Nora smiled slightly. “And you’re the woman whose niece the whole country watched get assaulted yesterday.”
Mark’s jaw tightened. “No one is trying to intimidate anyone.”
Nora looked at the two men blocking the alley.
“Then you are doing a terrible job of appearing innocent.”
Mark held up his hands.
“Mr. Villalobos is prepared to compensate the family generously.”
There it was.
The price.
Aunt Maribel put one hand over your shoulder.
Nora stepped forward.
“No private contact. No approaching the minor. No offers. No threats. No surveillance. Any communication goes through me.”
Mark’s phone buzzed.
He looked down, then back up.
“Mr. Villalobos would like to meet today.”
Nora smiled.
“Mr. Villalobos can wait.”
That was the first time you saw a powerful man’s messenger told no without anyone apologizing.
You liked Nora Redbird immediately.
The meeting happened two days later in a conference room at Villalobos Holdings.
Not because Nora wanted it.
Because Aunt Maribel said hiding forever would not help, and you said you wanted to see Valentina.
Nora made rules.
No private rooms.
No recording by Arturo’s team only.
No touching you.
No medical testing.
No asking for the remedy formula without formal legal protection.
No insulting your grandmother’s work.
Arturo agreed to every condition because men like him often agreed to rules they planned to break later.
