can't do anything now, wait for me to take care of him, and only then will I be able to do something for you" he spoke unkindly to her.

Adam heard everything and wondered, was it because of that kind of treatment that she betrayed him?

"If you survive, Sabrina, be careful not to cross my path again" he warned her.

He was close to the door, luckily, he didn't end up going in so much, but he wouldn't have many chances to get out. He would have to get up quickly and still open the door, even if he ran out of ammunition, he would have to try that maneuver. He would get out of there or die trying.

Adam checked his weapon and ammunition again. He felt pain when moving, but he needed to move, even if it hurt a lot and he bled even more.

Adam took a deep breath and moved, starting to shoot in the direction where Oliver was, even if he didn't hit him, Oliver would duck, and it would give him time to open the door.

Adam ducked and kept shooting, when he opened the door, he basically threw himself out, at which point they started shooting back at him.

Adam got up quickly, even though he felt pain, and headed towards the elevator, always looking back. Luckily, when he was near it, the door opened, and a couple came out.

The woman, seeing him armed and bloody, began to scream in terror, but Adam tried to warn them.

"Get out of the hallway" he said and quickly entered, pressing the button to close the door.

Soon he could hear the shots again, the couple threw themselves to the ground and Adam pressed the button harder, he could hear the footsteps in the hallway and his ammunition wouldn't last long, the door closed, he felt a little more relieved, he pressed his wound again and looked at his cell phone, intending to call one of his men; however, it was already discharged, at that moment he would have to count on his own luck and hope that they wouldn't hit him in the building lobby.

While Adam was going through all those problems in his apartment, in another part of the city, Samantha was not going through a dangerous situation like his, but she was going through a situation, more than embarrassing.

Samantha Navarro was twenty-eight years old, worked as a receptionist in a five-star hotel in the city of Seattle, in the state of Washington, was the daughter of a Mexican woman and an American man, she had about 1.70 inherited from her father and a Latin beauty and curves, which she got from her mother.

Samantha lived alone in a small house in the suburbs, she had to learn to take care of herself from the age of eighteen, her father was always drunk after suffering a car accident and ended up with sequelae, which caused the loss of his job.

Even with her and her mother struggling to work and maintain the house, it was difficult, her father's medicines were expensive and there was still the prejudice of being Latinas, they ended up not getting a good job in the region.

To make matters worse, her father, in addition to drinking, was an individual with the owner of a casino and loan shark. One day, when she arrived home, she heard two shots and saw some men leaving her house. When she entered, the scene she saw never left her memory.

Her parents were dead in the living room and luckily those men almost didn't kill her or take her away. It was thanks to a friend who prevented her from entering the house before they all left.

That friend was Peter, the friendship of the two came from school days, Samantha's first kiss was with him, but he always said that kiss, only served to make sure he was gay.

When she was a teenager, Samantha thought that her kiss had been so bad, that it had made her friend gay, but after growing up and maturing, she understood that things didn't work that way.

Pedro was a nurse in a private clinic, and it was through him that she met her boyfriend Douglas, who was actually her ex-boyfriend at the time.

Douglas was a doctor at the clinic where Pedro worked, and she found out from him that he was having an affair with a nurse who worked with them there.

At that moment, all Samantha wanted was to go home. She loved Pedro, but there was something about that party that was bothering her; the music was too loud, and people were drinking, passing close to her, and touching her all the time. This was making her angry.

Samantha was at Pedro's birthday party, the celebration was happening at her boyfriend's house, and the main reason for her annoyance was the fact that Douglas was there with his new girlfriend, the nurse.

When Samantha found out about the betrayal, Douglas gave her a speech justifying the betrayal and the breakup.

He said that she was a beautiful woman, but too simple for a doctor like him, that she was the homebody type, while he liked to go out and have fun, she liked to always follow the rules, she didn't do anything impulsive, and that her way of being didn't fit with his.

Basically, Douglas said that she was too quiet, that she didn't take risks, that she didn't stand up to anyone, he even said that she didn't even seem to have Latin blood in her veins. That was one of the things that hurt her the most; she was proud of her heritage, she just didn't believe that she had to follow a norm imposed by her Latin blood, she was who she was, regardless of the nationality of the blood that ran through her veins.

Samantha was pulled from her thoughts by Pedro - I'm sorry, I didn't know they would call him to the party, I even told Ivan not to call him, I'm so sorry - he tried to apologize to Samantha by giving her a kiss.

"It's okay, you don't have to deprive your friends because of me, we have friends in common, this can always end up happening."

"In my opinion, you should get in line, I don't know that many straight guys, otherwise I would introduce you to a friend, and I don't want to introduce you to someone who is another Douglas, you deserve a real man, and one who makes you happy."

She knew that Pedro's wishes for her were true and she really hoped they would come true, she wanted to be able to say that she really loved and was loved.

"I promise you that when it's time for the cake, my wish will be that you find the love of your life, and that he's a very good and very well-endowed guy" they both smiled at Pedro's antics.

For Samantha, if that person really loved her, that would be enough.

Samantha's smile faded as she saw Douglas kissing the woman next to him, he still looked in her direction after the kiss.

"I don't know if I can stay here any longer, I'm going to get my jacket and leave, I'm sorry I won't stay for the congratulations, we can have a little party on our own."

"Okay, but I'm going to charge for this party" Pedro said smiling and walking away from her, he was going to get her jacket.

Samantha waited a bit, but ended up going after her friend, Douglas looked in her direction a couple of times, and she didn't want to face that look.

She headed towards the house, Douglas noticed her going in and followed her surreptitiously.

When Samantha got near the kitchen, she could hear loud voices and one of the voices was Pedro's, hearing her friend's voice, she quickly went in the direction they were coming from.

When she entered the kitchen, she could see Ivan and Pedro arguing, she didn't pay much attention to the conversation, but she couldn't help but notice that it was about jealousy.

Ivan pushed Pedro, who hit himself against the counter. At that moment, she drew strength and courage from who knows where, but she came to her friend's defense.

Samantha pushed Ivan and started talking to him loudly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You have no right to touch him, you're not his father Ivan, you're just his fucking boyfriend."

She didn't usually stand up to anyone when it came to herself, but when the issue involved someone she loved, things changed very quickly, she wasn't even one to swear, but at that moment, she was taking the opportunity to vent all the accumulated stress.

"Don't get involved Samantha, this is between Pedro and me" he said seriously, facing her after the push he received.

"Don't get involved? Do you think I'm going to stand by and watch you hit and mistreat him?"

Ivan took a step towards her and at that moment Douglas also entered the kitchen, stepping between them and defending her.

"Come on man, calm down, are you going to confront a woman now?" Douglas faced him and Samantha raised an eyebrow looking at him.

First, she didn't know what he was doing there and second, he had never defended her like that.

She turned to Peter, who was already holding her jacket, took it from his hand and spoke seriously looking at him.

"You don't have to go through this, it's not love, don't forget it" she said giving a last look to Ivan, who was still looking at her with a frown.

She started to leave the kitchen, and Pedro stopped her - Take it, it's too late for you to take a taxi and go alone, take my car, I'll bring it to you tomorrow - he said this and put the keys in her hand.

"Are you sure?" she replied and looked at Ivan again, she wanted to make sure her friend would be okay.

"Yes, I am, don't worry, we'll talk tomorrow" he kissed her on the cheek, after saying those words.

Samantha turned around to leave everyone in the kitchen and left, she was always worried about him, even more knowing what that relationship was like.

As she was heading towards the living room to get out of there, Douglas went after her and grabbed her arm, making Samantha stop and look at him.