Chapter 1 - THREE MINUTES
At two in the morning, the Foundry belonged to men who believed money could purchase anything.
Loyalty.
Fear.
Silence.
Even human beings.
Sadi Mercer had learned to become invisible among them.
She carried bourbon to tables where men discussed ruined lives as casually as baseball scores. She cleared crystal glasses beside men with guns beneath thousand-dollar jackets. She smiled when necessary, looked down when necessary, and reminded herself every fifteen minutes that the rent was due Monday.
One more shift.
One more night.
One more envelope of cash tips.
Then Leo grabbed her wrist.
Everything changed.
Sadi had broken his grip so quickly that half the room missed what happened. One moment Leo's fingers were crushing her skin; the next he was stumbling against the polished bar while she calmly wiped her wrist with a towel.
When Leo reached for his gun, Sadi's body reacted before fear could.
Her feet shifted.
Her shoulders relaxed.
Her eyes dropped to his chest.
Two feet.
She knew exactly how quickly she could cross that distance.
Then Dominic's quiet voice stopped the confrontation.
He sat beside the steel fighting cage like a king watching gladiators bleed for amusement, his dark charcoal suit perfectly tailored, his tattooed throat exposed above his open collar.
Everyone in the Foundry feared Dominic because he never needed to raise his voice.
And after seeing Sadi move, he made her the joke of the night.
“If you can beat my champion,” he said, gesturing toward the enormous fighter inside the cage, “I'll marry you.”
Men howled.
Women laughed.
Leo nearly spilled his drink.
Sadi removed her apron.
Then her shoes.
Then she entered the cage.
Now she stood barefoot on the stained canvas opposite Nox.
Six-foot-five.
Two hundred sixty pounds.
Muscle stretched across his tattooed shoulders like armor.
Sadi barely reached his chest.
The referee looked between them.
“Last chance,” he muttered.
Sadi rolled her neck once.
“Ring the bell.”
Outside the cage, Dominic's amusement had disappeared.
Something about the way she stood bothered him.
She wasn't bouncing nervously.
She wasn't staring at Nox's fists.
She was watching his hips.
His shoulders.
His lead foot.
Dominic leaned forward.
The bell rang.
Nox charged.
Sadi moved sideways.
His fist missed.
She was already behind him.
Twenty seconds.
Thirty.
Nox stopped chasing.
Smart.
He forced her toward the fence.
Sadi let him.
Then, at the exact moment he believed she had nowhere to go, she used his momentum against him.
Nox crashed into the fence.
The room went silent.
One minute.
Thirty seconds.
Nox's breathing became heavier.
Sadi's did not.
Then Nox caught her.
He lifted her partly from the canvas.
Sadi twisted free.
Fabric ripped.
A pale scar appeared along her shoulder blade.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
Beneath the scar was faded lettering.
MERCER COMBAT ACADEMY.
Caleb Mercer.
Dominic remembered the name.
A legendary trainer.
A dead man.
A closed gym.
A mysterious fire.
A case that had disappeared from police records.
Nox charged again.
Sadi stepped forward instead of back.
Her forearm redirected his shoulder.
Her foot hooked his ankle.
His own momentum finished the throw.
The champion crashed onto the canvas.
Sadi climbed onto his back.
One arm around his neck.
One leg controlling his hip.
Nox fought.
Sadi held.
Finally, his enormous hand slapped the canvas.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Tap.
Silence.
The referee separated them.
Sadi stood.
Blood ran from her eyebrow.
She walked out of the cage, picked up her shoes, tied her apron around her waist, and returned to the bar.
“Table twelve needs another bottle,” she said.
Dominic appeared in front of her.
“I made you a promise.”
“You made yourself a joke.”
“I said I'd marry you if you won.”
“I didn't agree to marry you.”
“You're right.”
“Good.”
“But a promise is still a promise.”
She stared at him.
“Sounds like a you problem.”
Then she walked away.
Dominic watched her disappear behind the bar.
Leo approached.
“You want me to fire her?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Dominic's gaze remained fixed on Sadi.
“I want everything on her.”
Hours later, inside a locked office beneath the Foundry, Dominic opened an old steel cabinet.
He pulled out a ledger.
The first page contained his father's handwriting.
Dominic turned the pages.
Caleb Mercer.
Caleb Mercer.
Caleb Mercer.
Then he reached the final entry.
His blood went cold.
Because beneath the date of the fire were five handwritten words.
THE GIRL SURVIVED. FIND HER.
Dominic stared at the page.
May you like
He had just found her.
And she had spent the last three minutes of her life reminding him exactly why someone had once been afraid of her.
