The Cadillac sat idle under a dim streetlamp, its chrome grill glinting with menace. Inside, the scent of blood hung heavy—recent, metallic, and unspoken. In the trunk, the lifeless body of a man named Petey “Four Fingers” was cooling fast. He had run his mouth too much, and the boss—Vince Romano—had run out of patience.

Vince adjusted his cufflinks, blood still splattered on the white of his shirt. Beside him, his enforcers—Marco and Jules—were quiet, waiting for the boss to speak.

Suddenly, the rear passenger door opened.

A woman in a short red dress slid inside, the scent of jasmine perfume trailing behind her.

“Hey there—” she began with a turning to look at what she thought was the uber.

Her smile vanished.

Her gaze dropped to Vince’s blood-stained suit. Her lips parted.

She inhaled sharply, about to scream.

In a blur, Vince clamped a leather gloved hand over her mouth and pulled her against him. “Shhh…” he hissed, his voice low and deliberate.

*She thrashed.

Vince kept her tight. “Marco! The cloth!”

Marco fumbled through the glove box. “I’m tryin’, boss!”

“Hurry the hell up. Do I gotta do everything myself?”

The woman jerked her head back, biting into Vince’s palm hard enough to draw blood.

“Ah, son of a—!”

She yanked the door handle, got one heel out—almost free.

But Vince’s arm snaked around her waist like a viper, dragging her back into the car. “Oh no you don’t-.”

She kicked, cursed, tears forming now.

“Marco, the freaking cloth, goddammit!” Vince roared, trying to keep her still. “HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO WET A DAMN CLOTH?!”

“Got it, got it!” Marco handed it over, soaked with chloroform.

Vince pinned the woman’s arms and shifted her onto his lap, one arm clamped around her body, holding the cloth in his other.

“Shh, shh… I don’t want to hurt you, okay?” His voice softened. “Just breathe… c’mon, deep breaths with me, sweetheart.”

She flinched as he gently caressed her cheek. Her chest rose and fell in panic. Vince watched her eyes, his own gaze steady.

“Easy now,” he whispered. “In… and out…”

Her body started to go limp, her lashes fluttering.

“I can’t let you go. You saw too much.”

He looked out the window as her head lolled against his chest. “Hell of a way to meet someone.”

Marco adjusted the mirror. “What do we do with her, boss?”

Vince ran a hand through her hair. “She’s coming with us. I’ll figure the rest out later.”

And as the Cadillac eased away from the curb, Vince Romano didn’t realize that this one wrong Uber was going to change everything.